Free Disconnect by Lois Peterson

Chapter One
    â€œAre you listening?”
    I typed, In case I forget later, GL with the dance comp. Gotta go.
    â€œDaria!”
    â€œOkay. Okay!” I said as I hit Send and pocketed my phone.
    â€œI told her you would go by after school,” my mother said. “To meet the kids.”
    â€œTold who?” I asked through a mouthful of cereal. “What kids?”
    I looked up from the table when I noticed the silence filling the kitchen. My mother’s hands gripped the chair in front of her. Her eyes were closed.
    â€œWhat?” I asked. So now she expected me to read her mind?
    Mom opened her eyes. Her hands were white on the top of the chair. “Why do I waste my breath?” she hissed.
    â€œWhat?” I asked again. I scooped up a spoonful of cereal and munched.
    Mom sighed. “Cynthia Clarkson. A colleague of mine? I have told you about her.” My mother must be the only person who can spit through clenched teeth. “She has two children,” she said. “They need a babysitter.”
    â€œMe?” Only twelve-year-olds babysat!
    â€œThis would be one way to earn the fare to see Selena and Josie at spring break,” she said.
    â€œI want to work at the mall,” I told her. “In a clothes store, maybe. So I can get a discount.”
    â€œYou’re too young to work in retail.”
    My phone vibrated against my leg. I pulled it out of my pocket and checked the screen. Two messages.
    â€œLeave that,” said Mom. “Listen to me for one minute.”
    â€œI am listening.” One was a text from Josie. Call S to wish her luck. PLS. Shes driving me nuts.
    Mom’s hand shot out and batted the phone from my hand. It skittered across the table.
    I grabbed it and wiped it on my shirt. “You could have smashed that!”
    Suddenly my mother’s face was so close I could see the pores on her nose. “Give me your attention,” she said. “For once.”
    â€œChill out, would you?” I checked the screen to make sure everything still worked.
    â€œThat’s it. Forget it.” Mom shoved her chair hard against the table, causing my spoon to tip out of my bowl and clatter onto the floor. “I thought it would be a good idea,” she said. “Just forget it.”
    â€œMom!” Why did she have to overreact to everything?
    â€œNever mind. I’ll be late. Clean up that mess,” she said as she charged out.
    I watched the door, expecting her to come back. She sometimes does that. She gets a second wind and starts in again at full rant.
    When I heard Mom’s footsteps thud up the stairs, I settled back in my chair. I quickly texted Josie back. Did already. U kno S. Tell her to imagine Im there watching. Take pics.
    I closed my phone and stuck it in my pocket.
    Babysitting! What was Mom thinking? Snotty kids. Reading stories. Doing puzzles! There had to be better ways to make the fare back to Calgary.

Chapter Two
    I sat next to the window in case things got boring, and in the middle row to avoid getting noticed. I unpacked my books and binders and stacked them on my desk with my phone on top.
    â€œOkay if I sit here?” asked a girl I’d never seen before. She was wearing a knitted hat with pink strings that hung down to her shoulders.
    I shrugged.
    The girl unloaded her bulging green bag and unpacked a load of stuff onto the desk. “I love the first day at a new school.” A silver ring in her bottom lip flickered. “I’m Cleo.” She stuck her hand across the aisle.
    â€œPleased to meet you.” I kept my own hands on my desk.
    Cleo didn’t seem to notice the snub. “And you are?”
    â€œDaria. Rhymes with malaria.” Josie had pointed that out the day we met in grade two.
    Cleo pulled a pen out. “I just moved to Delta. What’s it like, then?”
    â€œBoring.”
    â€œI guess you’d feel that way if you always lived here,” said