Paige Rewritten Read Online Free PDF

business at my house. She willingly and unflinchingly walked out my parents’ front door, not even sparing a glance backward. And before she left, she did everything in her power to make my parents’ lives a living hell.
    The unicorn on her shoulder blade was the beginning.
    I missed a lot of the worst of it. I was already here in Dallas going to school. I’d seen the warning signs that it was coming, though. Preslee had never been one to stick to the rules. While I was home five minutes before curfew the few nights I was out, Preslee never got home on time. I got straight As; Preslee flunked out of a few classes and not for lack of intelligence. I worked the newsletter and yearbook staffs; Preslee started a punk rock band and became a drummer.
    We lived down the hallway from each other but we were worlds apart.
    Then she was gone. Left, claiming she was going to tour the country with her band and she’d just live with her boyfriend in their tour bus.
    â€œSpike.” Or whatever fake name he had.
    I happened to be home visiting the Friday night she walked out, and I can remember the roller coaster of emotions I felt. Sadness because she was my baby sister. Relief because she wouldn’t be there making my parents crazy anymore. And mostly anger because of what she did to my mom and dad.
    I look down at the note card, stand up, and walk into my bedroom without reading it. It is time for a shower. A shower and a fun day.
    The last eighteen hours have not been great ones.
    I get out of the shower twenty minutes later, dry off, pull on a pair of jeans and a gray fitted T-shirt. It isn’t raining today, but it is about 90 percent humidity. That means I am not about to spend thirty minutes styling my hair only to have it fall completely flat by the time I get to the bottom of my front steps.
    I brush on some eye shadow and mascara and scrunch my wet hair into semiwaves. I have always had issues with the color of my hair, as in, my hair can’t pick what color it wants to be. It’s red, brown, and blonde. I always have a hard time at the DMV when I’m renewing my driver’s license, but I’ve come to grips with it. I am usually fairly content with my hair, but on days of extreme humidity, I really wish for curls like Layla’s.
    My phone is buzzing in the living room when I come back out. I purposefully ignore the half-opened gift on the couch and answer the phone.
    â€œHey, Paige.”
    I smile. “Hey, Tyler.”
    â€œSo. I just happen to be about ten minutes away from a beautiful girl’s apartment, and I was just calling to see if she might be up for a late breakfast with me.”
    I grin, feeling a blush on my cheeks even though he isn’t even here. Tyler is good with the compliments. “Well, if you’re referring to me, I already ate.”
    â€œWhat?”
    I speak louder. “I said, if you’re referring to me — ”
    â€œNo, I heard you. What did you eat for breakfast?”
    â€œOh. Sorry I yelled. Raisin Bran.”
    â€œGross.”
    â€œHey,” I say. “I don’t call your food choices gross.”
    â€œYes you do.”
    I think about that one. Well, okay, he is right. “Never mind. Anyway, I’m free for lunch though.”
    â€œWhy aren’t you going to eat lunch?”
    I pull the phone away from my head to look at the signal bars on the screen. Full signal. I crank the volume in my voice again. “I said, I’m free for lunch,” I say, annunciating everything clearly.
    â€œI heard you, Paige. Can you not hear me? Hello? Calling Paige Alder.”
    â€œTyler.”
    â€œLook, all I know is that I took an economics class as a ninth grader, and I definitely was taught that there was no such thing as a free lunch. So if you are planning on being free at lunch, I’m just assuming you’re not eating. How much Raisin Bran did you have this morning? Because I can only stomach so much