Breaking Point Read Online Free Page B

have to ride this out. We have to be on our best behavior. Then no one will suspect anything. I’ll come visit you at night like this. Then, when you get out, we can’t be seen together too much. We don’t want them to see us like that.”
    There was silence at first, and then she said something that was like a bombshell. “But I love you,” she said. There was desperation in her voice.
    â€œAnd I love you too,” I heard myself say. But the words scared the crap out of me.

Chapter Seven
    I don’t know how I did it, but I watched and waited each night for a quiet time to go sit in the hallway and talk to Brianna. I could never stay long, but I knew she really needed it. Funny thing about girls. I’d never really had a girlfriend. Some girls liked me, but those girls I found boring. The girls I liked tended to be bad girls—troublemakers at school, girls who got into some bad stuff out in the world. But none of them ever seemed interested in me.
    Now, I guess I’d found a girl—Brianna. I had finally found my very own bad girl.
    Three days into Brianna’s isolation, the younger kids arrived for a day visit. Some of my fellow inmates were sent off on kayak trips, but about twenty of us were left behind to act as “guides” for the visiting rug rats. Chris explained that it was a new idea. An experiment. “But you have to do it right. Talk to your guest and get to know him. Tell him about the camp, about you. It’s your chance to be a role model.”
    â€œI’ve never been a role model for anything.” The whole idea seemed ridiculous.
    â€œGive it a shot. You do well, and it will look good on you.”
    I knew that this was some kind of test. Chris was giving me responsibility and “believing in me.” It wasn’t like I was going to teach the kid to break into people’s houses. I could play the game.
    The kid’s name was Philip. He was twelve, and he arrived on a bus from the city with the others. Chris introduced me to him and told us the ground rules. Everyone had to stay between the camp building and the water, and we could play games, talk, do silly art projects or just hang out. Chris handed a set of questions to me and a set to Philip. We were supposed to ask each other these things to get to know each other. It seemed totally lame, but I knew if I played it well, this day would set me up to look really trustworthy.
    And that would make it easier to escape with Brianna when the time came.
    Philip was about the most unhappy little kid I’d ever seen. I hadn’t spent much time around younger kids and found it hard at first to even get him talking. We both went through our list of questions giving one- or two-word answers and rolling our eyes about the whole thing. Chris and the other workers hung back at a distance, but they were watching us, so I played along with things.
    Philip and I were sitting on a wooden picnic table a bit off from the others. When the questions were over, he just sat there looking off at the water. His face said it all. He was hurt and he was angry, and for a minute I was speechless. Then I realized what I was feeling. I was feeling sorry for this poor little slob. Philip was a bigger walking disaster than I was.
    I cleared my throat. “You ever want any lessons in all the wrong things to do in life, just ask me. I’m the king of bad decisions.”
    He blinked but didn’t turn to look at me. He stared out at the water like he wasn’t even there.
    â€œSo give me something to work with here. I need to look like I’m good at this…whatever this is.”
    He turned then and looked straight at me. “What the hell do you want me to do?” Philip snapped. “I hate this shit. I hate being here. And I hate my life. Work with that, asshole.”
    It caught me off guard. The little snot had quite the mouth on him. At first I was pissed. Who the hell was he to talk