The Way I Used to Be Read Online Free PDF

slavery . . . rape. . . .” I flinch at the word, but Stephen keeps reading. “Crap, it says that they would make them bring back a certain amount of gold—which would have been impossible for anyone—so when they failed, they would cut their hands off so they would bleed to death! And when they ran away, they sent dogs to hunt them down and then they would burn them alive! Sick,” Stephen says, finally looking up at me.
    â€œSo, I think we have our position—villain, right?”
    â€œYeah, villain,” he agrees. “Why did we ever start celebrating Columbus Day?” He grins. “We should discontinue the holiday.”
    â€œIt’s true. Just because someone has always been seen as this incredible person—this hero—it doesn’t mean that’s the truth. Or that’s who they really are,” I say.
    Stephen nods his head. “Yeah, totally.”
    â€œMaybe they’re actually a horrible person. And it’s just that no one wants to see him for who he truly is. Everyone would rather just believe the lies and not see all the damage he’s done. And it’s not fair that people can just get away with doing these awful things and never have to pay the consequences. They just go along with everyone believing—” I stop because I can barely catch my breath. As I look over at the confused expression on Stephen’s face, I realize I’m probably not just talking about Columbus.
    â€œYeah,” Stephen repeats, “I—I know, I totally agree.”
    â€œOkay. Okay, good.”
    â€œHey, you know what we should do?” Stephen asks, his eyes brightening. “We should do, like, Most Wanted posters for Columbus and all those guys. And, like, list their crimes and stuff on the posters.” He smiles. “What do you think?”
    I smile back. “I like that.”

LUNCH-BREAK BOOK CLUB. I named it. The next week we have our first meeting. We bring our brown bags to the table in the back of the library by the out-of-date reference materials nobody ever uses. It is me, Mara, Stephen, plus these two freshmen girls. The one girl looks to be about ten years old and transferred from a Catholic school at the beginning of the year. She dresses like she’s still there, always wearing these starchy button-down shirts under scratchy sweaters, and embarrassingly long skirts. The other girl chews on her hair. She looks so out of it, I’m not sure if she even knows why we’re here.
    â€œWe’re one short,” I announce, hoping this doesn’t spoil everything.
    Miss Sullivan looks at me like she knows just as well as I do that this is basically bottom of the barrel here. Then she looks up at the clock. The minute hand clicks on the one. “There’s still time,” she says, reading my mind. “Besides, it’s all right if we don’t have all six people the first day.”
    Just then this guy I’ve never seen walks toward the table—this severe-looking guy—skinny, with pale skin and deep black hair with blue streaks that match his bright blue eyes. He wears these funky, thick-rimmed glasses, and two silver rings encircle his lower lip.
    â€œWow,” Mara whispers to me, grinning ear to ear.
    â€œWhat?” I whisper back.
    â€œJust . . . wow,” she repeats, not taking her eyes off him.
    â€œCameron!” Miss Sullivan greets him. “I’m so glad you decided to come.”
    â€œOh,” he says, pulling out the chair beside Stephen. “I mean, yeah. Hi.”
    â€œAll right,” Miss Sullivan begins, clearly encouraged by our new addition. “Why don’t we get started? I thought maybe we could just go around the table and introduce ourselves, tell everyone a little bit about your interests and why you’re here. I’ll start. Obviously, I’m Miss Sullivan.” She laughs. “I’m your librarian. But