Read Watch Me Disappear for Free Online

or for the sarcastic reminder that Jeff’s behavior since leaving for college has not always been admirable. During the semester, he lives for the weekend, and we all know it.
    “Thanksgiving will be here before we know it,” I say, hoping to bring mom back to her happy place. And it’s true—time is flying by. It’s already the end of July. Still that’s a small consolation. I’ve been looking forward to having Jeff home in August, too. I have hardly talked to him since we moved.
    Since Jeff left for college, he’s managed to come home as little as possible. Last summer he stayed at school to work in the admissions office. If I were him, out of the house and free all through the school year, I wouldn’t want to come home and deal with our nutty mother either. She’s enough to make anyone want to head for the door. Then again, she adores Jeff and she’s much nicer to him than to me, so he has less cause to flee her grasp than I do.
    Everyone loves Jeff. He’s good looking and charming, an All-American soccer player, a decent student. What’s not to like? Jeff was always Mr. Popularity in school. It was definitely easier going to school when Jeff was there, too. I am certain things would have gone better at my last school if Jeff had been there, but when I was a sophomore in high school, he was a freshman in college. It was the first time in my life I ever had to face a new school without him, and I was not prepared. I was used to being known as Jeff’s little sister, and that was OK with me. Jeff made friends and he introduced them to me, and they were nice to me. Without him, I was just the new girl.
     
    *          *          *
     
    After dinner, I go straight to the computer with the pretense of writing my summer reading essay on Beowulf . I do have to write an essay about it, and I have managed to finish reading it, but my real motive is to talk to Jeff. I have my “essay” open in one window, and Instant Messenger in another. I’m only allowed to have an IM account to chat with Jeff. He convinced our parents to allow it as a compromise when they forbid Facebook. Most of my attention is on a game of Solitaire. My parents hate it when I play Solitaire or Snood, so every time the floor creaks and I think one of them is entering the room to check on my progress, I close the game, which means I am not experiencing too many wins.
    Around nine thirty, my mom comes to the door and tells me to wrap things up. My parents go to bed around ten, which means I have to go to bed around ten. The only response I’ve gotten so far from Jeff is his away message. I try to crank out a couple of pages of my essay because summer is half over and I still have three books to go. Also anything I can get done will serve as proof to my parents that I have not been using the computer for shady purposes. I am just about to call it quits when Jeff finally replies.
    “What’s up, sis?” he writes.
    “If you tell mom and dad, I’ll never talk to you again,” I respond. Okay, maybe I am being overly dramatic, but I need to know that he is on my side.
    “I’m proud of you, you little rebel,” he writes.
    “Lizzie!” my mother calls from upstairs. “I told you to shut that thing off!” What timing she has. At least I have some reassurance that my secret is safe with my brother.
    “A few more sentences, mom!” I shout back.
    “Mom’s calling. I have to go,” I tell Jeff.
    “OK, but how’d you do it? I gotta know,” he asks.
    “At the neighbors’ house. I was babysitting,” I write quickly.
    “No more sentences! Now!” mom yells. “Do not make me come down there!”
    Believe me, I do not want her to come downstairs. “I’ll tell you more later. TTFN,” I write and shut down the computer.
     
    *          *          *
     
    I am obsessed with Facebook. I’m not proud of it, but it’s true. It drives me nuts that I can’t get on at my house. I obsess for hours about stuff I