Escape Velocity by Robin Stevenson

Author:Robin Stevenson
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Young Adult, JUV013060, Contemporary
ISBN: 9781554698660
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Published: 2011-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

Fourteen

When I wake up, it’s dark and I’m starving. I get up, open the door and listen for Zoe. I can’t hear anything. I hope she has gone out after all. Not just so I can snoop—though I have every intention of doing so—but because being around her feels like such a strain.

“Mom?”

“I’m having a bath,” she calls out.

I head to the kitchen, pop a slice of bread in the toaster, and think about that blue file folder. There’s an open bottle of wine on the counter, and I can hear soft piano music playing in the bathroom, so I’m guessing Zoe will be in there for a little while—but I’m nervous. Not about her catching me snooping but about what I might find. What if she’s written something about how unlikable I am? I can’t help remembering the last time I snooped and overheard that phone call. And it’s pretty obvious that nothing has changed. She still doesn’t want me around.

Moving quickly because I don’t know how much time I have, I unlock the filing cabinet and slide out the file folder with my name on it. I lay it on her desk and open it. A photocopy of my birth certificate. And nothing else.

I guess I should have expected that.

I return the folder to the drawer and am about to close it when something else catches my eye. Right at the back of the drawer, out of alphabetical order and out of the blue/ gray color scheme, is a slim beige folder labeled Personal.

Jackpot.

I am too nervous to look at it right now. Zoe could walk out of the bathroom and into the living room at any minute. But if I put the file away, I don’t know when I’ll next have a chance to look. What if Zoe moves the key? She looked suspicious when she saw me at her desk earlier. I can’t risk it. Not when I am so close to finding some answers.

I grab the file, close the drawer silently, lock it, replace the key and head to my bedroom, clutching the file to my chest. I close the door behind me and sink to the floor, my back against the wall. My breath comes out in a long whoosh.

I open the folder and quickly flip through the pages inside it. It’s a crazy mish-mash of stuff. Handwritten letters that will take ages to decipher, some photographs, newspaper clippings…nothing obvious, but I feel sure there are some answers hidden in here. I hear the water start to drain from the bathtub, so I hide the file safely under my mattress.

I’ll look at it tonight, after Zoe thinks I’m asleep.

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