Read Waken (The Woods of Everod Book 1) for Free Online Page B

Tristan, right? He said he saw you at the library and that you were heading home.”
    “I’m sorry. I wasn’t feeling well and I needed some space to think.”
    “About what?”
    I didn’t know what to tell him. The Janie of an hour ago would have said ‘stuff’ and then ended the conversation, but I needed to be the new me, the one not afraid of what people would do or say that might hurt me.
    “Come on.” He sat beside me on the bed and nudged me with his elbow. “I know I was a bit of an ass forcing you into that bet, but I just want you to be happy, to have a life. You know you can tell me anything. So, what’s going on?”
    He was right. As annoying as he was, he was always there for me. I straightened and inhaled slowly. Telling him the truth was that first little step.
    “I needed to do some thinking about me. About the fact that I don’t really like the person I am.” I felt tears unexpectedly welling up in my eyes. I didn’t want to cry. I wasn’t sad or hurt, but they wouldn’t stop. They were more of a release than anything.
    “Janie, you’re a good person.” He awkwardly tried to put his arm around my shoulder, comforting me as only a brother could.
    “But not… enough.” How could I explain this? “You know that Elin and I had problems, right?”
    He nodded, his face grim, but he didn’t really have any clue how bad things had been. I hesitated, wondering if I how much to tell him.
    “Before you and Tim came along, I spent every minute of every day trying to figure out what to say, to do, so that she wouldn’t have a reason to beat the shit out of me.” My words drained the blood from his face, but I forced myself to keep going. “When Tim married her, it was the greatest day of my life. She couldn’t hit me anymore without one of you noticing.” At least her words hadn’t left me varying shades of purple and blue.
    “God, I knew you had it rough with her, but I didn’t know it was that bad.” His arm tightened around me protectively, as though he was preparing to battle her.
    “I know you didn’t. She hid it well. And I survived.” I smiled weakly, “But what it did to me… I’ve been so scared. Afraid of everyone or anything that could hurt me. I never wanted to feel so helpless again.” I shrugged and wiped my face with the back of my hand. “Today just brought everything into perspective.”
    “What made you think about all this?”
    “I made a complete fool of myself and realized how truly pathetic I was being.” I laughed self-consciously as I remembered the way I acted in the library then drew in a deep breath. It was as though I was finally free to move into the world. “I don’t really like me, so I’ve decided that I need a change.”
    “Change? Like a hair cut?” He raised a doubtful brow.
    “Maybe, but more of a change in attitude. I need to be less Janie-ish and more Justin-ish.” I poked him in the ribs to break his seriousness. “Nothing drastic, maybe a bit friendlier.”
    “Just don’t change too much. I like my sister just the way she is.” He smiled and gave my shoulder another squeeze. “But if you’re wanting to be generous and let me off the hook with the whole chauffeur thing...”
    “Yeah, I don’t see that happening.”
    His smile turned sheepish and he gave a one-shoulder shrug. He got up and headed towards the door. “You gonna tell dad about all this?”
    “Not yet. I think I want to try it out first.”
    He nodded in agreement. Tim would just worry if I said anything. If I went ahead and just did it, he probably wouldn’t even notice since he was so involved in his latest photography series.
    After Justin left, I laid back on the bed. I needed to revamp myself. Justin had asked if that meant a new haircut, but I didn’t think that was necessary. My long black hair was one thing I already liked about myself. Maybe a wardrobe overhaul was the best place to start. A shopping trip would do me good, and even better, it could