Maddie's Tattoo Read Online Free PDF Page A

them. “You’re saying he was arrested?” I asked.
    “ I don’t know. But don’t be so quick to defend him. You didn’t even know him.”
    I sighed and looked down at the floor. “I thought I did,” I said.
    He shook his head. “You don't really know anyone in this world.”
    I looked at my dad and nodded. He regarded my sad face and his own face was sympathetic. He opened his mouth and I stopped his words with my hand.
    “Don’t,” I said. “I know what you’re going to say, that it’s better this way. That it’s safe. But that’s something we will never agree on,” I said. I ended the video chat and stared out at my room with eyes that didn’t see. My vision was deep inside my head, my own mental investigation for clues that Jax was a threat, or that I should have been suspicious of him.
    I started to search online for local arrests. It was public information. The DS Dropouts also listed arrests of kids eighteen and younger. In order to view the information, I need to join the Dropouts. I bit my bottom lip. My father would find out, but I didn’t care anymore. I was never going to be the perfect, obedient child in the family. That much was clear. It would give me and the behavioral counselor one more thing to talk about.
    I set up a DS Dropout profile and used a photo of my tattoo as my picture. I called myself FlyGirl. After I set up a password, I was permitted access to the arrest records. I checked local arrests in Corvallis and searched the past three days until his name popped up on the screen. My heart sank. My dad was right. Jax Viviani was arrested two days ago. I clicked on his name and my mouth hung open at the list of accusations. I scrolled and scrolled and it went on and on.
    He was charged with over five hundred accounts of profile identity theft, and unauthorized use of private information. But those were his minor claims. He was also charged with tampering with government files, corrupting government data, infiltrating legal records, stealing medical records and creating an illegal database. The allegations made him look like a terrorist.
    I covered my hand over my mouth. “Damn,” I breathed in my palm.
    DS Dropout members left comments below his arrest information.
    RIP, my friend.
    Sucks to be him.
    Looks like somebody just won a DC lobotomy.
    Sorry for our cyber loss.
    Great, my first online friend was a highly wanted criminal, and forever ex-convict. Maybe my dad was right. Maybe I did need to see a therapist.
    I looked down at the bird on my wrist and I realized Jax’s drawing wasn’t just about me. It also represented him. And now I understood there was a risk with having wings. They not only enable you to fly, they allow you to fall from dangerous heights.
    I studied my profile picture. For the first time in my life I felt like I had an identity that fit, something to define me rather than hide me. But what I would learn is that flying isn’t the challenge. Flying is the easy part. It’s just running full speed ahead and having enough confidence to spread your wings and arch your back.
    The secret to flying is in mastering a smooth landing. Eventually you have to look down. You have to slow down. You have to dive. The landing is what makes us brave because we don’t crash from the flight. We crash from the fall.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

For more information on Katie Kacvinsky and her books, please visit her author website:
    www.katiekacvinskybooks.wordpress.com

Other books by Katie Kacvinsky:
    Awaken trilogy:
    Awaken
    Middle Ground
    Still Point (coming September 2014)

    First Comes Love trilogy:
    First Comes Love
    Second Chance
    Finally, Forever (coming 2014)