Almost Perfect Read Online Free

every morning. I can eat at school.” I knew I qualified for the free meals program.
    Mom slid two fried eggs onto my plate. She looked tired. Lately, I’d noticed the wrinkles around her eyes and the gray starting to streak her hair. Fourteen years of being a single parent were taking their toll. She got too little sleep. I couldn’t remember the last time she’d gone out with her friends.
    “Sit down with me and eat,” she said, patting the cheap table my grandfather had given us. “I don’t get to see you that often anymore.”
    Obediently, I joined her. It was always kind of awkward, these meals alone with my mother. More and more I felt like we didn’t have anything to talk about. Things had been easier when Laura was around. She had enough personality for all three of us.
    “So you haven’t filled out your application for college yet,” she said, pointing to the form still magneted to the fridge. “It’s due by January.”
    I didn’t meet her eyes. “I have plenty of time.”
    “I don’t see why you’re putting it off; it’ll only take half an hour. I could help you, or you could ask your counselor.”
    “I’ll get to it,” I snapped. I was sick of talking about this. For years, college and Brenda had gone together. Now that she was gone, I wasn’t sure that was the route I wanted to take. What would I do there? Get drunk and party? I could do that in Boyer. And what would I study? I could get a business degree and end up managing a tire place or a motel somewhere. Or get my teaching certificate and wind up coaching and teaching social studies. Neither prospect thrilled me.
    “I stopped by the library and picked up some information about student loans,” continued Mom. “I have Wednesday off. Maybe we could sit down and …”
    I threw down my fork. “Mom! Drop it, okay? What’s the big deal if I don’t go to college? I mean, maybe I could just work for a year, save up some money, and then go.”
    For a second, I thought Mom was going to cry. The apologies clogged my throat in an effort to get out.
    “Aw, Mom, I didn’t mean that. It’s just …”
    Mom quickly regained her composure. “Logan, listen to me. I can’t afford to send you to school. There’s been a lot I haven’t been able to give you and Laura …”
    “Mom!” She’d worked her whole life just to support us. The last thing I wanted was to make her feel like that wasn’t enough.
    “Let me finish. Logan, it’d be so easy for you just to stay here. You could keep mowing grass. You could probably have your own landscaping business in ten years. And I wouldn’t have to miss you like I do Laura. But, honey, that’s the same thing I thought twenty years ago. I figured it was okay just to get married right out of high school. I thought I’d still be able to do all those things I wanted to. And now … my kids are leaving home, and I realize I’m exactly where I was at eighteen. And I don’t want that to happen to you. I don’t want you to look back and see a lot of missed opportunities.”
    I touched Mom’s hand. “I know you’re right. I promise I’ll fill out those forms this week.”
    She smiled at me. “Thanks, Logan.”
    I grabbed my bag and stood to leave. There was something else I had to say.
    “And Mom? I, um … I …”
    “I love you too, honey.”
    That morning, I didn’t sit around waiting for Brenda. Maybe I was trying to get over her, or maybe I just didn’t want Tim to catch me stalking again. As I walked toward bio, I found myself thinking about Sage.
    I couldn’t remember ever meeting a chick that strange.Even after an hour of class, I knew that weird girl wasn’t like anyone in Boyer. Too colorful, too outspoken, too wild.
    Brenda never would have dressed in crazy clothes like that. She always dressed in long skirts and plain sweaters. And she wouldn’t have joked around with people she’d just met, either. Brenda was so reserved that she still had a hard time talking to my