Read Always: Broken Series Book Four for Free Online Page B

talked to me like I was an adult. He always used bad words around me, reasoning to mom that I was going to learn them anyhow. Whenever I had a crush on a boy, and I asked him for advice, he would tell me straight up what he thought. He was always right, too.
    But mom…she was always good for bullshit when I felt like I needed it. She always tried to look on the bright side. Whenever dad told me that this boy was a player or that boy was a loser, mom would come in and try to find the good things about him. Whenever I had a problem with a friend, dad would tell it like it is, while mom would try to sugarcoat it. I was desperate for mom to tell me a pretty lie, but she didn’t.
    As I sat in the back of the SUV, I wanted there to be a little bit of normalcy. “Can we go for ice cream?” I asked them. “Cold Stone?”
    “Of course,” dad said. His voice sounded different in my ears. It was shaky.
    He turned into the Cold Stone, and we went in. I ordered my usual – birthday cake ice cream mixed in with mixed berries and peanut butter cups. It tasted like a PBJ to me with some chocolate added in. Mom just got a plain ice cream, chocolate, while dad got chocolate mixed in with Oreo cookies and nuts.
    We sat down and I dug in. “So, there’s this new boy at school, Blake. He’s been texting me a lot, and I think that he wants to go out.”
    Dad raised his right eyebrow. “Oh?” Then he smiled. “Another contender for bum of the month club?”
    “Well, I don’t know. I don’t think so. He seems pretty cool I guess. He’s not an honors student or anything like that, but he plays in a band.”
    “A band?” My dad seemed skeptical. “I hate him already.”
    I looked over at mom, who didn’t seem to be paying much attention to my talking to dad. She hadn’t touched her ice cream, either. “Mom, what do you think about that? My going out with a dude who’s in a band?”
    Mom gave me a quizzical look. “What’s the problem with that? I was in band when I was a freshman. I played the flute.”
    Dad started laughing. “You know, I never knew that about you. All these years, and I never knew that you played an instrument.”
    She laughed as well, and I started to feel relieved. Maybe everything was going to be okay after all. “Well, I wasn’t very good at it. Cheapskate Mr. Lucas only bought me a used flute that hit a lot of bum notes, so I never really got past last chair.”
    Dad put his arm around mom. “Dear, as funny as it is to find out that my girl is a musician, I think that you misunderstand Addy. She’s trying to say that this boy she likes, Blake, is in a band. Like playing on a stage, having girls throwing underpants. That kind of thing.”
    Mom still looked a bit mystified. “Oh, okay.” She smiled weakly. “Well, that’s a different thing. I mean, being in band in school means that you might be a geek. But being a part of a rock band is a different thing.”
    “Good stereotyping mom. Just because you’re part of the high school band doesn’t make you a geek.”
    “Of course it doesn't.” She turned to my dad. “I’m so sorry, I’m having problems focusing on the conversation.”
    “Mom, I know. But I need everybody to act like nothing is happening. I need that, at least for a little bit.”
    Mom nodded her head, but dad had his I’m calling bullshit face. “Addy, that’s not realistic,” dad said. “We can’t act like nothing’s wrong, because there clearly is. I don’t mind talking about other things, of course, but you have to face facts. This isn’t going to be easy. Best case, you have surgery that removes all the tumor, and nothing else is needed. But you have to realize that it could be much worse than that.”
    Dad had apparently sprung to life again, after being quiet all this time. I actually liked that he was talking to me like this, because this felt normal to me. I was afraid that he was going to fold like an accordion, but he didn’t let me down.
    Mom, on the