Free Learning Me (Lightworker Trilogy #1) by Jamie White Page A

they both said at once.
    If Courtney’s mood wasn’t so dark, she might have laughed at the synchronized answer. Instead, she stood and said, “I guess I’m going upstairs now. See you tomorrow.”
    “Night, Courtney,” her father answered.
    “See you tomorrow, Sweetie,” said her mother.
    Courtney nodded and went back to her room. As she prepared for bed, she mentally reviewed everything she’d heard that night. So much of it sounded like a sick joke, but there was also a ring of truth in it. Either they were being genuine, or they managed to convince themselves it was true. She wasn’t sure which, and didn’t care at the moment. The chaos in her mind was too great and her body was beginning to protest the emotional strain she’d put on it that day.
    She sent a quick text to Sam to let him know she was okay and would talk to him later. Then Courtney yawned and climbed into bed, praying she’d fall into a fast sleep. Instead, mental images of the people from that picture kept appearing in her mind’s eye. Now that she thought of it, there were a couple of similarities she shared with the man too. She closed her eyes tight, willing the images away, but they refused to let her be. Courtney spent most of the night tossing and turning. Finally, she decided that lying there like that wasn’t going to do any good. She figured if she was going to get her mind off of everything for the night, getting up might be the best answer. She walked over to her desk and took a seat, staring at her laptop for a couple of minutes before opening it. She turned on the machine and loaded some mindless Internet game. This should do the trick…

Chapter Ten
 
    She woke with her head on the laptop keyboard. She wasn’t sure how long she’d been sleeping, but she’d gotten some rest in. Unfortunately, she also had a pain in her neck from sleeping at the awkward angle and her eyes felt heavy.
    “Ugh, I feel like I just had too much to drink,” she muttered as she stood up. It took her a minute, but she managed to get up and pull some clothes out of her closet. She dressed slowly, wanting to keep her interactions with her parents that morning to a minimum. They’d told her she might not want to get more information, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to resist asking if they were alone together for long.
    She collected her school bag and then checked her phone. She raised an eyebrow in surprise as she saw how little time she had before she had to leave. Shouldn’t they be up there wondering what was taking her so long?
    Courtney shrugged it off and made her way to kitchen. Her father was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee, but her mother was nowhere to be seen.
    “Hi. Where’s Mom?”
    Her father looked up from his cup. “She had to leave early for work today.” He checked his watch and glanced back at her. “You’re running behind this morning. Want me to drive you so you have time to eat?”
    “That’s okay,” she said quickly. “I’ll just grab an apple or something and eat it on the way.”
    “Courtney,” he said.
    “It’s okay, really. I could use the walk anyway. It’ll wake me up some. I’ll see you guys tonight.” Courtney grabbed the fruit and raced out the door before he could argue any further.
    The damp morning air invigorated her, while the chirping birds and clear skies dulled her foul mood from the night before. When she got to the school, she pushed her way through the front entrance and walked to her locker. She’d almost opened it when a voice from behind interrupted.
    “Hey, how’d it go last night after I left?”
    “Okay,” she said as she turned around to face Sam. “Sort of. Can we talk about it later on? Ya know, alone?”
    “Sure. When’s your drama club meeting end?”
    “Five… you have a game, right?”
    “Yeah, but I can make some time before it if you need me to.”
    Courtney smiled. “It’s okay… Focus on that and we’ll talk after. I don’t need people