Fractured ( Fractured #1) Read Online Free Page A

system for shifting her weight to help with the climb. I gently helped her onto the bed and lifted her feet. She was only wearing one slipper. I’d have to search for its mate later.
    “I’m thirsty,” she said in a barely coherent slur. I gave her the bottle of water I kept next to her bed. She took one sip, scrunched up her nose, and handed it back. “Yuck! I’m thirsty, Mandy. Get me a drink.”
    “Later, Mom. First, a nap.”
    “I want a drink!” Her tone changed. It was forceful and sharp. I reached over and moved the clock and picture frame containing the first picture of Bryan, Cassandra, and me when we were one hour old. I pushed back a second picture frame with Dillon’s baby picture inside it. I didn’t want Mom to throw it; she can get quite nasty if she you don’t comply with her request for a beverage. I’ve replaced the picture frames too many times to count.
    After gently helping her recline, her face relaxed , and she put her head on the pillow. Her eyes were already closed. Good, no throwing today.
    Down in the kitchen, I opened the refrigerator. The contents were promising. I found some chicken that Mom had taken out of the freezer during one of her more lucid moments, and rummaged through the cabinets to see what I could combine it with. Happily, I made a list of ingredients we didn’t have , and knew I’d have to run to the store.
    I tapped on the bedroom door. “Mom, I have to run to the supermarket for some thin gs for dinner. Bryan is working at Burger Hut tonight, so you’ll be home alone. I’ll be back before Dillon’s bus comes. I’m taking twenty bucks from the house fund.”
    I accepted her grunt as approval.
    After I closed the front door and locked it, I felt a wave of happiness wash over me. Not only was it a nice day, but I was headed to the supermarket in hopes of seeing Mr. Dimple. I practiced all the things I’d say so I wouldn’t sound like a total loser again. “Are you new to the neighborhood? When did you move here? What street do you live on? How come I’ve never seen you before? Will you be going to Wood Oaks High School? What grade are you in?” Oh, and “What’s your name?”
    Halfway there, my plan was interrupted. “Mandy?” Without having to turn around, I knew who it was. Jennifer Sutton has a very distinct voice, filled with the purr of sex. I was pretty sure all the boys asked her questions just to hear her talk. Either that, or they wanted to stop and chat with her so they could ogle her body. She was a statuesque blonde, like her mother. Her perfect hair, nose, and teeth, as well as her other attributes, had been the topic of conversation of every boy in town since seventh grade. Since she had filled out where boys notice most, it was very hard to be a girl on the same planet, much less in the same town.
    My mind flashed back to when we used to sit next to eac h other in the first grade. We swapped lunches and giggled at the silly things the boys said to us. We were on our way to becoming best friends when her parents found out that my dad was ‘just a mechanic’ and not a day trader or a brain surgeon. She stood in the doorway with her arms crossed. “I can’t be friends with you. Your dad isn’t a professional.”
    I had no idea what she meant back then.
    S he was standing in the doorway of the nail salon. Through the window, I could see her equally beautiful mother pointing a finger at the woman doing her nails. She kept her hair shoulder-length with upturned, bouncy curls on the bottom.
    I stopped in place, took a deep breath, and pretended I liked talking to her. Designer labels coordinated in several shades of blue and green covered her from head-to-toe. The colors made her blue eyes stand out even more than usual. Holding her hands out with her fingers expanded, she said, “I thought that was you passing by. How are you?”
    Why was she so interested in me all of a sudden? I don’t think she’d exchanged ten sentences with me since