Read Before The Storm for Free Online

“Whatever.”
    “Anyway,” I snap, kind of annoyed, “what does me leaving have to do with you having that notebook?”
    “Like I said, you probably wouldn’t get to leave if I passed this around.”
    Is she kidding? Why would she want me to stay here? She hates me. Who wants to be roommates with someone they hate? And then a terrible thought occurs to me. Does Stephanie hate me so much that she’d rather put up with me just so I would have to stay here and be miserable? Does she want to see me unhappy that badly? I don’t even talk to her.
    “What did I ever do to you? Don’t you want me gone? I mean you hate having a roommate, remember?”
    She laughs loudly. “Yeah, right. How long do you think that will last? It won’t be long until they bring some real loon in here. Did I ever tell you about the girl who ate her own toenails? Right in front of me too! She didn’t even try to hide it. I swear to God I thought she was going to start asking me if she could clip mine for a late night snack.”
    Apparently Stephanie had this one roommate who liked to bite off her finger and toenails and then eat them. It was a very big scandal around here, or so I’ve been told.
    Stephanie repeats the story at least a hundred times to anyone who’s willing to listen. I considered biting off my own toenails once or twice when I was really frustrated with her, just to freak her out. I could never bring myself to do it though. I mean, gross.
    “Stephanie. Give me my fucking notebook.” I realize this is risky considering she has a lot of power over me at the moment, but I just found out that I’m getting out of what I consider a mental institution to go stay with an aunt that I subconsciously always knew about but really didn’t? See the whole thing makes no sense, even to me.
    “No,” Stephanie says, unfazed by my outburst.
    I make a fast dash for her, planning to take what she refuses to give me, but she quickly jumps back a few steps and swings the door to our room open, revealing the narrow hall in the old building.
    “Come any closer and I scream for a nurse and hand this over as quickly as I took it from you.” I pause, trying to figure out if she’s bluffing or not. “I mean it Victoria, I’ll do it.” And she has that look in her eyes, that crazy look that tells me she isn’t messing around. I sigh and take a step back. She nods like I made the right choice and closes the door gently.
    “Just relax, I’m not going to tell anyone, or give it to anyone for that matter,” she says to me, giving me a half smile. Something about the look on her face though warns me that there’s more to the situation than she’s telling me.
    “Then what are you going to do with it?”
    “Nothing,” she says, shrugging again. “As long as you do me a little favor.”
    “A little favor?” I ask puzzled. What does she want me to do, smuggle some candy or something in here for her after I’m gone? No way am I becoming my ex-roommates little bitch once I get out of here. If I have it my way I’ll never set foot anywhere near this place again, this I know for sure.
    “I need you to find my mom,” she blurts out suddenly.
    She needs me to do what? What does she mean, find her mom? Is she kidnapped or something? Don’t the police usually handle situations like this?
    “Can’t you call the police?” I say, glancing past her toward the door. All I can think about is how I really need to get out of here. I’m supposed to be on my way up to the main conference room right now to meet my aunt and sign my release papers.
    “Why the hell would I call the police? She isn’t a missing person. She’s just missing from my life.”
    “Oh.”
    I suddenly realize what she’s saying and I feel my heart sink a little bit. I know what it’s like to not have a mom. The pain is the worst feeling in the world. The thing is, I don’t have a choice. My mom’s dead, gone from the world. I can’t imagine knowing your mom is somewhere