Shattered World (Broken World Book 2) Read Online Free Page B

does.
    The urge to get away from her is suddenly so strong that I jump to my feet, almost knocking my coffee cup over in the process. “I think I’ll head back and get myself dressed. Um, I’m probably going to have to borrow some clothes. Mine are all dirty.”
    She waves her hand in the air dismissively. “Whatever you need. And if you want to throw your clothes in the washer, we can do that too. Seriously, make yourself at home.”
    I do my best to return her smile. I like Hadley, I really do, but the fact that she’s already thinking about jumping Axl’s bones makes me want to bitch slap her.
    After I’m dressed, I throw myself on the couch in the living room. Hadley’s reading a book and I briefly consider going upstairs to get one, but to be honest, I’m just too tired. There are way too many stairs between me and the common area.
    Hadley looks up from her book and gives me a hopeful smile. “You want to go to the pool or something?”
    I lay my head back and close my eyes. “I’m exhausted. Maybe later.”
    She doesn’t answer and I’m just too tired to open my eyes, so I let it go. Instead, I try to relax. My mind is buzzing but my limbs are heavy, and it doesn’t take long for me to get that weightless feeling that proceeds sleep. I exhale slowly and give into it.
    I’ve just started to drift off when there’s a small knock on the door that makes me jump. My eyes fly open and I bolt upright, letting out a little yelp that sounds like a frightened animal more than a person. Hadley arches an eyebrow, and my cheeks grow warm. I’m jumpy as hell. Side effect of the dead walking the Earth, I guess.
    “You okay?” she asks as she gets to her feet and crosses the room, studying me calmly.
    I nervously play with my hair, twisting a chunk of it around my finger like you see little kids do when they’re sleepy. I used to do it all the time when I was little. Would do it all night long and wake up with giant knots in my hair. My mom would cuss her head off while she tried to brush them out. I haven’t done it in years, though. I’d actually forgotten all about it. Why the hell did it come to mind now?
    I try to push the thought of my mother out of my mind as I follow Hadley to the door. That bitch is the last thing I want to focus on. Mostly because there’s a small part of me that wonders if she’s still alive. If she’s immune, or if she lived long enough to get eaten. Which way do I want it to be? Sometimes when I picture her dying a horrible death—either from the virus or from one of the dead eating her—a sliver of satisfaction shoots through me. Like she finally got what she deserved. But other times, it just makes me all the pain and sadness swimming through me more intense. I’m tired of feeling sad.
    Hadley opens the door, and Parvarti stares back at us. She tugs on her black hair, and her dark eyes get huge when they rest on Hadley. They dart around to meet mine and she relaxes a little, but not much.
    “What’s up, Parv?” I say, calling her by the nickname Trey’s been using. Hopefully, it will help her relax. She’s so tightly wound I’m afraid she’s going to burst into tears at any moment. I don’t have a clue why, though.
    She tugs harder on her black strands and shrinks about three inches while she stares at the ground. God, she reminds me of a kid, standing there in what has to be Trey’s Cornell sweatshirt and a pair of yoga pants that are way too long for her.
    “I was wondering…” She doesn’t look up, and her cheeks turn so red that it’s visible even on her dark skin. “I just wanted to know if you had—”
    Hadley looks at me and raises an eyebrow. She does that a lot. I shrug and look back at Parvarti, waiting for her to continue. But she just keeps pulling on her hair and beating around the bush. I have the sudden urge to yell at her, to tell her to just spit it out. She obviously needs something she’s embarrassed to ask for. It’s probably tampons or