Just a Little Reminder Read Online Free PDF Page A

forward, but she smacked my hand away.
    Great, another bruise.
    “I can’t believe you knew about this and didn’t tell me,” she said, shaking her head. “Some friend you’ve turned out to be.”
    “Now, come on,” I said, letting go of what little restraint I had. “That’s not fair! He asked me not to say anything, and I promised I wouldn’t. I—kept—my—word! He’s my cousin, Kara. My best friend! What was I supposed to do?”
    “Goodbye Julie,” she said, turning away. “Do us both a favor and never talk to me again.”
     
    Wednesday, June 05
    “ I don’t want to talk about it ,” I said, not giving Charlie the opportunity to ask why I’d just slammed the front door. He lowered his book, removed his reading glasses, and watched as I stomped up the stairs.
    Halfway to my room I could’ve sworn I heard him mumble something about the joys of raising two teenagers.
    I paced across my bedroom floor for at least ten minutes. Back and forth, back and forth. Every now and then I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror, and once or twice I even rolled my eyes at my own stupidity.
    God, I was angry!
    The problem was… I didn’t know why I was angry.
    Was it because I’d kept a huge, life-altering secret from a friend? Was she right? Should I have told her? Should I have said something to prepare her for what was coming? Or had I done right by Matt by keeping his secret?
    Or was I angry because I’d just stood there defenselessly, letting her berate me? I’d let someone—someone who’d claimed to be my friend—yell at me and make me feel like I was six inches tall.
    Or maybe it was because I’d let her—Kara and her stupid argument with Matt—ruin what should’ve been one of the happiest days of my life?
    Luke had asked me to be his girlfriend, for crying out loud! After all this time… after everything we’d been through….
    I could’ve killed Kara for ruining it.
    After taking a few more minutes and a few much-needed breaths— count to ten, Julie, count to ten —I stomped out of the bedroom and stopped short of Matt’s door. I could hear him inside, and I was certain he was crying.
    But it was Matt, and Matt never cried.
    I took a deep breath and knocked on his door, but he didn’t answer, so I didn’t pry. The last thing I needed was for him to start cursing or throwing things at me again. And honestly, for once in my life, I didn’t feel like it was my place to ask questions…. Nothing I could say would make him feel any better. If anything, I’d probably only make things worse.
    I turned back and headed for my room, but a string hanging from the center of the ceiling grabbed my attention and stopped me dead in my tracks.
    Looking over my shoulder as if I was about to do something wrong, I reached up, took the string in hand, and with a little bit of force revealed the rickety staircase to the attic—where Charlie had stored most of Mom and Dad’s belongings—and I climbed the small steps until I reached the third level of the house.
    It was the first time I’d gone up there, and the first time I’d seen a lot of the old stuff that used to fill our two-story brick home back in West Bridge.
    No one had ever said I wasn’t allowed in the attic… I just never assumed it would be okay.
    But I’d made a decision earlier—just before I’d run into Kara—and I needed to keep my mind focused.
    And that’s just what I intended to do.
    So, I searched.
    I spent a while looking around, sifting through some of my parents’ old things. Most of it was probably junk we could’ve thrown out months ago, but I hadn’t been able to bring myself to climb those stairs, let alone to come up and toss anything—not even Mom’s expired coupons or Dad’s holey socks (and Dad had a lot of holey socks).
    Though I’d gone up to the attic with a mission to find Dad’s cedar box, I didn’t mind the many distractions I found as I sifted through dozens of crates, hundreds of boxes, and even a