Twisted Read Online Free PDF Page A

because I hate when people say that to me but I just wanted to let you know that I can relate.” 
    “Why are you doing this?” he asked.
    I was starting to wonder that myself. Maybe he was like Mom. She was still angry and bitter and not wanting to let anyone too close.
    “Doing what? Trying to be nice?” It was the only thing I was guilty of, as far as I knew.
    He nodded.
    I was confused. “Is there something wrong with wanting to be nice?”
    He looked at me as though sure I had some ulterior motive. He stared at me so long and hard I thought I was going to begin to melt just like the ice cream in my cup. He finally shrugged again.
    I wasn’t sure how to respond. “So is this okay?” I finally asked. “I mean, that I bought you a sundae? Or shouldn’t I have done that?” I was asking a genuine question. I couldn’t make one bit of sense from his actions.
    It took him a moment to think it through. “I guess it’s okay.”
    I glanced at his ice cream. It was still sitting on the ground turning to a sloppy mess in its cardboard cup. “Are you going to eat it then?”
    He turned his attention to it and picked it up. I waited in awkward silence to see if he was actually going to take a bite. I knew that after the accident I had gone through a period of being withdrawn. I felt like someone had taken the pieces of my life and ripped them to shreds. Then after they were thrown on the ground and stomped on I was left to pick them back up so I could try to put them back together again. But the pieces never fit together quite right after that.
    He took a few bites, not speaking to me in the meantime. I ate a few bites of my own melted mess before starting in again. “You got your book back,” I said.
    He nodded.
    “And you’re almost done,” I said. I was surprised, assuming he had just gotten it back last night. I was rewarded with more nodding. “Then will you go back to the one you were reading yesterday?” I knew I was babbling again, just trying to make conversation.
    “I finished that one,” he said. He sounded somewhat reluctant to share this with me.
    “I’m impressed,” I said softly. For some reason I didn’t want to sound too enthusiastic.
    “I usually read a book a day.” He hesitated before adding, “Or maybe every other day. Depending on the book. Or the day.”
    I smiled. Those four choppy sentences were the longest dialogue he’d strung together for me since leaving me sitting on the park bench. He finished off the ice cream. Once again his eyes darted over my shoulder, making my smile falter.
    I fought the urge to look over my shoulder, too. I finished off what was in my cup. Ben was staring out toward the river now. His head rested against the tree.
    I wiggled my toes inside of my running shoes and gnawed on my lower lip. Ben’s fists were clenched into tight balls. He looked tense. I could only assume it was my presence that was making him that way.
    I reached for his empty cup and stacked it inside of my own.
    He glanced my way and gave me a forced almost-smile. “I suppose you better get going now.”
    His words startled me. I sat frozen for a moment, trying to interpret them for some hidden meaning. Something less blunt than the obvious. I nodded and got to my feet. His head swung around to look behind us and then he scoped out the trail and sprawling grass. 
    “Okay, I guess I’ll go then,” I said, finally finding my voice.
    He reached for his book and the words slipped out before I could think them through. “Are you looking for someone?” I asked. “I mean, it just seems like you’re always…looking for someone,” I tried to explain.
    “No one in particular,” he said quietly. Now he was looking at the ground in front of my feet.
    “’Kay,” I answered, not quite sure what that meant. I waited a moment, wondering if he would say more. Say something. Anything. “I guess I’ll see you later then. At school, I mean.” I might be stubborn but I could take a