The Girl Who Wasn't Read Online Free PDF Page B

favorite
taste.
    After eating the entire container of
pecan ice cream, I lie down and pretend with all my might that I
really am Raven Rogen and there is no danger here. It doesn’t work
but I succeed in sleeping.
    The morning comes too fast.
    I feel sluggish and slow when the lock
clicks and the door opens. I don’t bother raising my head as Gus
pokes his head into the room. He is already frowning.
    “ Get dressed. I’ll be back
in ten minutes.”
    In Twig City, ten minutes is twice the
time we’re expected to take for showering and dressing, but here,
where nothing is familiar, I’m almost positive I should demand
longer. He is gone before I can argue.
    I scavenge the dresser and closet—and
discover the latter is large enough to stand inside and stretch my
arms out to both sides and still not touch the clothes hanging on
the racks around me. This makes me almost smile. I pass by silk
gowns and chiffon skirts and gawk at the shelves of shoes that I
can only hope I’ll live long enough to wear. Ida would love
this.
    Near the back, I find tailored pants
and a blouse. Not exactly the bland jeans and T-shirt look that we
all share in Twig City, but then I don’t expect Raven Rogen owns a
pair of jeans, especially ones with holes in the knees. I used to
fuss at Lonnie for purposely ripping her pants but after a while, I
caught myself doing it too. In a sea of sameness, I needed to do
something to feel individual. I suspect that was Lonnie’s reason
also, although she would say she just liked the ventilation. Twig
City’s lower levels can be stuffy.
    Upon mirror inspection, I find that my
blond locks have graduated from bedhead to zoo animal. I do my best
to smooth and braid it and then decide I don’t care. According to
Titus, no one but staff is going to see me today. While I’m still
playing a part, the pressure feels lessened within the confines of
these walls.
    Gus is waiting for me when I emerge
from the bathroom. I follow him out, refusing to allow myself to be
afraid of Titus this morning. I am prepared this time. I tell
myself that makes a difference.
    I follow Gus down the circular hallway
and find myself once more in the plush room with the fireplace.
Someone has lit a fire and it roars and crackles, giving a sharp
cheerfulness to the place that feels forced. Titus stands off to
the side so I don’t see him until I’m almost in front of him. I
feel the same jolt and then crawling of my skin as I did the night
before.
    “ Raven,” Titus says and
gives me a look that demands response.
    “ Father.” I shove the word
out of my mouth. I feel funny for saying it, not just to him, but
to anyone. Imitations don’t have mothers and fathers. We don’t have
family. We just are.
    Until we’re not.
    “ How did you sleep?” he
asks.
    “ Very well,” I
say.
    “ Good. We need to discuss
this arrangement if it’s to work out. Sit.”
    I lower myself to a leather couch that
seems miniature compared to the ones at home. Home. My chest hurts
because this is my home now. With this man.
    “ First, Rogen Tower is your
home now,” he says.
    The words, an echo of my own thoughts,
jar me so that I jerk my eyes up to his. His are sparkling with
something—laughter? No. Challenge.
    He continues. “You can go anywhere you
like except my private offices. Those are off limits even to my
daughter.”
    “ Where is she? Your
daughter?” I ask before I can stop the words from leaving my mouth.
That is not a question a trained Imitation should ask.
    His cheeks harden. “You do not get to
ask me questions,” he snaps. Then his features smooth out and he is
the charming viper once again. “I would like this arrangement to be
mutually beneficial. For that to happen, there are certain rules
that must be followed. Boundaries, if you will.”
    “ Mutually beneficial?” I
echo. I am thoroughly confused as to how I can benefit from dying
for someone I’ve never met.
    “ I get to end the threat
against my daughter and you