Read Who I'm Not for Free Online

she had a grandma. I would have been so pissed if she’d gotten out and I hadn’t.
    â€œJust go with this,” I whispered to Matt. All at once I had to be alone in there, just for a minute.
    â€œCan I help you boys?”
    The lady at the desk had a name badge that said Jo-Anne and MOM stamped on her forehead. I jumped right into it. I nodded at Matt. “Well, ma’am, he’d like to use a computer and I’d like to look at the books.” Matt stared at me. I didn’t care. Sticking Matt at a computer would give me time to breathe and steal a couple books. Then I could fake stealing the money.
    â€œDo you have cards?” the lady smiled.
    I looked at Matt. He did the family look again. It was starting to bug me. I didn’t let him see that, though, because I’d just realized something else: someone was offering me more ID. “No, ma’am,” I said. “I’m new in town.”
    â€œWell, welcome,” said Jo-Anne. “Anyone over thirteen can get their own card, but I’ll need to see something with your address. Do you have anything with you?”
    I looked at Matt. He shrugged and did the stupid smirk again. “I guess not, ma’am,” I said. I decided to steal the little jerk’s Wii money for sure.
    â€œThat’s okay.” Jo-Anne smiled again. “I can do a temporary sign-up for the computer, but you can’t take any books out until you get a card. You’ll have to come back for that.” She pointed behind her. “There’s a computer free over in the teen section.”
    I nodded back. “Yes, ma’am. Thank you, we’ll do that. Can I still look around though?”
    â€œOh, sure. Take your time. If you find something you really want, they’ll hold it for you at the desk downstairs.”
    â€œThat would be super, ma’am.”
    Jo-Anne turned to Matt and asked his name. I nudged him forward, then headed into the book stacks, fast. Matt wouldn’t last very long. I grabbed a few paperbacks. I’d leave some at the desk and come back for a card, but I needed at least one for now.
    Boosting books from a library is not exactly hard, especially when you have big pockets in your cargo shorts. I ducked into the second-last aisle for a quiet spot where I could find the sensor stickers and tear them out and almost ran into one of those rolling carts they move books around on. A tall skinny girl in jeans and a sweater was sticking books back on a top shelf. We both kind of jumped. She had long mousy hair and ugly glasses and a name badge. She stared at me. I wheeled around and ducked down the last aisle instead. I found the sensors. When I heard her roll the book cart away, I ripped out the pages they were stuck on and slipped the two smallest books in my pockets. Then I went to run the fake theft.
    There were a bunch of old folks I could bump into, but I wanted Matt watching. Then I looked down the stairs and saw a chance to get more money. At the checkout, the clerk was opening a cash drawer under the counter with a little key. Somebody was saying, “I’ve got five photocopies.” I looked around, saw the photocopier over near Jo-Anne, and it all just fell into place.
    I palmed the ten-dollar bill, then went and got Matt. He followed me as I went to the copier and grabbed a sheet of paper from the wastebasket. I gave it to him. “Hold this, stand by the stairs and watch me.”
    I started walking away from Matt, my head down. I bobbled the books I was carrying in front of me as if I was busy looking at them and bumped into a guy. There was no way I was really going to pick his pocket—I’m not good enough. Harley was pretty good at it, and he’d started teaching me, but not even he did it unless we really had to. Then I’d just be the stall while he was the mechanic. Now all I did was apologize and walk back to Matt. I flashed the ten in my hand and we started