Redemption Song Read Online Free PDF Page B

smiled that big.
    “I’ve never had a brother before!” Ben continued. “Sure, I’ve got Alaina, but she’s a girl and that’s just different, you know? Do you have any brothers or sisters, Ethan?”
    “Nope. Only child.”
    “Oh, that’s too bad. Alaina gets on my nerves sometimes, but I guess she’s pretty cool. She takes care of me and reads me stories at night and takes me to movies sometimes. It’s too bad you didn’t have a brother, but I guess you don’t need one when you have a million friends on Facebook.”
    Ethan let go of his suitcase, not even attempting to remove it from the middle of the floor. He collapsed onto the bottom half of the bunk bed. “How do you know how many followers I have on Facebook? Aren’t you too young for Facebook?”
    Ben snorted. “I’m young, not stupid. I just gave them a fake birthday. And you knew I was on Facebook already because you accepted my friend request last year. I figured you recognized me when you got off the plane.”
    Ethan almost laughed. Like there was any way he would remember some little kid who added him to one of the numerous social networks that his PR people had him involved with. Ethan didn’t even check his Facebook page. He had people to do that for him. He hadn’t even realized he'd made it to a million friends. That was actually kind of cool now that he thought about it.”
    “So do you remember?” Ben asked eagerly.
    “Remember what?”
    “Do you remember accepting my friend request?”
    “Uh, not exactly. I don’t check that. Other people check it for me.”
    Ben was quiet for a brief moment, processing Ethan’s honesty. Finally, he spoke.
    “That’s stupid.”
    Ethan scoffed. “Why?”
    “What’s the point in having all those friends if you don’t talk to any of them?”
    “It’s for publicity.”
    “Like advertisement?”
    Ethan yawned. All he wanted was to take a nap and forget where he was. “Yeah, Ben. It’s like advertisement.”
    “But don’t you think it would work better if you did it yourself? I bet if people knew that it was really you posting all those status updates, they would check it a lot more often.”
    The kid had a point and it only enhanced the level of his annoyance.
    “Don’t you have like a train set or a plastic tool table or something that you can go play with?”
    Ben giggled. “I’m ten, not four. I’m gonna go play XBOX. I got the new SpeedNeed game the other day. It’s totally cool. You wanna play with me?”
    “Nope.”
    Ben jumped in one swift, graceful motion from the top bunk to the floor. “Okay, well, I’ll see ya later, Ethan. I’m glad you’re my roommate!”
    Ethan didn’t reply. Instead, he lay with heavy eyes, facing the light blue papered wall. He couldn’t believe where the last day had taken him. How had it come to this? Exhaustion finally took over and Ethan fell asleep, his unopened suitcase still in the middle of the floor and his shoes still on his feet.
     
    Ethan awoke to the rhythmic sounds of Ben’s breathing drifting down from the top bunk. The room was pitch-black and the only other sound came from the faint click of the ceiling fan motor. Ethan rolled over; trying to get comfortable enough to drift back to sleep, but something was bothering him. A pain. His stomach. When had he eaten last? Not on the plane . . . not in jail . . . not at the party . . .
    Ethan hadn’t even realized. It was going on two days since he'd last eaten. He was starving!
    The poorly lit trip to the kitchen was nothing other than painful. Three toe stubs and one bump on the head later Ethan found his way to the doorway of the living room. Silent Ted wasn’t so silent from his resting spot on the couch. His snores filled the room. A faint glow emitted from the kitchen. Ethan glanced to the DVD player. It was three in the morning. Who would be up now?
    Ethan edged his way closer to the kitchen, tying to remain as quiet as possible. When he reached the doorway, he stopped in his