Always: Broken Series Book Four by Annie Jocoby Page B

had allergies, and had had them all my life, so I always tended to cough anyhow. But with this hanging over my head…any kind of things going on with my lungs terrified me.
    Chloe the owl was reading a book, as usual. She loved to read novels about angels and demons and fantastical things happening in modern-day New York City and other places like that. She also loved to read about shifters – men and women who turn into lions and tigers and bears and things like that, and then turn back again. Whenever she wasn’t studying for a test, she was busying herself with these books, as she was right at that moment.
    “What you reading?” I asked her, not really caring about the answer, but wanting to pass the time somehow. Somehow, even though one of my favorite shows was on the television, I couldn’t concentrate on that. I needed to have human conversation. Mom and dad were in the waiting room with us, too, but I felt the need to talk to Chloe instead of to them. Mom and dad were still being weird, even though they both were trying not to be. Chloe, on the other hand, really was being normal, and I wanted that. I needed that.
    Chloe shrugged. “The usual. I’m reading a story about a teenager who is finding out that he changes into a bear sometimes. He’s about to meet this human girl and fall in love. I think that this boy is going to also turn into a billionaire or something. I’m not really sure.”
    “Sounds like a very realistic book,” I said with a smile. I also liked to read, but I enjoyed reading thrillers, like medical and legal thrillers, and mysteries and things like that. Sometimes I enjoyed paranormal thrillers and mysteries, even though I thought that they were kind of hooey. Fun hooey, but hooey nonetheless. “I suppose him becoming a billionaire has something to do with him shifting into a bear, right? Like he has the secret to super-human strength, like a bear, so he’s able to bottle that and sell it. Right?”
    Chloe shrugged her shoulders again. “I don’t know, Addy. I told you I think that he’s going to become a billionaire, because they usually do in these books. But I don’t know for sure.” She rolled her eyes and put her nose back into her book.
    Chloe appeared that she wasn’t going to talk to me, so I started to watch the show again. They’re ingredients that they had to incorporate were squid, some kind of star fruit, and asparagus. As I always did when I watched this show, I imagined myself making something with the ingredients. I practiced in my head on what I would do and put myself into the shoes of the contestants.
    Mom noticed me watching the TV and came over and sat next to me. “You’ll get on that show,” she said. “Just you watch and see.”
    I nodded. “Maybe I could try to get on the Chopped Junior show.” Chopped had a show just for younger contestants, and I really wanted to try out for that one as soon as I could. I smiled as I realized that my battle with cancer might actually be a plus when I tried out for that show, as the producers tended to like people with sad stories. And it certainly would be a sad story if I beat cancer but lost my leg. Not to mention my hair. I subconsciously touched my head and felt my hair. Was I going to lose it? When it came back would it be different? I had straight brown hair, and, from what I read, I might end up with curly red hair or something when everything was said and done.
    Would I still be me?
    “Why don’t we send in an audition tape and see what happens?” mom asked. “It couldn’t hurt. Maybe they’ll take you.”
    I smiled. “Well, it’s on my bucket list. I never thought that I would be making up a bucket list at 15, but here I am.”
    When I said that, I saw that it made mom really sad, so I felt horrible. Her eyes filled with tears and I saw her swallow a huge lump in her throat. “Addison, don’t talk like that. You don’t have to make up a bucket list.”
    “But mom, everyone should have a bucket