Handcuffs Read Online Free Page B

cotton.
    “Marion can’t seem to understand that the thing with Paige and her brother has nothing to do with me, or with her, either.” It makes me so mad, the way she treats me like a leper or something.
    “I heard they had to put Kyle into a center for depression a few months ago, that he was completely suicidal before they hospitalized him,” Raye says.
    “No way. That didn’t happen.”
    “How do you know?” Raye puts down the shirt. I pick it up.
    “I would know. I would’ve heard.”
    “From who, Marion? She won’t speak to you, and she’s not going to put anything bad about Saint Kyle on her blog, that’s for sure.” Marion has this blog that’s a big deal around our school, even though Marion herself is not.
    “I just think I would’ve heard.” I hold up the shirt she put down. “You don’t like this?”
    “I already have a shirt that same color. You want it?” I hold the hanger up and away from me and look at the shirt, thinking about how much Marion cares for Kyle. They’re like a different species than me and my sister. Paige wouldn’t care if I fell off a building and got a concussion, unless blood splattered on her and messed up her outfit.
    “I don’t think I own anything hot pink” is what I say.
    “You should get it, that color would look good on you.”
    “Yeah?” I look at the price tag. “We really need to go.” I put the shirt back on the rack, remembering that I have no disposable income. None. “We should go down to the food court.” I suggest this but don’t leave the store until Raye glances at one last shirt and then turns and walks out. I’m two steps behind her. I take a deep breath.
    “I visited the basement yesterday.” I’ve been putting off telling her this, but all of a sudden I need to talk.
    “No!”
    “Yeah.”
    “I thought he told you not to come over again unless you were willing to . . .” I grab her arm and she laughs. “Just because you don’t want to do it doesn’t mean I can’t say it, Parker!”
    “Whatever.” I put my hands into the pockets of my jeans and shuffle my feet around a little.
    “So did you?”
    “It doesn’t matter.”
    “Are you back together?”
    “No.”
    “So you didn’t?”
    “It was Christmas, Raye.”
    “What does that even mean?”
    I shake my head at her and we walk along in silence.
    The mall is a sad shrine to materialism. The wreaths are crooked, the boughs of holly are falling down, and the happy holidays sign over the entrance is askew. The mallployees were perhaps too overwhelmed on Christmas Eve to do more than ring up the pathetic last-minute shoppers. Now there are lines and lines of people returning crappy gifts. I wonder if the Things Remembered store would like to have a key returned. Piece of crap probably came from Wal-Mart, anyway. Or the hardware store. It’s in my pocket now, jingling around on my vintage Hello Kitty key chain.
    “You have that dreamy look on your face.”
    “I don’t.”
    “You do. You’re thinking about lover boy.”
    “I wasn’t. But I am now.” I feel my mouth curving into this goofy grin that feels pretty good.
    “God, Parker. You should just marry him and move into his basement lair.”
    “Maybe I will.” I smile at her. She knows he makes me crazy. She knows why we broke up. There isn’t any reason to go back over it now. Not here in the middle of the mall between the hordes of preteens flocking to Limited Too and the chunky post-teens flocking to the Great American Cookie Company.
    “So how about it, you want to go on a date? There’s this guy I’ve been checking out, and he has a friend.” Raye has access to a much wider pool of boys than the rest of us because her dad lives in this gated community all the way across town. So the boys in her dad’s neighborhood go to a totally different school, and she’s always meeting guys who ask her out. Once I spent the night with her at her dad’s and some guy from down the street turned and looked at