Snitch Read Online Free

being in the wrong.”
    Travis grinned at me.
    Amy cleared her throat. “Sometimes it’s really not a person’s fault,” she said in a quiet voice. “Sometimes you have a bad day when everything seems to go wrong.”
    â€œThat’s true too,” Mr. Weller said. He turned to me. “But when you joined the program, Josh, you agreed to be here on time. Maybe if you’d aimed to get here a few minutes early instead of just on time, you wouldn’t have missed the beginning of the session.”
    â€œMaybe if you didn’t have that stupid rule about having to wait until the break, I wouldn’t have had to stand out in the hall for the past twenty-five minutes,” I said.
    â€œExcuse me, Brian,” Travis said, “but I don’t think Gillick is making a sincere apology.”
    Mr. Weller looked at me. “Care to try that again, Josh?”
    I apologized again. I didn’t care whether it sounded sincere or not. Mr. Weller gave me a schoolteacher look. He told me to sit down and then moved on to the next part of the session.
    Things didn’t go much better after Maggie and Scott brought in the dogs. This time everyone got their dogs to sit at least once. Most of the dogs sat several times. But not Sully. He wouldn’t listen to me.
    â€œStupid dog,” I muttered, jerking on his leash.
    Sully growled.
    â€œHe’s tense,” Scott said. Who had even asked him? “He’s tense because you’re tense. What you’re feeling, Josh, it travels down the leash. If you want him to calm down and listen, you have to calm down. You can’t make him do what you want by jerking his leash and yelling at him.”
    He took the leash from my hand and calmly told Sully to sit. It took him three tries, but he did it. Show-off. I wantedto hit him. But Mr. Weller was watching me, his arms crossed over his chest as if he was mad at me for not apologizing the way he wanted.
    â€œHere,” Scott said, handing the leash back to me. “Why don’t you try? Just take a deep breath and think about something nice so you can calm down.”
    Mr. Weller was still watching me.
    I thought about Digby and how he always looked so happy to see me when I got back to the apartment. Then I took a deep breath and tried to remember everything Maggie had told us about getting a dog to sit—what to say, how to move my hand. I did everything just like she had showed us.
    Sully didn’t sit.
    â€œYour technique is good,” Scott said. “Try it again.”
    I took another deep breath and started again.
    I think I was the most surprised person in the room when Sully’s butt finally hit the ground.
    â€œGood dog,” I said. “Good dog.”
    â€œThere you go,” Scott said. He flashed me his goofy, lopsided grin. “If he did it once, he can do it again. Let’s reinforce what he’s learned so he doesn’t forget.”
    Sully sat again. And again. And again. He sat every single time I asked him to. I couldn’t believe it.
    â€œGood dog,” I said, smiling at him. “Good dog.”

Chapter Six
    I could just about handle living in that cramped apartment when Andrew was home to distract Miranda. But lately he was pulling double shifts at the video store, on top of his second job delivering morning newspapers. That meant I was stuck with Miranda a lot. And she was always after me about something, sometimes the minute I came through the door.
    Like the next day, when I came home after school to grab a bite to eat before I went to the program. She was in my face before I even closed the door.
    â€œDid you think I wouldn’t notice, Josh?” she screamed at me. “Do you think I’m that stupid?”
    â€œI don’t know what you’re talking about.” I tried to get past her and into the living room. But she blocked my way.
    â€œWhat did you spend it on, Josh? Did you go to the arcade? Or