Trouble With Liberty Read Online Free PDF

guy who usually sticks up for people. But when it came to Liberty, he couldn’t seem to find enough rocks to throw at her. I think being on the outside of the group was getting to him.
    I didn’t like the situation either, but there wasn’t much I could do about it. Ryan wasdetermined to hate Liberty, and because everyone else liked her, he was the odd man out. As for Liberty, she was too busy with her own problems to notice what was going on with him.
    After her traumatic experience, I totally expected Liberty to be away from school for a while. But she didn’t miss a single day. Most of the time she rode the bus, but the day after the band room incident she arrived in her dad’s red Porsche. As I watched her get out of the car, I wondered how everyone was going to act. Would the kids mob her with questions? Or would they keep their distance, whispering behind their hands? And what about me? Liberty had said I was her best friend, so I felt like I should be doing something to help her. I just didn’t know what.
    But I didn’t have to wrestle with the problem for long. As usual, Liberty took matters into her own hands. As soon as she saw me she waved and headed over.
    â€œHow are you doing?” I asked when she reached me. I hoped my voice was cheerful enough to lift her spirits, but not so bubbly that it sounded like I was blowing off what had happened to her.
    â€œI’m okay,” she said.
    I nodded and smiled tightly. Conversation had never been a problem for us before, but all of a sudden I found myself groping for something to say. The incident with Mr. Henderson had made Liberty seem like a stranger.
    â€œI phoned you last night,” I said.
    Liberty flipped her hair back from her face. “I know. My mother told me.”
    â€œI guess you weren’t up to taking calls.”
    She rolled her eyes. “I was fine. It was my parents who were wired. Well, my dad anyway. To tell you the truth, I don’t think my mother even knew what was going on. She basically lives on tranquilizers. Most of the time you could drop an anvil on her head and she wouldn’t blink.”
    â€œI’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t realize she was sick.”
    Liberty snorted. “Oh, she’s sick all right, but not like you think. She spends so much time with her shrink that people think she works in his office. Anyway, let’s not talk about her.” And with a wave of Liberty’s hand, Mrs. Hayes was gone. Then Liberty lowered her voice and said, “You’ll never guess what happened when the police came to my house.”
    Instantly curious, I leaned in closer. “What?”
    â€œWell, my dad was furious,” she said. “Not with me, of course,” she added quickly. “With Mr. Henderson. After we got home, he got madder and madder. He was just about to jump in his car and go looking for the guy when the police showed up.”
    â€œWhy would your dad go after Mr. Henderson?”
    Liberty shot me an incredulous look. “What do you think? To beat him up.”
    â€œYou’re kidding!” I gasped. Then I remembered that Cody had wanted to punch Mr. Henderson out too. A picture of our band teacher mashed to a pulp popped into my head. I winced.
    â€œAnyway,” Liberty continued, “it didn’t happen because, like I said, the police came.”
    â€œI guess they asked you a bunch of questions, huh.”
    â€œTons!” she exclaimed. “After a while I was so confused I didn’t know what I was saying anymore. That’s when I started to cry. And that got my dad mad all over again. I thought he was going to beat the
police
up! He wouldn’t let them ask me even one more thing. He said they were bullying me, and if they didn’t leave right that second, he was going to throw them out andcharge them with harassment.”
    â€œWhat happened then?”
    Liberty shrugged. “Nothing. They