Breaking Free Read Online Free Page A

few days of the trip. I couldn’t believe that Sheila, my bitch of a stepmom, had shipped me there.  I’m a girly-girl, not the camping, hiking, X Games type of girl who could handle living in the woods for a month.  I’m not sure why she thought that would solve my problems.  Or maybe it was just her way to get me out of her hair.  I bet she’s regretting that decision after everything that’s happened.  No doubt she’s already scouring the internet, looking for somewhere else she can send me.  No other place will have JC, though.  He was the only thing that made my time there bearable.
    I return to his journal and read the next entry.
     
    Day 2:  Today was interesting.  Malibu Barbie, who I promised to call Mal from now on, is proving that first impressions may not always be correct. Turns out she has much more fortitude than I imagined after her spoiled-brat, woe-is-me performance yesterday.  Neeky, on the other hand, may have just found himself a ride home.  Hopefully, he’s not here by order of the court like me or he’ll be totally screwed.
     
    “Holy shit.”
    “Se ñorita Kelsie?” Marta asks from her perch on a stool at the kitchen island.
    “ JC had a court order to be there.”
    “Why?”
    I shrug because he never told me.  After everything that happened, I have a couple ideas of what it could be, but they would just be guesses.  In general, he was by far a better person than me.  I knew that by Day Two.

 
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 4 :  July 19 (Day 2)
     
     
    I awoke to Chris yelling for everyone to get up and select their chores for the day.  Hauling my camping pillow over my head, I tried to muffle the sound of her voice.  Even with my ears buried in fabric, I heard zippers being pulled all around me as the others exited their tents.  After a few minutes, I heard a much closer zipper.
    “ Kelsie, time to get up.”
    I move d the pillow and tilted my head toward my feet, cracking one eye.  Chris was kneeling in my tent, looking down at me with her trademark smile.
    “ In a few minutes,” I replied and rolled to my side.
    She nodded and left without another word.  I lay silently in my sleeping bag wondering again why she never engaged me in a fight.  I pushed back once more, and once more she smiled like it didn’t matter to her one way or the other.  It didn’t make sense.  Chris was there to make us upstanding teenagers, but she didn’t seem to know how to deal with me at all.  I figured maybe I was more than she was used to.  That thought brought a grin to my face.
    As hard as I tried to fall back asleep, it was useless.  The others were loud, the sun was bright, and the smell of pancakes was overwhelming. I attempted to crawl out of my sleeping bag, but soon realized every muscle in my body was stiff.  My back, my legs, my arms, yesterday’s hike really took its toll on my body.  Not to mention my feet.  I looked down to the socks that were crusted with dirt. Groaning with each movement, I leaned over and peeked in my compact mirror.  What I saw caused me to gasp.  I didn’t recognize the girl staring back at me.  My face was dirty, mascara from yesterday was smudged, and I had dark circles under my eyes.  I used water from my canteen to wash away as much grime as possible and then covered everything else up with a fresh coat of foundation.  I was going to need a real shower sometime soon.  Then I remembered my plan.  I would be taking a shower in my own bathroom in no time.  That realization significantly brightened my outlook.  I exited my tent and wandered over to the fire, taking a seat next to Mia.
    “Good morning, Princess.  So ni ce of you to join us,” Chris said, flipping a pancake.
    I ignore d her and grabbed a pancake from the stack.  Nibbling on the edge, I was struck by how good it was.  Either I was so hungry that everything tasted good or Chris was an outstanding cook.  Either way, I wasn’t about to let her know how much I