Shelter Me Read Online Free

especially if you're going out. But try not to go out. Don't stay out for a long time. No bike rides ."
    On the floor, at my feet, Molly's tail thumped on the floor at the sound of her name.
    I squeezed my eyes shut for a second. " Mom ," I said, my tone finishing the sentence for me.
    "I want to be able to get in touch with you," she said, firmly.
    I waved my cell phone in her general direction.
    "Half the places you ride don't have service. I'm sure I don't have to remind you about the time -"
    "Yeah, yeah, okay." I swiveled around in my chair. "No bike rides. Got it, warden."
    She smacked me lightly on the back of the head. "You're going to break your leg someday."
    I rolled my eyes and went back to my chat. Brandon was keeping me updated on the painful process of finishing a college essay. He'd elected to take a year off, giving him plenty of time to find just the right school. In theory, at least.

    Brandon: they want me to talk about a time when I was excluded because i'm different
    Brandon: help me jacob-wan
    Brandon: you're my only hope

    I smirked.

    Me: i think they might be fishing for something a little more meaningful than "clearly I am smarter than everybody and I often feel left out because of that, here are several examples"
    Me: so I got nothing for you, sorry buddy

    He lost no time in responding.

    Brandon: thx man deeply appreciate your help as always

    My mom was kissing me on the top of the head. "Who's that you're talking to?"
    "Brandon," I said.  
    She made a little face. "All right, well. Don't waste too much time on that instant messenger. Make sure to eat something reasonable for dinner. Okay? If I see something on your Facebook about having nothing but yogurt pops and canned chili, I'll come back here and rap your knuckles."
    "Okay, sure, mom."
    "Love you."
    "Love you too."
    "Are you guys coming?" came my sister's voice, faintly, from out in the car.
    "Be right out, honey. Sorry!"
    My parents finally managed to get themselves out the door, and I cracked my knuckles before going back to my conversation with Brandon.

    Me: so apparently i'm not allowed to ride bikes while they're gone
    Me: no word yet on whether i can have play dates or my blankie

    Brandon: well to be fair you pretty much get yourself lost on a mountain every time you get on that bike

    Me: that happened like one time

    Brandon: yeah one time, six times, what's the difference

    Me: shut up
    Me: brb getting something to eat

    I wasn't really planning on having yogurt pops for dinner, but since she mentioned it, I couldn't get the idea out of my head. She pretty much only bought them for my sister Sara, but everyone once in a while I got a craving for nostalgia snack food.
    Walking back from the fridge with a yogurt pop dangling from my mouth, I considered the bike ride ban. I was sure I could go out without any issues, so long as I didn't stay out of our cell service area for too long. Not returning a call or text for about half an hour could be explained away easily, but much longer than that and she'd get suspicious.
    Following her ordinance simply wasn't an option. I needed to ride my bike like I needed to breathe. Especially at time like this, with Sara going into the hospital again, I desperately needed something to take my mind off of everything.
    Not that it was any big deal. Not this time. It wasn't like that one bitterly cold January morning when we'd rushed her in after she fell and hit her head on the coffee table. And it wasn't nearly as bad as the time she almost bit clean through her tongue. But she'd started having seizures in her sleep again, and they wanted to study her overnight to see if they could come up with a more effective treatment plan.
    The seizures would wake her up and make it hard to go back to sleep, which in turn made it a lot more likely for her to have violent and unpredictable fits during the day. No medication could keep them at bay if she was sleep-deprived, and these days, she had bags under her