Dare to Breathe Read Free Page B

smiling. It is the only picture I have of the three of us and I treasure it more than anything else in my room. I picture our old neighbor who gave this to me after my life was ripped away from me and I whisper a quick thanks to her for this one keepsake. I get out of bed to rub my hands over it. I feel tears threaten but I blink them away. I thought I had no tears left over this. My throat burns so I tiptoe to the kitchen. The microwave tells me that it is 2:00 a.m. I sigh and fill a glass with water, downing it in one go and soothing my dry throat. I hear soft noises coming from the living room and walk over to investigate. In the living room I spot Nathan. On his lap is a girl with short brown hair and a killer body. She has her top off and he is rubbing her breasts, his eyes closed. My body freezes and I start to shake. I don’t want to be here. With the nightmare fresh in my mind, I start to fall apart.
    I try and walk away but my feet are glued. Suddenly I feel eyes burning into mine. I look up and see Nathan watching me, hands frozen to the girl’s chest. She is still moaning with pleasure. He scowls and I suddenly find the strength and hurry away into my room. I climb into bed and try counting to one hundred, anything to get the images out of my head. I hear the stairs creak and then suddenly voices above me. I realize then that Nathan’s room is directly above mine as giggling joins a low murmur. I know it will be a long night as I shove my pillow over my head to block out the sounds.
    The alarm wakes me up at seven. I climb out of bed wearily after listening to soft giggly noises all night. Stupid giggly bitch .
    I grab my clean clothes and trudge up the stairs hoping the bathroom is free. To my utter delight it is and I have my allocated five minute shower, brush my teeth and put on my yellow summer dress as quickly as I can. I tie up my hair in a bun and apply a touch of mascara and some lip gloss.
    In the kitchen I see Nathan sitting at the counter drinking coffee. I know I need to say something, apologize somehow. I shift from leg to leg and decide to just come out and say it.
    “Nathan…I…um, well I am sorry about last night. I didn’t know you had company,” I blurt out, feeling my damn cheeks heat up.
    Nathan puts the coffee down. “Yeah, well…I can’t say it was the best thing to open my eyes and see you standing there watching,” he says and looks at me curiously. “Why did you stand there and watch?” he asks suddenly.
    “What? I…um no, it was just a shock! It’s not every night I walk into a sex scene! I wasn’t standing there long!”
    I hear Nathan chuckle and sneak another glance at him.
    “No, actually I’m the one who is sorry,” he says, looking at me seriously with those soulful eyes. “I forgot someone was in the room down here. It’s sort of been a while. I swear I will be careful in the future.” He gets up, takes his cup to the sink and walks out the room.
    I stand there a moment longer wondering what the hell he must think of me. I finally snap out of it, shrug and go into my room to finish getting ready for the day.

Chapter Four
    “Theory tells us children are embedded into their family, therefore as teachers we have a responsibility to ensure that we include and welcome families into our work with children,” my lecturer says, walking around the class.
    I think back to my childhood as she speaks. I hope and pray I am not ‘embedded’ into my family. I wish I could remember what is fact and what is fiction but I know either way my early years were not easy.
    The rest of the lecture continues and I write notes to ensure I remember what I learn even if I have stopped really listening. I am not sure why I decided to become a psychologist. I suspect it has everything to do with the foster parents who raised me. Thinking of them brings a smile to my face and I know I need to call them soon.
    “Hey Mom!” I say when she answers the phone. I have been with them since