Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 107306 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107306 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
“Be good, Rory,” Dad tells me. “Don’t ruin this for me.”
“I won’t. I promise.”
Rian is on his phone when we get outside, and he signals for us to go to the car. He joins us a moment later, then drives us to the biggest house I’ve ever seen.
“Come on, kid.” Rian gets out of the car. “You stay here,” he tells my dad before leading me into the house. As soon as I walk in, I see a pretty woman in a pink sweater. She has a kind smile. But my attention is drawn to the boy beside her. He’s taller and bigger than me, with brown hair that hangs in his face and big blue eyes. He’s wearing dressy pants and a button-up shirt. I’m in an old T-shirt with a plane on it and dirty jeans.
“Hello,” the woman says. “You must be Rory. I’m Moira, and this is my son, Cillian.”
He steps forward, the way his dad did earlier, holding his hand out for me.
“Don’t old people do that?” I ask.
He cracks a smile. I like his smile, but I don’t want him to know I like it, so I bite my cheeks to keep from doing the same.
“It’s called respect,” Rian tells me. “Your father should teach you that.”
Cillian rolls his eyes behind his dad’s back, and again, I have to try not to grin.
“I need to go,” Rian tells Moira.
“Go ahead. We’ll be fine.” She hugs him, then gives him a kiss. “I love you.”
“I love you more,” he answers, his smile overtaking his face.
Love? My mom says that to me sometimes, especially when she’s not tired and sad, but Mom and Dad never say it to each other. I know what it is. I know I love my parents, but it also feels like this weird thing that I don’t understand.
“You take care of your mom for me while I’m gone.” Rian hugs Cillian next. “I don’t trust anyone to do it except you.”
“I will, Dad!” He beams, clearly proud of being her protector.
Rian squeezes my shoulder, then leaves.
“Here, I’ll take that bag for you,” Moira says, and I hand it over. “Why don’t you boys get to know each other while I make dinner. After we eat, we’ll bring some over to your mom. How does that sound?”
“I tried to cook, but I burned myself. What do you have to eat? I like cereal. And candy. Do you have a TV? I like video games too.”
She chuckles. “You can have cereal for breakfast. We’ll have something with a little more sustenance for dinner. Where did you burn yourself?”
I show her, and she leads me into the bathroom, where she puts cream and a bandage on it, Cillian watching from the doorway. She tells us we can play now, then leaves us to it.
“What do you want to do?” Cillian asks.
Nothing. Everything. How am I supposed to know?
This boy is weird…and nice. I should want to throw rocks at him too, but I don’t.
“What do you like to do with your other friends?” he asks.
I eye him, refusing to look away, not wanting him to think I care. “I don’t have friends.”
“None?”
“Never and I don’t need them.”
Angry for a reason I don’t understand, I turn and walk away. I sit on the couch, arms crossed, determined not to want to talk to him—this boy who has friends and parents who are nice and who is nice to me.
I’m surprised when he sits beside me. “I’ll be your friend.”
“What if I don’t want you to?” But I do. I want it so much.
“Too bad. I’ve already decided I am.”
And he does become my friend.
He introduces me to Tiernan and Aislin. They’re his cousins. I don’t have any of those, but eventually they feel like they’re my cousins too.
Moira gets my mom out of bed and gets me enrolled in school. She tells the people there to put me in Cillian’s class, and they do, just like that.
Any time I don’t act right, when I don’t do the things the other kids do, I watch Cillian, learn from him, try to copy his behavior. When I get in trouble in class, when the teachers get mad because I go through all the kids’ cubbies or make a mess in the room, Cillian helps. When I can’t control my anger or do bad things I know I’m not supposed to do, Cillian helps with that too.
I feel guilty when I stay at his house too much, leaving my mom alone. Moira, along with Tiernan’s mom, Fia, try to be friends with Mom, but it’s not always easy to get her out of bed. My mom gets mean to them when they try, and that makes me mad at my mom. I don’t want to be mad at her.
Sometimes I’m out of control, and when the school sends notes to my parents because I’m fighting or causing trouble, Moira or Fia handle that.