Sophomore Freak (Reject High: A Young Adult Science Fiction Series Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

going to lose her. We’ll get help.”
    Was he talking about Julia? It didn’t sound like it.
    I reached my right hand behind Julia’s back and placed my left arm underneath her feet. From this angle it would have been hard for anyone else to lift her. But I picked her up like a stuffed animal, much to Ray’s surprise. He’d never seen me do a pushup, much less lift a woman who outweighed me by twenty pounds.
    Julia’s voice drifted off. “Help. . . “
    He stood in front of me. “Put her down! The ambulance will be here soon.”
    I shook my head. “She’ll die. Open the door!”
    Original Sasha dashed past my father and propped the back door open with her foot. “Go.” She pointed to the parking lot. “I’ll make sure no one else follows.”
    Holding Julia firmly, I jogged toward the rear of the building near the blue dumpsters. I’d have to even out my thoughts so we wouldn’t travel too fast. I didn’t need to check for the address of the hospital. I’d memorized it a long time ago.
    Ray followed after me, pointing his bloody fingers and cursing.
    How did he get past Sasha’s clone?
    “Get her back in there,” he said. “I’ll lock you away myself if she dies. Just wait.”
    I cursed back at him and turned in the general direction of the hospital. Large oak trees blocked my view of the town’s skyline, but I thought my sense of direction was good.
    At least I hoped so.
    If we didn’t hurry, we’d have an audience. Police sirens were closing in. Ray didn’t need to see me jump, but I had no choice short of knocking him out cold.
    Blood from Julia’s wound soaked into my shirt near the white Raiders’ emblem. Her eyes fluttered and rolled back into her head.
    “She’ll be your second dead wife if I don’t do something,” I said.
    Shaking his fist, Ray continued shouting until I burst into the air and could no longer hear him.

 
    CHAPTER FOUR
    my first arrest
     
    In a flash, we landed near the ER entrance. It wasn’t dark yet, so we could have been seen, but I didn’t notice anybody around. For the moment, things appeared to be all right.
    Before I reached the automatic doors with Julia, two men in scrubs saw me carrying her limp body. They grabbed a gurney and wheeled it in our direction. Neither of them asked how I got there, which was a relief.
    A third man escorted me over to the front desk. There, a short, Hispanic woman with a patterned hospital blouse stared me down. Julia’s blood wet the front of my shirt. Thank God my clothes were dark colors. Otherwise, I would’ve looked like an amateur butcher or serial killer.
    “Her name is Julia Champion,” I said, pointing to the men rolling her away. “I’m her stepson. I don’t know what insurance she has, but she’s got it. She has money, too.”
    “Have a seat,” said the woman. She pointed to the waiting area. “Wait over there, young man. We’ll straighten it out.”
    Instead of doing what she said, I waited until she wasn’t looking and practically ran for the bathroom. I tried not to vomit while cleaning up the blood. Carefully peeling off my shirt, I squeezed the extra liquid off of it. Then I used the paper towels and hand soap to wash up. I scrubbed my hands and fingernails last and reluctantly put my damp shirt back on over my semi-clean body. Afterward, I rinsed out the sink, which had temporarily turned bright pink.
    Something inside me told me I should leave. Still, I wanted to wait for Sasha, so I returned to the lobby and dropped my body into a cushioned chair. The television was tuned to the Weather Channel. Mellow music played between segments where meteorologists talked about the solar storms raging across the world.
    “X-class flares will steadily build in force across the surface until peaking next Friday,” said a male voice. An animated display showed the yellow sun erupting with small explosions. “Best case scenario, sometimes your electronics will work. Worst case, at the storm’s height, your