Aberrant Trilogy 1: Super Charged Read Online Free Page B

horrible, guttural sigh. Her head hangs low on her shoulders.
    I would go to get out of the car, but something in my gut stops me. I wait for her to speak.
    “I can’t keep doing this,” she says, not looking over at me. She keeps her eyes on the steering wheel. “I can’t keep getting calls saying that you were in a dangerous situation. I already lost your father, and I can’t lose you, too.”
    “I’m sorry,” I say. “Really. I didn’t mean to get in trouble.”
    “But, you did.” Mom looks up at me this time, her eyes ringed with dark circles. “You keep getting into trouble, and I just don’t have enough patience for it. There’s no way that you are just going to lounge around your bedroom for a month. That’s not what you need.”
    This conversation is taking a strange turn. My ears prick up at what Mom just said. Not what I need…
    “What do I need?” I ask, my brow furrowed. I grip the straps of my backpack tightly.
    “You need discipline,” Mom says. “You need structure. You need to get away from all the memories and the bustle of the city and just take the time to get out of your own head. Those are all things that I can’t provide, though God knows I’m trying.”
    She drums her fingers on the steering wheel. Each one makes a single tap on the faux leather.
    I gulp.
    “So, what are you saying?” I ask, my voice soft.
    Mom’s eyes look at me, but they aren’t really looking at me. They’re staring through my chest and there’s a sadness there. Regret.
    “I’m saying that you need to go and stay with your grandparents for a while,” she says.
    These words strike me like a bullet. I sit back, my shoulders leaning against the cold glass of the passenger window.
    “You can’t be serious,” I say. My hands are now so tight around my backpack straps that they are soaking the fabric with sweat.
    “I am.”
    I begin to tremble. This was not how things were supposed to go. Mae flashes into my mind. My best friend. She’s the one who has been there for me since the tragedy. Now I have to leave her behind. I have to be completely alone. The thought sends chills down my spine.
    Stay with my grandparents?
    My grandparents live way up north in the woods. There’s nothing there to do except go outside into the wilderness. At least in Boston there are things to do. There are places I can go and be entertained. Up in Maine? That’s the boonies! There’s nothing for me to do up there except mope!
    Can that really be what I need?
    I am the speechless one now.
    Mom shakes her head, again not really looking at me.
    “I’m sorry,” she says.
    I swallow the lump in my throat.
    I don’t care if she’s sorry or not.
    I open my door, take my backpack with me, and step out onto the front walkway. Then I slam the door shut and head inside, not stopping until I make it to my bedroom.
    I look around at everything. The familiar ocean blue walls. The bookcases filled with graphic novels, RA Salvatore paperbacks, and Lego Star Wars models.
    I’m going to be leaving all this behind. My world.
    My hand releases on my backpack and it falls to the floor. My broken iPhone, which was tucked into the mesh pocket on the side, becomes dislodged and skitters across the Pergo flooring. Its screen glints in the dying sunlight streaming through the windows.
    All this for a single video , I think.
    Mae was right. It wasn’t worth it.

5
    Pine Grove

    The drive from Massachusetts to Maine is excruciatingly long. I barely had a chance to call Mae and tell her goodbye before all my things were shoved into a duffel bag and thrown into the back seat of Mom’s car. Not only am I without my iPhone because it is smashed, I have to put up with a track phone that’s to be used only for emergencies. Goodbye social life , I think.
    The majority of the drive is spent in silence. Mom doesn’t say anything, and I don’t have much to say to her anyway.
    After what feels like forever, Mom pulls off the highway and onto the