Ultraviolet Catastrophe Read Online Free Page B

right now.”
    Fury. Betrayal. Disappointment. They all swirled through me, forming a ball in my chest so big I could barely catch my breath.
    What could I have done — what could I have been — if I’d never been given those drugs? Everything in my life belonged to some other girl. Some other Lexie with a different brain.
    No wonder I’d never felt like I’d fit in at school, like my mind had never functioned quite right. All the fogginess, all the strange flashes of knowledge. Things I never should have known.
    It was all their fault.
    “Why are you telling me this now?” My raspy voice sounded like it was coming from someone else. Somewhere else.
    Mom met my gaze, her lips thinning before she spoke. “We don’t think the pills are working any more. Those headaches you’re getting? We think your brain is resetting itself.”
    “So what?” I willed myself to stand still instead of running to my room and slamming the door. I needed them to tell me the truth, to tell me what was so horrible about me that they felt the need to literally change who I was.
    Dad shifted in his chair and wouldn’t meet my eyes. “Now that the medication isn’t working, we want to make this right. You’re moving here to Tennessee. You’re going to live with me and go to Quantum High where you can be accepted for your intelligence.”
    I blinked at him, shock pushing away the hurt and betrayal for a moment. “There’s no way in hell that’s happening. I am not moving here to live with you. My friends, my school, my life is in Ohio. You can’t do this to me!” My voice rose to a screech.
    Mom twisted the towel even tighter but shook her head. “I’m sorry, honey. I know you’re feeling angry right now, and you have every right to be. But you have to know we’re doing this because we love you and want to protect you.”
    “And you couldn’t have found another way to protect me besides drugging me into stupidity? Yanking me from my home? Lying to me?” I could barely stand to look at either of them, all remorseful and weepy. I turned and stared down the hallway, trying to stop my body from trembling. I was such a messed up mix of emotions I didn’t even know how to feel.
    Screw this. I did know how to feel. Pissed off.
    I whirled on my heel and glared at both of them. “I hate you. I hate what you’ve done. I hate that you lied to me. I don’t care what your reasons were or what lies you’re still telling, but I am done. I’m not living with people who’d lie to me or a father who’d rather spend time with a microscope than his own family.”
    “Lexie!”
    Mom’s shocked gasp almost made me feel guilty, but I shook it off. “Oh, I’m sorry. I thought we were all being honest in this caring-and-sharing session.”
    Dad put his hand on Mom’s arm. “It’s fine, Maria. She has every right to hate us.”
    Rage surged through me again at the patient tone of his voice. Of course, he was calm. His parents hadn’t just messed with his entire life. “Wow, it’s like you’re a rocket scientist or something! Yes. I do have every right to hate you. And trust me, I do.”
    Mom’s breath hitched, and she turned away to stare out the window over the sink. Her shoulders trembled, but I gritted my teeth. Her betrayal hurt even worse than Dad’s. We’d been a team. I’d trusted her.
    She’d lied to me about everything .
    The shock of it made the room spin again, and I threw out a hand to steady myself against the wall. Dad stood helplessly in the middle of the kitchen, glancing between the two of us. His face was as pale as marble, and the lines around his eyes looked like they were carved into his skin.
    And then suddenly, I couldn’t do it anymore. I couldn’t be there in the same room as them. I couldn’t breathe in the air, polluted with their lies and regrets. I couldn’t listen to their excuses.
    There was no apology they could give that would make this right.
    Tears burned behind my eyes, and I gulped for