RAW Read Online Free PDF

“library” for probably three or four hours. Finally, she’d returned home, flaunting her happiness and freedom while Caelyn had to sit and listen and keep quiet.
    Well, if I don’t like it, I can always go down there and tell them the truth about Deena.
    But Caelyn knew the time wasn’t right yet.
    She paced slowly in her room, going to the window and looking out at the empty street. She recalled once again how, not long ago, Elijah’s truck had been parked out front and he’d come for her.
    Tears sprang to her eyes.
    Where is he? What’s he doing? Why hasn’t he called me?
    The last time he’d gone to jail, he’d called her. But this time, nothing. Maybe he’d simply come to the conclusion that with this much time away from each other, there wasn’t any point in maintaining contact.
    Maybe he didn’t think she’d want to keep talking to him, or perhaps he felt he was doing her a favor by disappearing from her life.
    But Caelyn refused to believe any of that. She kept staring out the window as if by force of will, by simply praying and begging the empty sky above, she could make him appear again.
    She saw Elijah in her mind’s eye, walking with a confident swagger through the prison halls. There were men watching him walk past their cells, big and angry men with tattoos and scowls. They watched him, muttering, spitting.
    Elijah just grinned and walked on, confident and sure of himself even in the worst of places.
    He’d spent enough time in prison; Caelyn wasn’t worried about whether he could handle it or not.
    She was worried whether she could.
    Each second dragged out, feeling like days. The thought of enduring this torture for a year or two or three…
    “I can’t,” she gasped. “Please, I can’t.”
    And then came the footsteps on the stairs, and a light knock on the door. It was her mother. She opened it just a few inches in peered in to find Caelyn at the window.
    “Are you okay?”
    Caelyn nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes. “Yeah.”
    “You should come downstairs with us.”
    “I can’t. Not right now.”
    “Because of Deena?” her mother asked, using this as an excuse to open the door wider and step into Caelyn’s room.
    “Because of a lot of things.”
    “We don’t want you to feel excluded anymore, Caelyn.” Her mother was pleading once again. “We want you to be part of this family.”
    Caelyn had to restrain an angry laugh and kept the smirk from her face. “I’m trying my best, Mom. But I can’t be…I just can’t be around Deena right now. Not after what she did to Elijah.”
    “He stole from her, Caelyn.”
    “No he didn’t. Elijah would never have done that.”
    “I understand why it’s easier for you to believe that your sister did it. But that’s simply not true. And if you hold that grudge, it’s going to eat away at you forever.”
    “Mom, I’m trying my best,” Caelyn said, her emotions starting to get the better of her. “The person I love is in jail and I’m surrounded by the same ones who wanted him there. It’s not easy.”
    “I know it’s not easy. But you should try and see that we want what’s best for you, even if we made mistakes. Tomorrow, we’ll start bringing you back to physical therapy again. And you’ll also start seeing a psychologist.”
    “You made me an appointment with a psychologist?”
    “You need to work towards being healthy.” Her mother folded her arms.
    “I’m so sick of you thinking you can just run my life,” Caelyn said. “And protecting Deena instead of protecting me.”
    “This isn’t about your sister.”
    “Well maybe it is.” Caelyn glared at her mother, who glared right back at her.
    “Maybe for you it is.”
    “Could you please leave my room now?”
    Her mother shook her head. “This wasn’t why I came in here. I came—“
    “I know why you came in here,” Caelyn said, raising her voice. “You want me to pretend everything’s back to normal. You want me to put on an act like everyone