What Janie Saw Read Online Free PDF

and shrugging it off like nothing. They’ll probably dance to it at your senior prom, although I’ll bribe the DJ not to play it.”
    Janie paid for the three ice creams. Frank would be able to feed himself, but he would make a mess. They were used to that now. Handsome, tall, laughing, unflappable Frank Johnson. A mess.
    Like my life
, thought Janie.
    And then she shook herself.
My life is wonderful. I am loved by two families. I’m smart enough to get into a good college. I have friends who worry about me and a guy who still loves me
. “Okay, so we’re not actually dating,” she said to Reeve, “and we’re still in a state of half forgiveness, but I want to reserve you for that very senior prom. Will you take me?”
    Reeve gave that great burst of laughter she loved so much, the one that made entire rooms laugh along with him, the one that consigned any problem to nothingness. She felt herself moving Reeve up on the forgiveness scale. Three-quarters now.
    “I’ll take you,” he said. “And guess what. I’m coming home for the weekend.”
    When she needed to be in New Jersey, seeing yet another set of parents.
    “That’s wonderful, Reeve,” she said. “I miss you. Especially right now. And maybe on Saturday, we could drive to New Jersey together, because I need to talk about the video with my family.”
    “Whoa. That’s intense. You don’t need me around during that, Janie.”
    “I do need you. You’re my safety net.”
    “That’s not the description I have in mind.”
    “Best friend?”
    “Better. But I’m waiting for you to say boyfriend again.”
    I’m waiting too
, she thought.
But I’m not there. Oh, Reeve, I love you, but I’m
not able to take you back. Not now. Maybe not ever
.
    Janie Johnson, gone so long,
    Can’t remember right from wrong.
    Reeve, who had done her wrong, was the right person.
    Or was he?
    The woman formerly known as Hannah went back to her computer, but it had turned itself off! Her time was up! Probably that librarian had looked at the screen while Hannah was busy! It had probably been open to her Janie Johnson search! She could never come here again!
    It was all that librarian’s fault!
    Hannah stuck her hand into her tote bag and wrapped her fingers around the rough surface of her rock. The sharp edge dug into her palm. She would smash it into the stupid screen. That would show this stupid librarian.
    She thought about what she would do to that Janie Johnson if she ever ran into her.
    And then Hannah thought,
It doesn’t have to be an “if.” I know everything. The Internet gave it to me. I know where she lives. I’ve seen the house on Street View and I printed out a Google map
.
    Smiling, Hannah walked out of the library.
    She had a future after all.
    She had Janie in her sights.
    As the months went by, it turned out that a high school senior class had bigger things to think about than some video. Janie’s friends cared about college. Where to go? How far from home? At what cost? Studying what major?
    As the video slipped down the charts, replaced by new albums, Janie seemed to be the only one who noticed. The music and ugly words slid away, getting smaller and harder to hear. Now that the crazed, pulsing little video had less power over her, Janie yearned to talk about it with her best friend.
    But Sarah-Charlotte’s sole topic of conversation was the Massachusetts university to which she was applying. “You come too, Janie. It’s not that far from all four of your parents. You can get home any weekend by train. And we’ll be in the same place, taking the same classes—and maybe we can even be roommates!”
    The video was becoming history. Janie was sobered to find that she wanted other things in life to become history too. She did not want to be roommates with her best friend. She did not want to share a campus. Her best friend knew too much, and Janie wanted to say good-bye to the past.
    It was risky. It was scary. But Janie Johnson wanted