Read Betrayed for Free Online Page A

a page in yet another book about King Arthur.
    Rae shrugged. She never knew what to say when her dad asked her about group. "It was fine," she told him when he didn't make a move to put the key in the ignition. "Ms. Abramson, she really focuses on us, you know. She's always telling me I can call her between sessions if I want." Which to Rae seemed at least borderline obsessive, but she figured it would make her dad happy.
    "Good for her," Rae's father said. He started the car and pulled out of the parking place. When he got to the driveway, Rae put her hand on his arm.
    "Wait. Go right," she burst out. "I want you to drop me off at Anthony's-if it's okay. He'll drive me home from there."
    "I live to serve-and chauffeur," her father answered, making the right.
    She hadn't seen Anthony since those two seconds before school yesterday. He hadn't been in the caf at lunch, and she didn't have any classes with him.
    If she didn't see him soon, she'd go nuts. She needed to look at him at least-maybe that would give her some clue what he was thinking, how he was feeling. Unless he'd already forgotten about kissing her. Unless to him it was no big deal. Was that possible?
    Well, let's see, he didn't call you back last night. But that could be because his little brother didn't give him the message. Yeah, she couldn't help adding, or it could be because he wasn't in the mood. Because unlike you, he doesn't feel like he's going to jump out of his skin if the two of you don't at least talk soon.
    "I've been meaning to ask you, any birthday wishes?" her father said, pulling her away from her thoughts. "Do you want a party? It's getting late, but we could still pull it together for the weekend."
    A birthday party. With all my little friends from school. He's probably picturing cake, candles, and pin-the-petal-on-the-daisy. Rae couldn't help smiling as she remembered her father laboriously cutting huge flower petals out of construction paper for her sixth birthday.
    "Or we could go out. How about Nacoochee with Anthony and Yana?" her father suggested. "You love that place.
    Roasted corn chowder. Butterscotch brownie sundaes."
    "Maybe," Rae answered. If Anthony ever voluntarily makes an effort to see me, she added silently. If I can convince Yana that I didn't stab her in the back by then. She'd left Yana at least six messages on her machine yesterday, and nothing.
    "Let me know. Whatever you want," her father said. "It's not every day you turn sixteen."
    And maybe you won't, a little voice in Rae's head whispered. You might have what your mom had. And even though it's going slower and you only get the numb spots after you go fingertip-to-fingertip with someone, any day your body could turn on itself. Rae shook her head, trying to hurl the thought away. That thought-that fear of dying by the wasting disease her mother had-sliced into her brain about a million times a day. She'd be doing something normal, like brushing her teeth, and wham, she'd suddenly picture herself with her teeth falling out, her tongue rotting away. Maybe last time the funny feeling on her tongue had turned out to just be strep throat, but she never stopped imagining what she would do if it came back, and it wasn't strep throat, or anything that could be cured with a simple dose of antibiotics.
    "You need to make a left at the light," Rae told her dad. She concentrated on reading every street sign they passed, needing to occupy her brain withsomething nice and normal. Almost too soon, they turned onto Anthony's street.
    "It's the fourth one on the left," Rae said. The last two words came out in a hoarse whisper because all the saliva had evaporated from Rae's throat. Parked in Anthony's driveway was Yana's bright yellow VW Bug.
    What's Yana even doing here? Rae wondered, confused. She and Anthony only know each other because they're both friends with me.
    Or used to be friends with her. Maybe that's why Yana's here, Rae thought hopefully. She knew Yana had a lot of pride,