My Perfect Imperfections Read Free Page A

two will never change.”
    Suddenly, all of the guilt that I had carried for the past ten years of my life began to resurface. I didn’t want to lose it in front of them. I shut them out and hid in my safe world by bringing my head down and not responding. I simply didn’t want to hear any more.
    “Lily, please don’t do this. It’s important to talk about your feelings now,” Mom said, trying to keep her voice soft. I knew her too well, though, because I could already hear her voice trembling.
    “Leave her alone, Jackie,” Dad said. “Can’t you see she needs time to deal with this?”
    “Really, Bill? I’m trying to help her. You see that she’s upset, right?”
    By then, I just wanted to get away from them. Layna must have wanted the same thing because without saying a word, she took my wheelchair and pushed it into our bedroom.
    It was nice that we still shared the same room. After Duke ran into the room behind us, she slammed the door and locked it. Plopping herself on her bed, she stared at me.
    I frantically began using my communication device. “Do you think this is my fault? Maybe they’re getting a divorce because of me.”
    “Why would you think that, Lily?” Layna asked, confused.
    “The stress of taking care of me. They always have to do things for me.” By then, I couldn’t hold back the tears.
    “Lily, don’t cry. What you’re saying makes no sense. They’ll still be taking care of us. They’re our parents, so that’s not going to change.” Layna got up and wiped my tears from my face.
    I got myself so worked up by then that I couldn’t even hold my head steady to talk with my device. Instead, I just sat in my wheelchair and sobbed, letting the guilt swallow me.
    Duke began howling, sensing that something was terribly wrong. Layna knew there was nothing she could do for me. She knew I needed some time to cry it all out. She gave me my space and held my hand until I was done with my breakdown.
    “Sorry,” I finally replied.
    “It’s fine, Lily. Let them do what they want. Who cares? At least we’ll always have each other. I’ll never leave you.”

Chapter Three
     
    The divorce went through fast. Soon after, Layna and I got used to our new routine. We both stayed with Mom in our home, and Dad moved a few towns over. He still helped with taking us to our appointments and events, but he just didn’t stay in the same house as us. Luckily, he made sure his new house was wheelchair accessible, so I was able to visit him every other weekend.
    Although Layna and I were still upset with our parents going through with the divorce, we knew there wasn’t much we could do about it. Adults were just weird.
    Duke was very protective of Layna and me. It was unbelievable how intelligent he was. He was always gentle with me, but played rough with Layna. Before and after school, all three of us would go for a walk. I would drive my power wheelchair while Layna would hold Duke’s leash to walk him. I loved these walks because I felt free and independent. I cherished this quiet time with the two beings I loved the most in this world. More importantly, both loved me for who I was. I could be completely myself around them without worrying about being judged.
    As I got older, I learned to tolerate the long days at school. For example, I learned to ignore the discomfort from sitting in the wheelchair for such long periods of time. It’s the worst feeling in the world not being able to even shift my weight in the wheelchair. So many times, I just wanted to be able to stand up for a few seconds to stretch my legs and relieve the pressure from my butt. Instead, I learned to deal with it, just like everything else.
    Nobody said life was going to be easy—especially for a girl like me.
     

     
    When we started high school, I admit I was intimidated. I was used to being bullied. It got so bad at times in middle school that I would cry as soon as I came home. There were kids who would imitate the way I