Marianne by Elizabeth Hammer (best books to read in life TXT) 📕

Patrick sat back against his seat while she buttoned it. He stared out the windshield and said tightly, “The top button, too.”

Marianne obeyed.

“Are you ready to go?” he asked, still eyes front.

“Um…” she said.

Patrick looked at her in terror. He was such a good boy. Marianne cranked up her compassion and put the truck in gear for him. She wasn’t sure how it had happened, but she didn’t seem to have lost the game after all. Now this was power.

16

U-N-L-O-Q-U-A-C-I-O-U-S

Marianne drove way too fast down her street. It was Friday afternoon, two days after Denny’s, and she was super hyper for some reason. She’d done fine yesterday at school, even though she knew that Patrick was at home, but today had been harder. She’d thought of ditching early, but she was sure that Patrick wouldn’t have liked that. No use coming home to be with him if he was just going to send her back.

Her cell phone rang as she pulled into the driveway. Marianne turned off the engine and answered. “Hello?”

“You shouldn’t drive so fast,” said Patrick.

“What?” Marianne got out of the car and searched the yard for him. “Where are you?”

“I’m standing in my living room and saw you streak by.”

Marianne tucked her coat tighter around her and walked up to the house. The weather had become freezing cold over the last few days. Well, freezing for Anaheim—about sixty degrees. “Were you watching for me, or something? That’s kind of stalkerish.”

“Agreed,” he said. Patrick clucked his tongue. “So, not to get even more stalkerish, but I’m going to kidnap you, okay?”

“Well, wait... If I agree, it’s not really kidnapping.” Marianne went inside and sat at the table, dumping her stuff on the ground. “Would that ruin it for you?”

“Oh, definitely. It’s only worth it to me if you come unwillingly.”

Marianne smiled. “Yikes, you really are sick. No way am I going anywhere with you.”

“Watch out, Marianne. I know where you live.”

“Ooh,” she said. “I’m shaking in my boots.”

“You’re not wearing boots.”

“Ew.” Marianne jumped up and looked out the kitchen window. “Are you really watching me?”

Patrick laughed. “You wear the same thing to school every day, dingbat.”

Marianne looked down at her feet and wiggled her toes in her black sneakers. “Oh, yeah.”

He laughed at her again. “Go get changed. And Marianne...” he whispered. “Watch your back.”

Marianne wrinkled her nose and flipped the phone shut without saying goodbye. She quickly changed her clothes and ran outside to go check on Nana before her abduction. She’d taken a few steps across Nana’s lawn when she heard a wolf-whistle behind her. She turned around and saw Patrick crossing his lawn toward her, carrying a twenty-five-pound stand-up kitchen mixer.

“What are you doing with that?” she asked.

Patrick walked up to her and mussed her hair with his free hand. “Dan called from Nana’s. She said she needs this right away.”

“That is a horrible idea.” Marianne stared at the appliance, wondering what sort of tweaker crafting was going on over there. Neither Danielle nor Nana ever baked anything, so it had to be something nefarious. “We’ll have to stay to supervise its usage. Someone will lose a finger if we leave it alone with those two.”

Patrick shook his head at her. “You have no faith. Dan makes Nana lunch every day. She’s competent.” Nana was perfectly capable of cooking for herself, only she refused to eat anything but chips and ice cream when she had the choice, so Danielle had stepped in.

“You just wait,” said Marianne. “They’re not making brownies over there. At least not the legal kind.”

Danielle grabbed the mixer from Patrick as soon as they made it through the door, and without any nasty looks, either. Danielle must have forgiven Patrick for talking to their mom. But that’s how it usually went with her—if she needed something, then the past was the past.

Danielle looked as frazzled as usual and didn’t even say hello to Marianne. She was too busy yelling. “Just go watch your show, Nana! You’re going to miss finding out who brought the head cooties to school.”

“It was Kenny. I know it,” mumbled Nana, as she paced around the kitchen. “C-O-O-T-I-E-S. Cooties. C-O-O-”

“Stop spelling and go sit down, for crying out loud!” shouted Danielle, as she plugged in the mixer.

Marianne raised her eyebrows at Danielle’s freak out. “What’s going—”

“She’s spelling again,” huffed Danielle. “I can’t stand it when she’s spelling.”

“That’s why she does it,” said Marianne, grabbing Nana by the arm and pushing her toward the living room. “She only spells when you’re here.”

“Shut up, stupid,” snapped Danielle from the kitchen. “What kind of person won’t eat scrambled eggs unless they’re whipped with a three-hundred dollar mixer, anyway?”

“She eats them when I make them,” shouted Marianne. She deposited Nana on the couch to finish South Park. “You just have to add milk.”

“For your information, her milk is rotten!”

Marianne made her way back to the kitchen and leaned against the wall next to Patrick. “You’d better have checked the eggs, then. They might be bad, too.”

Danielle turned around and gave Marianne her best ghetto stance. “Do I look like an idiot?”

Patrick pushed off from the wall, partially blocking the view between Marianne and Danielle. “Enough bickering, you two. I’m about to start spelling, myself.”

Marianne poked him in the back with her finger. “What are you going to spell?”

“B-E-L-L-I-C-O-S-E. Bellicose.”

Danielle gave Patrick a dirty look. “Show off.” She poured her eggs into the mixer bowl and then leveled her eyes on Marianne. “How can you stand that?”

Marianne leaned to the side to look at her and smiled. “Oh, I just don’t listen when he gets all pocket-protector on me.”

Patrick stepped back swiftly and squashed Marianne against the wall. “Ouch,” whined Marianne, trying to shove him off.

Patrick pushed back harder. “Did you hear something, Danielle?”

“Nuh-uh,” she said, flipping on the mixer. “I tune out all such nugacious tones.”

“Nugacious,” he said. “Very nice. N-U-G-”

“I can’t breathe,” whispered Marianne.

Patrick took his weight off her and pulled her