Read Perfect Glass (A Young Adult Novel (sequel to Glass Girl)) for Free Online Page A

addressed the problem adequately.”
    “What would that mean?” I said.
    “You’d have to leave the country indefinitely,” she said. “You could try to come back in with a tourist card later.”
    I stepped closer to her, wanting to make sure I understood. “How should John address the problem adequately, Ms. Cataño?”
    Her brow furrowed as she looked between John and me. “I’m fairly certain it would require your departure,” she said, coolly.
    John seemed to struggle for a response. “I’ll handle it. I’m to blame, not him.”
    She shook John’s hand. “Let me know if you have questions.” She climbed into the back of a black government-issued car and disappeared.
    “I’ll meet you both back home,” John said, throwing me the truck keys for the second time that day. He paused, staring into the distance, but decided against pursuing the train of thought that had pulled into his mind. “They parked the truck in the lot behind the building.”
    A tidal wave of bitterness rolled off Raf; he hurled spit at my boots. “I won’t ride with him.”
    “Look, Raf,” I said. “You and I can’t be at odds here. I made a mistake, but I made it right when I saved your life on the street.”
    “Saved my life? You almost ended my life. I didn’t need your kind of help,
vaquero
.” He crowded me, pushing on my chest. “I told you I couldn’t come to Managua, but you ignored me. I told you we needed to leave Quintero’s, but you ignored me again. Now you’ve dragged Quiet Waters into it. You never listen.”
    John tugged on Raf’s shoulders, keeping him from slugging me. He put his arm around him and led him to Kate’s car. I followed in the truck and we made the long journey home at a fast clip. Things sure looked different now than they had this morning.
    By the time we got home, dinner had been served and cleaned up, and the kids were settling into bed. Raf slammed his car door and stalked to his room. John called out that he needed to check on Kate and Whit.
    “Can we talk in the morning?” he said.
    “What’s there to talk about?” The joke was lame, making me cringe. I tried out the words that had taken shape in my head during the drive. “I think you should fire me, John. I think you should take the guy’s advice.”
    But he didn’t hear me. The door to the girls’ dorm clicked shut behind him.

SIX
    meg
    I should leave Jo alone because then she wouldn’t assault me, her neighbors wouldn’t stare, and no one would consider calling the police. I should cut my losses. Bury my head in the sand.
    But I couldn’t sleep last night. Should I have parked down the street and watched to make sure she didn’t wander away from home? Through the night, the house was cold and damp and the tapping rain sounded icy on my window. What if she had forgotten to turn on her heater?
    When I closed my eyes to try to find sleep, I saw a clear image of Jo reaching out with a bony hand. Her lips, coated in a fine brown powder, moved toward my cheek to kiss me. Sleep was not worth that.
    Hours later, floating through my classes, exhausted, nursing sore palms, I just wanted school to be over so I could drive by Jo’s house to make sure she was okay.
    When the final bell rang, Tennyson caught up to me in the hall. “Hey, stranger.”
    “Hey, Tenn.” I slowed my pace to hers.
    “Where have you been lately?” She wrapped her arm around my waist and bumped my hip with hers. “I miss you.”
    I shifted my backpack so I could return her one-armed hug. “Where have
I
been? You’re the one who spends every minute with a boy. How’s Dylan?”
    She grinned. “Hot. And mine. But he’s with Henry’s dad at some horse thing in Casper for a few days so I’m bored. Want to go out tonight?”
    I didn’t know if I had it in me to keep up with her rapid-fire conversation, where every comment is a snarky observation about which I’m supposed to have an opinion.
    “Come on, Meg, you’re a hermit,” she said. “We