“I knew I heard someone!” Bill yelled.

Price looked like a raccoon paralyzed by a flashlight.

“Leave him alone!” Kylee cried. “We were just talking!”

Bill charged at Price, grabbing his shoulders and shoving him into the wall. “Trespassing! I’ll get you now! I’m calling the police!”

“I’m sorry,” Price said, squirming in his grip. “Just let me go. I won’t come back, I promise.”

“It’s too late for that! You’re gonna pay now, you nosy little SOB!”

Kylee cried out as Bill punched Price in the face. Price yelled and twisted around. Kylee ran into the hallway and banged on her parents’ bedroom door. “Mom! Mom, I need you!” She paused, listening for footsteps, for some sort of response.

The bed didn’t even creak.

“Mom!” Kylee screamed, her throat aching from the force of the sound.

Still nothing, which meant it was up to Kylee. She scanned the hallway for something, anything she could use. She spotted an old photograph of herself as a toddler. She yanked it off the wall, gasping at the weight of it. Her hand throbbed as if the frame had burned her. Kylee raced back to her room.

Blood splotched Price’s upper lip, but he had both arms up in defensive positions, blocking Bill’s blows. Kylee launched herself at the two of them and rammed the sharp edge of the picture frame into Bill’s ribcage. The force of the impact jerked it from her hands, and it shattered on the floor.

“What the—?” Bill whipped around and stared at the frame.

“Price, run!” Kylee yelled.

Price didn’t need to be told twice. He tossed himself out the window, stumbling to his feet before racing across the yard.

Bill spun toward the bedroom door. Broken glass crunched beneath his bare foot. He swore and stopped moving long enough to pull pieces from his skin.

“Kylee!” he yelled. “Theresa!”

Kylee backed into the wall, wishing she had one of those shards of glass in her hand now.

Banging on the front door silenced Bill.

“Hey!” Mr. Hudson’s voice echoed through the small house. “Hey!” The walls shook beneath his pounding fists. “You come out here and talk to me before I call the police!”

Swearing under his breath, Bill left the room, favoring his bleeding foot. Kylee shut the door and shoved her desk chair under it. She couldn’t make out the words, but she heard Price’s father and Bill arguing on the front porch. Then Bill shouted, “We ain’t done talking, mister. If your boy comes near my house again, I’ll make him wish he hadn’t been born. Hear me? Keep him away!”

“Now you listen here!” Mr. Hudson shouted back. “If I see so much as a hair out of place on my son’s head, I’ll have you hauled away on child assault charges so fast, your head will spin. And then I’ll hire a big fancy lawyer and you won’t ever see the light of day again. Am I clear?”

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Kylee shuddered and pressed her hands to her ears. If only she’d gone outside to talk to Price like he wanted.

The front door slammed, and the small house trembled in its frame. Kylee climbed into bed, her whole body shaking. Any moment now, Bill would burst in here and beat the living daylights out of her. She wished she could disappear. She imagined his footsteps pounding down the hall, his grip on her arm as he hit her.

Coldness crept over her, starting with her toes and fingers and freezing her arms and legs. A heaviness pressed down on her chest, the pressure increasing until she found it difficult to breathe. She gasped out, lightheaded. The familiar, constant blue glow from her ring darkened. She turned her head. The light had nearly gone out, leaving a speck of blue in the very middle. Wasn’t she supposed to do something if that happened?

If she could find a razor, a knife, something to focus her mind. But she couldn’t move her fingers. She squeezed her eyes shut.

At least Price had made it home okay.

Heat sparked in her chest, anger that Bill had dared touch him. Hurt him. The warmth spread through her torso, relieving some of the pressure. She fought the desire to get up and knock Bill in the head with another frame. Or something harder.

Price had come here to tell her he liked her. That he was crazy about her.

The thought relaxed her. Her eyes didn’t feel so heavy, and she opened them.

The electric blue light was back, swirling around in her ring. She touched the globe with her other hand. The blue was good. Good feelings. Like Price. She closed her eyes. She saw the blue light still, the brightness searing through her eyelids. Bold and alive and constant.

***

Kylee woke to the sound of the bus leaving. Bright sunlight streamed through her open window, and a cool breeze teased her face. She shivered and pulled the blankets closer around her. The bus was already here? Last night’s ordeal must’ve taken a bigger toll on her than she’d thought.

The events from the previous night twisted her insides, but foremost of all, almost eclipsing the nastiness of the confrontation with her stepfather, were Price’s words. He liked her. Enough to come over here and tell her. Sure, it had turned into a fist fight and then a shouting match between their parents, but the words were out. Whatever happened now, Kylee knew his feelings for her. She wiggled her toes and didn’t resist the grin that spread across her face.

She changed her clothes and climbed out the window, figuring that was easier than going through the house and facing her mom. Already the air felt warmer. The sun shone down on her head, and she tilted her face up so it beat upon her bare skin. The exhilarating warmth matched the feeling in her heart.

The potato bucket hadn’t moved from its spot upside down against the back of the house. Kylee flipped it over and blew at the spiders that had made it their home. They scrambled out, and she carried it over to the garden plot next to the clothesline. Remnants of the spring and summer plants still dotted the dirt, some with green leaves in an attempt to thrive during the changing season. Most, however, were shriveled and brown, good for nothing except tossing into a compost pile.

She sat down on the ground and dug her fingers into the cool soil. The dirt seemed to grow rocks better than it grew vegetables. Within moments she retrieved her first stone. She chucked it across the yard and resumed searching for a potato.

She had the urge to fly, to throw her arms out and let the wind carry her away. It felt as though she could, as if she could be free of everything that held her down.

She took her shoes off and dug her toes into the soil. She put the bucket down and lifted her face to the sky, arms extended. The glimmer of her ring caught her eye. She pressed her hand over it, feeling the coolness against her palm. She removed her hand and saw the color had darkened from a blue to a gray.

Suddenly the urge to fly seemed like a compulsion. She felt weightless, and it frightened her. Kylee sat down in the dirt, trying to glue herself to the ground. The sky summoned her, beckoning gravity to release its hold. She put her head on her knees and held on tight.

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