Transparent

Read Transparent for Free Online

Book: Read Transparent for Free Online
Authors: Natalie Whipple
me.
    Miles said he’d take me away if I wanted, but I won’t give him our location. Not yet. He’s already risked enough. If Dad hears we’ve had contact, he’ll hunt Miles down and kill him if he doesn’t give up information.
    Like I have for the past week, I bolt for my car at the last bell. As much as I want to talk with Miles again, I have to leave school before Bea finds me. She keeps asking me to come to tutoring so she’s not alone in there, and I can’t exactly tell her I have more serious things to worry about than math. I would have thought she’d take the hint by now, but she won’t give up.
    I pull out my keys when I get to the parking lot. But as I look over the rows for Mom’s white SUV, I realize it’s not where I parked it. I scan the cars again. Maybe I’m remembering yesterday’s spot. But the longer I look, the sicker I feel.
    It’s gone.
    An average teenager would probably think it was a prank, but an average teenager doesn’t have a telekinetic mother. It’s not the first time she’s stolen a car.
    One time we snuck into a luxury car dealership in Reno. I went first, knocked out the guard, and disabled all the cameras with a pocketknife small enough to fit in my mouth. Noelle, one of Dad’s women, taught me how. She’s what they call a Chameleon, able to change her pigment at will. Not shape or features, just color. It’s about the closest thing to invisibility.
    Mom came in, smiling at a ridiculous, gold European car. “Jonas would love this one.”
    “How long will this take?” I whispered.
    She laughed as she raised her hands. All the cars beeped, their alarm systems disabled. Then she used a wide sweeping motion to unlock all the doors. To top it off, every engine roared to life. “How long did that take?”
    I rolled my eyes, just wanting to get back to Dad, wanting to see his smile and hear his praise. “C’mon, then.”
    She drove all the cars with her mind, in a straight line, back to Vegas. Dad kept the gold one, which set Mom on full Jonas glow for days.
    At least this time the car kind of belongs to her.
    I should have seen this coming a couple days ago when she asked if there was a bus I could take to school. I told her there wasn’t, except for those bussed in from neighboring towns, and she seemed satisfied. But she must be desperate to contact Graham if she walked all the way here just to take the car. She’s officially cracked. Graham’s probably already on his way to get us, which means there’s no way I’m going back to the house.
    I back up and head for the library. I have to email Miles. He might not answer me immediately, but I at least have to tell him I’m in trouble.
    “Fiona!” a familiar voice booms over the after-school noise.
    Whirling around, I find Bea at the end of the hall. I almost consider continuing, but I turned too much. She had to have seen how my glasses moved to face her. I’ll just have to deal with it.
    “Please come to tutoring with me,” she says when she catches up. “It won’t be so bad if we do it together, I swear, and then maybe after we can—”
    “I have to go to the library.”
    She lets out a long sigh. “Emailing your boyfriend back home or something?”
    My jaw drops. What kind of guy would date an invisible girl? “No, I have … stuff to deal with. But speaking of boyfriends, where’s yours? Shouldn’t you be hanging out with him?”
    One of her perfectly plucked eyebrows rises, and then her eyes go wide. “Oh, Brady? He’s not my boyfriend, just a friend. My best friend, actually.”
    “Oh.” I look at my sandals, even more confused about how nice he’s been. I’d figured it was because his girlfriend wanted him to. “Well, I guess I’ll see you later.”
    “Ugh!” Bea grabs my arm. I’m too shocked by the sensation to react. People don’t touch me if they don’t have to. I have this theory they’re afraid their hands might go straight through. “What is your problem? I’m trying to be

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