Free In the Arms of Stone Angels by Jordan Dane Page A

anyone to like me.
    Or accept me.
    Or tolerate me.
    I shook my head and without hesitation, I said, “I’ve gotta help Mom. Sorry. We just got to town, like I said, and—”
    â€œBrenna, I think you should go, honey.” Mom had been eavesdropping and hadn’t seen the harm in stabbing me in the back. “It’ll be good for you to reconnect with old friends. In fact, I insist that you go. You’ll thank me later.”
    I sure thought about showing her my appreciation now. A well-placed two-by-four to the head would do the trick.
    â€œBut, Mom, you had me buy like a hundred things of SaniWipes. I thought you’d need me. Those things dry out if you don’t use them in like…three hours or something. I think I read that in the fine print while I was in line at the checkout.”
    I couldn’t believe I was arguing in favor of doing chores,but seeing the look in my mom’s eyes, I knew she’d give me no choice. I hated it when she thought she knew best about every aspect of my life, including my taste in friends. So much for democracy and free will.
    And apparently my mom didn’t think twice about spying on me. No civil liberties violation there. She didn’t give a flip about me deciding what I wanted to do with my time. Mom had decreed that Chloe’s invitation was a good thing and that would be that. Any argument against the idea was based on me not respecting Chloe and the people she hung out with, but I knew debating the point with my mother wouldn’t be worth it.
    She wouldn’t take me seriously. And forget about her take on my judgment. Mom always saw me as strange for not having hordes of friends, like a good head count on a Facebook page of two thousand virtual strangers would solve all my problems. She had no idea that Chloe Seaver was only a Trojan horse for the rest of dead-Heather’s posse. Any problems I had, coming back to Shawano, had only just begun.
    And Mom would drive me to the slaughter. Good times….
    Hours Later
    Mom had pulled into the Seavers’ driveway and let the engine idle as I sat there staring at Chloe’s house. Cars were parked down the street on both sides and I heard music thumping through my closed car window. A strobe light made everyone look as if they were moving in super slow-mo under eerie-colored lights. And kids were still arriving. A party with one of the “it” girls was the place to be seen.
    All the hype made me want to puke. I had no business being here. All I wanted to do was shrink into the darkness of the cemetery with the stone angels, but that wasn’t goingto happen. Mom would get her way again. And I knew less than nothing.
    â€œThat place is packed. She won’t miss me if I don’t show.”
    I expected Mom to argue, but instead she surprised me by grabbing my hand.
    â€œI want you to be happy, Bren. You’re a great kid and you should have friends. Maybe Chloe can help you with that. I just wish—”
    She didn’t finish. A part of me didn’t care what she wished for me, but I had to admit that a small fragment wanted her to blurt it out and mean it. I squeezed her hand and looked her in the eye. It was strange how our roles got reversed sometimes, like she needed the reassurance more than I did.
    â€œI wish I could be happy, too, but there are things I’ve got to deal with first…on my own.”
    Mom picked a fine time to have a heart-to-heart; parked outside the party she had coerced me to attend for my own good. Treating me like a child, she had trumped my objections with her parent card and made the decision without any input from me. And now she expected me to open up?
    Well, it doesn’t work that way, Mom.
    Sitting in that car with her, I couldn’t help but think about the morning my world crashed down on my head—when I knew my mother couldn’t protect me. At fourteen, I didn’t think much about my future. I