Free Split Second (Pivot Point) by Kasie West Page B

me the black market programs.”
    “You mean tries and then fails to sell you those programs.”
    “Uh, sure, okay. I got Connor to tell me who the creator of these advancement programs is. Now I just need to meet him . . . or her.”
    I closed my eyes. “Do you hear yourself talking right now? Bobby advanced his abilities and he almost killed us, Laila. Killed us. And now you’re saying you’re going to meet someone else, like Bobby, who has the same screw-the-system-and-the-rules attitude and ask him to help you? Is that really what you’re saying?”
    She hesitated for only one beat before saying, “Yes. That’s what I’m saying. What are the odds he’s another Bobby?”
    Sometimes talking to Laila made me feel like an adult, because I had the overwhelming desire to scold her. I took a deep breath. “Why do you want to advance your ability, anyway?”
    “Who doesn’t want to advance their ability?”
    “I think I damaged mine,” I blurted out. Fear tightened my chest as I admitted that out loud.
    “What?”
    “I don’t know. Something is happening with my ability. It’s weird, and when I push it, my head hurts really bad. And now I can’t even Search without getting the worst headache ever. What if I lose my ability? What if my ability advanced too early and now I’m broken?”
    “Calm down. It’s probably just stress.”
    “What if it’s not? What if I pushed myself too hard? You need to just wait, Laila. The DAA program is supposed to be the most natural. Your ability will advance when it’s supposed to advance.”
    “I may or may not actually do the DAA program on a daily . . . or weekly basis. There are other ways, faster ways. People do it all the time.”
    “I can slow down time.”
    “What?”
    “It started at Bobby’s, and now at random times, out of nowhere, time slows down. I can’t control it. And when it’s over, I get the worst headache.”
    “Slow down time? Awesome. So that must be your advancement. It makes sense, because you’ve always been able to manipulate time in a way, kind of walk forward through it.”
    “It’s not awesome. I can’t Search anymore, and I can’t control this.”
    “It’s just your growing pains. You’ll be fine when your mindsettles into it. See, this is what I’m talking about. I want that.”
    “You want to slow down time?”
    “No, I want to restore memories.”
    “Restore memories? How do you even know that’s how your ability would advance?”
    “I don’t.” She said it, but I heard the hum in her voice that meant she was lying.
    “You do. How?”
    “I don’t. I just think it would be cool.”
    “Why are you lying to me? I’m so tired of people lying to me. Do I not deserve the truth? Do I look like someone who can’t handle it?”
    “You told me I could restore memories before I Erased yours.”

CHAPTER 12
    Laila: Remind me to think before I speak next time.
    All I could hear were Addie’s quiet breaths. In. Out. This was not something I should’ve told her over the phone. What was I thinking? “Addie?”
    “What do you mean I told you? Why would I tell you that?”
    I cringed. I should stop and wait to tell her the rest when I saw her.
    “Tell me,” she said, her voice strong.
    “Because you wanted me to restore yours. You wouldn’t tell me why. You actually didn’t even tell me that I could restore memories. You wrote yourself a note. In that note you told me.”
    “If I wrote myself a note, why do you seem to know itscontents and I know nothing?”
    Because I’m selfish . “Because I didn’t want to stress you out any more than you already were. I just wanted to learn how to restore memories and then surprise you with it when I came next week.”
    “Surprise me with the fact that you’ve damaged your mind by hanging out with Bobby-like criminals?”
    “It sounds like brain damage can happen regardless of who I hang out with.”
    Addie went completely silent, and I squeezed my eyes closed.
    “I’m