Free Forgotten (Reject High: A Young Adult Science Fiction Series Book 3) by Brian Thompson Page A

to an opinion.
    “Jump in the Cougar,” he offered, opening the passenger door. “Rhapsody, you too. I took a day, so there’s no need for me to check in at the office. I’ll give you a ride to Sasha’s.”
    I pointed to the sky. “Got a ride.” A much cooler ride.
    Ray sucked his teeth and sighed. We weren’t getting off that easy. “Before you take off, can I have a word? Rhapsody, a minute please?”
    She checked with me. I was about as unsure about it as she was. “Okay.”
    My father walked me to the unfinished corner of the parking lot, a pile of gravel and mud. I braced myself for the longest, most hypocritical lecture of all time. After years of ignoring me, he finally wanted to parent me? No thanks. I’d make it without him.
    He kicked at a stray patch of gravel. “Your mom was always a better parent than me. She coached me before I talked to you sometimes. When she died…I fell back into old habits. Your grandfather rode my back until I left home at sixteen. So, I was hard on you."
    We all lost our way after she died, including me. It made sense, though. Times when I got in trouble at school, he’d say things to me like he’d seen an afterschool special on it.
    “Call it what it is, Champ – an excuse. You start off as a dad with the best intentions.” He wrung his hands. All of his pauses between sentences were driving me insane. “You swear you’re not going to do what your folks did. It started off that way…then little stuff slips in you can’t help. Sooner than later, you’re doing exactly what they did.”
    I couldn’t help but ask. “Did he treat you like you were damaged?”
    His face darkened. He did that to me. When my diagnosis for ADHD and rage blackouts came back he kept trying to fix me – Concentra, Adderall, antidepressants, extra IEP check-in meetings, therapy, whatever would get me to shut up, act right in class, and be like the other kids.
    “I’m dyslexic,” he admitted to me. “He beat me to make me read correctly. When that didn’t work, he beat me more. So I shut down and stopped talking until your grandmother got me a tutor.”
    You’d think after being treated like that, that he’d be easier on me.
    He waved his hands like he was erasing an invisible whiteboard. “What I’m trying to say is…a woman came to see me, blonde hair, bushy eyebrows. You know her?” He then crudely described Courtney’s curvaceous shape. Ray was terrible with remembering people’s names. “Christine? She told me what you did.”
    Using the scarlet emerald, I scanned the thoughts at the forefront of his mind. I flipped through images of me getting into the pit and saving the Collective from certain death.
    “Almost anything I tell you about life now, I mean, look at what you’ve already survived, and you’re fifteen!” Again with the hand wringing. “As long as you’ve had these abilities…I can’t begin to comprehend. Each decision and action has monumental impact.”
    Honesty. I hadn’t gotten that from him in a long time. He needed to get to the point though, if there was one. “We’re not safe here. We should go.”
    We firmly shook hands and he pulled me into a hug. “Right. Come see me in a few days,” he said into my ear. “Julia and I have a birthday present for you.”
    “What is it?”
    Ray laughed at my impatience. “Your birthday is on Wednesday. You can wait.”
    I tried not to smile over his shoulder. I’d have to survive whatever was coming for us just to see what it was. He hadn’t gotten me a gift since Mom died. I should warn him he and his wife were in danger. It was the right thing to do.
    Rhapsody approached us and tapped her right wrist, though she wasn’t wearing a watch. Time was up. Staying here any longer was dangerous for all of us.
    I left my father’s embrace. “Listen,” I said, patting him on the shoulder. “Go away for a while. Take Julia. Europe or something. I’ll be fine, and Aunt Dee has Zachary.”
    His eyebrows