Nanny Next Door Read Online Free Page B

her mom wouldn’t hear her. Her father was long gone and when she reached the corner Shane was waiting.
    “I thought you had to go home,” he said as she climbed in.
    “Not anymore.” She used her cell to call her mom and tell her she would be late.
    “Something came up at work and your dad can’t make it tonight,” her mom said.
    Lacey knew it was a lie. She knew her father dumped her for the bimbo. Again. She had no clue why her mom always tried to protect him.
    “I’ll be home by ten,” she said and hung up before her mom could say no.
    She tossed the phone on the seat and turned on the radio, cranking up the volume. As long as the music was loud, she could forget about how messed up everything had become.
    When her parents were still married and fighting constantly, she would sit in her room with the music turned up. She didn’t want to hear the awful things they said to each other. She’d hoped the fighting would stop when they finally got divorced, but it had only gotten worse. Every time she saw her dad, he was meaner and meaner to her mom.
    As Shane tore down the street, Lacey plucked a pack of cigarettes from his shirt pocket. He handed her a lighter and she lit them each one. She inhaled deeply, feeling the smoke burn her lungs.
    Shane reached over and turned down the radio. “Okay, what did I do?”
    She flicked her ashes out the open window. “What do you mean?”
    “You only smoke when you’re pissed off about something.”
    She brought her knees up to her chin and hugged her legs. “It’s not you.” The cigarette was starting to make her sick so she tossed it out the window. “My life sucks and it’s all that bimbo’s fault.”
    Shane huffed. “That’s nothing. My dad brought home Bimbo Number Four last Saturday. I think he’s getting married again.”
    It annoyed her that Shane always thought his problems were bigger. He didn’t get it. His family was normal compared to hers. But he was cute, had a cool car and money to burn. And he didn’t treat her like she was a freak. So what if he wasn’t the best kisser in the world? Kissing was highly overrated as far as she was concerned. That was as far as she would let him go, anyway. No way was she going to take a chance and end up pregnant and married like her mom. She wasn’t ever getting married.
    “My mom lost her job today,” Lacey told Shane, even though she was pretty sure he didn’t care. “It’s all my father’s fault. I hate him.” She turned to look out the window, squeezing her eyes shut. She wasn’t going to cry. She never cried in front of anyone.
    “So, what do you want to do now?” he asked.
    “We’ve got finals to study for.”
    “Boring.”
    Typical Shane. He didn’t take school seriously. Actually, there wasn’t much he did take seriously. But he was right: studying was boring and she doubted she’d be able to concentrate anyway.
    “Okay,” she said, turning to him with a sly smile. “Let’s do something fun instead. Something that will really piss my dad off.”
    “Great, let’s do something fun.”
    She couldn’t stop the bad stuff that was happening or change the past, but she could get back at her father for all the crap he’d put them through. And she knew just how to do it.

    S YDNEY WOKE late the next morning, a blazing headache thrumming the inside of her skull. She shuffled to the kitchen, doing her best to ignore the damaged wall, and fished a can of coffee from the cupboard. She pried off the plastic lid and groaned. Empty.
    Out of sheer desperation she put the kettle on to boil and dug out an ancient jar of instant decaffeinated shoved to the back on the uppermost shelf. A trace of caffeine was better than nothing. She spooned a clump of the gooey, congealed crystals into her cup, filled it with boiling water, and sipped, scrunching up her nose with distaste. It ranked right up there with the sludge left in the pot in the teachers’ lounge at the end of the day.
    “Why are you