Oblivion Read Online Free PDF

teasing one corner of her mouth.
    As she took up the scissors, Danny went quiet, his glower softening into a concentrated frown while he watched her clip off the bottom strip, making a square. She spun the square on the tabletop and continued folding, pressing a finger hard along each edge to get a crisp line.
    Even though she hadn’t made any origami since she was Danny’s age, Isobel found that her hands still remembered every fold, and the final product took less than a minute.
    â€œThere,” she said, scooting the paper butterfly across the table to him. “Hand me another piece and I’ll show you ho—”
    â€œDad’s home.”
    Despite the warning, she still jumped when she heard the motor for the garage door kick on.
    Swallowing hard against the familiar lump that lodged in her throat like a stone every time her father came within twenty feet of her, she leaned down and hefted her book bag into the empty seat beside her. Hurriedly she began pulling out more books, surrounding herself with binders and anything else that would make her appear too absorbed to interact.
    â€œYou lost your watch, didn’t you?” Danny asked. Picking up the paper butterfly, he twirled it between his fingers. “The one I got you for Christmas. You used to keep it clipped to your backpack.”
    Isobel spared a quick glance at her bag, knowing better than to act surprised he’d noticed. What didn’t he notice?
    â€œI . . . didn’t mean to.”
    He shrugged like it was no big deal, though she could tell by the knitting of his brow that it was.
    â€œI dropped it by accident,” Isobel said, remembering how the trinket had slipped from her fingers while she’d been in the rose garden of the dreamworld. “I needed to run and . . . it fell out of my hand.”
    Danny looked up, eyes narrowing.
    Footsteps on the wooden stairs and the muffled sound of their father’s voice on the phone sent Isobel’s heart skipping. She forced her head down and her gaze squarely on her papers.
    â€œShe said that?” her dad asked whoever was on the other line as he approached the door.
    â€œI knew you still remembered everything,” Danny whispered, still twirling the butterfly. “I’m not as dumb as the adults.”
    I know you’re not, Isobel mouthed as their dad entered the room, a cold breeze wafting in from the garage.
    â€œHey, listen. I just got home,” he said, his volume dropping. “I’ll . . . have to call you back after I discuss this with my wife. Just . . . don’t do anything until then, okay?”
    Isobel heard the snap of her dad’s cell, followed by the sound of the door shutting.
    She frowned at the unusually abrupt way he’d ended the call, then blinked as her father set a plastic bag of Chinese food on the table between her and Danny.
    â€œHey, you two,” he said, actually giving Isobel’s shoulder a squeeze. “I need you both to stay here while I talk to Mom. Just . . . go ahead and eat.”
    Isobel’s hand twitched, and she wanted so badly to place it over his. But her father didn’t stay long enough for that to happen. He swept from the room, dropping his keys on the long hallway table and trudging up the steps.
    â€œJeannine?” he called. Upstairs, the vacuum went silent.
    â€œWanna take bets?” Danny asked, extracting an egg roll from the yellow, smiley-face-stamped bag and aiming the fried cylinder at her.
    â€œBets?” Isobel murmured, wishing the fading sensation of her father’s warm, forgiving, protective squeeze could remain on her shoulder forever.
    â€œMy vote is that they’re making plans to donate you to a government study.”
    Isobel scowled at her brother as he bit into his egg roll, but she knew that on some level he was right. Even if Danny had been teasing, the phone call definitely pertained to