Page 17 of Atone

“I don’t know.” Patience focuses on the horizon when her face pales with the next swing. “The doctors said it’s probably by choice. But since he’s refused to so much as try in front of anyone, only he knows the answer to that.”

“He seems to do a lot of reading. There was a whole stack when I dropped that one off. I don’t know why your father made it seem so urgent.”

Patience lets her gaze trail. “Everything is urgent with our father.”

“Did Alex always read this much? Or only now that he’s in Montgomery?”

“More now, I suppose. I never really thought about it. There’s not much for him to do at Montgomery but read or work out, so that’s probably why.” She shakes her head. “Although, if he’s that bored, he could always go to his therapy sessions. God forbid he try.”

“He doesn’t go to therapy? Can’t they make him?”

“Good luck trying to make my brother do anything he doesn’t want to. It’s the one thing he and my father have in common.”

“If he’s not trying to get better, why is he still there?”

Patience stills. Her fingers dig into her jeans, and her face blanches. “Since when are you so curious about Alex?”

“I’m not,” I say a little too quickly to not seem defensive. “I’m just distracting myself.”

“Okay…” Her eyebrows pinch, unconvinced.

But she doesn’t keep up the questioning.

I glance around, and Patience leans to look down at the ground. I’m queasy thinking about what she’s seeing. We’re almost parallel to the other side. It’s only a matter of time before everything tilts. I really shouldn’t have agreed to this ride so easily.

With a final lift, the entire cage starts to sway, and I’m thankful. Because even if I hate this ride, and it’s testing my every limit to not throw up at the thought of how high I am, the swing will hopefully distract Patience from thinking too hard about how I was asking about Alex.

“What is that—” Her question cuts off in a scream as the entire cage sways, rotating on the oval beam.

The world tilts sideways.

5

WATCHING ME

MILA

“I hadno idea a Ferris wheel could make you sick.” Patience plants her hand over her stomach; all color has drained from her face.

“Just the swinging one.” I breathe in the cool night air, still trying to keep my vomit down.

“You should have warned me.”

“I tried.” I smirk as her face sours.

“You’re the one afraid of heights. How come I’m the only one who puked after that?”

“Because you ate twice as much cotton candy beforehand.”

“Right.” She tips her head back, steadying her breath. “How have I lived without cotton candy in my life for this long? It was too good.”

I laugh, linking my arm through hers. “I still can’t believe you’ve never had it.”

“Another downside of being chained to Bristal my entire life. This is our first carnival or fair or anything remotely exciting.”

“With how green your cheeks are right now, that’s probably a good thing.”

She narrows her eyes. “I’m not green. Just a little queasy.”