Free Watch Me by Norah McClintock

Copyright © 2008 Norah McClintock
    All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher.
    Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
    McClintock, Norah
    Watch me / written by Norah McClintock.
    (Orca currents)
    ISBN 978-1-55469-040-4 (bound).--ISBN 978-1-55469-039-8 (pbk.)
    I. Title. II. Series.
    PS8575.C62W38 2008        jC813’.54          C2008-903392-2
    Summary: A battered watch might change Kaz’s life.
    First published in the United States, 2008
Library of Congress Control Number: 2008929298
    Orca Book Publishers gratefully acknowledges the support for its publishing programs provided by the following agencies: the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program and the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Province of British Columbia through the BC Arts Council and the Book Publishing Tax Credit.
    Cover design by Teresa Bubela
Cover photography by Getty Images
    Orca Book Publishers                       Orca Book Publishers
PO Box 5626, Station B                                  PO Box 468  
Victoria, BC Canada                                      Custer, WA USA
V8R 6S4                                                       98240-0468
    www.orcabook.com
    Printed and bound in Canada
Printed on 100% PCW recycled paper,
    11  10  09  08  •  4  3  2  1

To the ones who are gone
.

chapter one
    I knew as soon as I saw the package that I wasn’t getting what I wanted for my birthday.
    â€œWell?” my mom said, beaming at me. “Aren’t you going to open it?”
    I ripped off the paper. I was right. It wasn’t a games system. It was hockey equipment.
    â€œWell, what do you say?” Neil said. Neil is my mom’s boyfriend. He’s an accountant, plus he coaches hockey. I hated that he lived with us.
    â€œIt’s not what I asked for,” I said.
    The smile disappeared from my mom’s face.
    â€œBut you used to love hockey,” she said. “You used to play all the time.”
    â€œI used to play with Dad,” I said.
    My mom and dad split up a couple of years back, not long after I got out of the hospital. I saw my dad exactly twice after that. Then my mom got custody of me, and she wouldn’t let me see him anymore. She blamed him for what had happened.
    â€œYour mom put a lot of thought into that gift,” Neil said. “I think you should apologize to her, Sport.”
    â€œI don’t want to play hockey,” I said. Phys ed was bad enough. There was no way I wanted to spend more time in a locker room with a bunch of guys who would only stare at me.
    â€œBut Evan said hockey would be good for you,” my mom said. Evan was my social worker. “Team sports are a great way to make new friends. And you were good, Kaz. You could be the star of the team.”
    She just didn’t get it.
    â€œI’m not going to play hockey,” I said. “I hate hockey.”
    I grabbed my jacket off a hook in the front hall and headed for the door.
    â€œWhere do you think you’re going?” Neil said. “You are
not
leaving this house!”
    â€œOh yeah?” I said. “Watch me!”
    I slammed the