Inferno by Robin Stevenson

Author:Robin Stevenson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: JUV000000
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Published: 2009-04-01T04:00:00+00:00

FOURTEEN

I hang out with Parker and the others until eleven; then I sprint back to the mall to pretend that I’ve just come out of the movie. Mom’s car is waiting for me in the parking lot. As soon as I get close, I can see that Dad is with her, and I know something is wrong.

She opens the car door. “Get in.”

“Thanks,” I say. I slide into the backseat and buckle up, not looking at them.

“Where were you?” Mom asks. Her voice is low and calm. Not a good sign.

I decide to bluff. “What do you mean? I was at the movies. You dropped me off, remember?”

Dad turns to look at me, his face creased and worried.

Mom shakes her head. “Don’t lie to me, Emily. I had to pick up something at the mall myself. I parked the car, and then I saw you come out and walk down the street.” She drums her fingers on the steering wheel and waits for me to answer.

I can’t think of anything to say that won’t make things worse.

She raises her voice. “I tried to follow you in the car, but it was a one-way street, and by the time I got around the block, I couldn’t see you anymore.”

I bet she’s been freaking out all night. “I’m sorry.”

“I thought I could trust you.” Mom’s mouth tightens into a thin line. Her eyes are titanium-hard. “I can’t believe you lied to me.”

I bite my lip. “I really was with someone I met at the group.”

“So why the charade about the mall?”

“She lives downtown,” I say. “I just went to her place.”

“So why not just ask me to drop you off at her house?”

I sigh. “Because she doesn’t live with her parents. She lives in an apartment with her boyfriend, and I didn’t think you’d let me go if I told you that.”

Mom looks like she is going to explode. Her face is all red except for two tiny white lines by her nostrils. “Emily. You go on and on about how we should trust your judgment, and then you pull a stunt like this.”

“See? I knew you’d have a problem with it.”

“I have a problem with you lying to me and hanging out with god knows who in some dive of an apartment—”

“You’re the one who wanted me to go to that stupid group. You’re the one who wanted me to make friends.”

“Don’t try to twist this around.”

I run my fingers over the back of my left hand and feel the roughness where my knuckles are still scraped up from climbing the school. “Look, Mom. I was with Parker, a girl from the social skills group. What difference does it make if we were at the mall or at her place?”

“Emily, I’m sorry but if I can’t trust you to be honest about where you’re going, you can’t go anywhere.” She lets out a long breath. “You’re grounded.”

Dad nods, like it’s only reasonable. I’m sixteen and therefore I have to do whatever they say, whereas they can do whatever they want.

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