“Was there someone outside?” Price’s dad called from the kitchen.
Price nudged Kylee down the hall and nodded toward the stairs. “No.” He went the opposite direction, into the kitchen. “I thought there was.”
“Did you put your new tires on yet?”
“Not yet. Been busy today.”
“Homework done?”
“Yes.”
“Finish your dinner. Then I want to look over your homework.”
Their voices faded away as Kylee tiptoed up the stairs, stepping so they wouldn’t creak. She made it to the top and crept down the hall. His bedroom door was open. Kylee paused, for a moment not recognizing the room with the clothes spread over the carpet and draped over the back of the chair. His backpack lay on his unmade bed, half open with papers spilling across the blankets and onto the carpet. A crumpled bag of chips sat in the corner, and the trash bin next to them was overflowing. An odor much like dirty socks filled the room.
Kylee stepped inside, closing the door behind her. Then she moved to the bed and shoved everything off, not caring if it added to the mess. She grabbed the blanket piled at the foot of the bed and curled up beneath it. Using Price’s pillow felt too intimate, so she pressed her face into the sheet and cried. Eventually her eyes felt sticky and heavy, and the sobs turned into spastic heaving.
The sound of the door closing startled her. She jerked her head up, blinking the grogginess from her eyes. She swung her feet around and started to get up.
Price sat on the bed and pushed her shoulder back down. “It’s okay. You don’t have to get up.”
She relaxed against the sheets, knowing her face must look red and splotchy from crying. “Thank you.”
He picked up his backpack and began gathering the papers off the floor. “I have to go over my homework with my dad. But I’ll be back up as soon as I can. Stay here, okay?”
She nodded, pulling the blankets up to her chin.
“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked, his eyes never leaving her face.
She’d shoved Bill into the table and nearly killed him. She shook her head. She rolled over to face the wall, a tear escaping her eye and rolling into her ear. “Not now.”
“Okay.” He touched her back. “See ya in a bit.”
She nodded.
The room darkened as night fell, and the shadows on the wall became less pronounced. She waved her hand in front of her, watched the soft blue glow from her ring dance along the wall.
Price returned, flicking on the light. Kylee closed her eyes against the brightness.
“Kylee?” he said.
She turned over and gave him a smile. “I’m here.”
His brown eyes surveyed the room, his nose wrinkling. “Sorry. This place is a mess.”
“Yeah,” she teased, sitting up and scooting against the wall. She brought her knees up to her chest and hugged them. “Your house was so clean last Saturday. I thought you guys were neat freaks.”
Price laughed as he swooped down and gathered up clothes. “No.” He tossed the wad of clothing into a dirty clothes basket in the closet. “The housekeeper comes on Fridays. So everything looked good.”
“A housekeeper. How nice.” A thought occurred to her, and her eyes widened. “I could do that for you, you know. I’m good at cleaning. And I wouldn’t charge as much.” She’d do it for free, just for the excuse to be in Price’s house a few more hours a week.
“That might be kind of weird,” he said.
“Oh.” She imagined Price trying to explain to his dad how he wanted to date their maid. Then her face warmed at the idea of Price wanting to date her. “Yeah. You’re right.”
He settled against the wall beside her and wrapped his hands around his knees, just like she did. “Are you okay?”
“I guess.” She let out a shaky breath. “Bill got mean again. He started fighting with my mom. And I—well, I just meant to shove him. But he fell and hit his head.” The tears came again, and Kylee rested her head on her knees. “I thought I’d killed him.”
“Wait, hang on. You pushed him? And he fell?”
“It was an accident!” she blurted. Her chest heaved. “I didn’t mean to hurt him, honest!”
“Hey, I believe you.” Price’s arm went around her shoulders, and he held her sideways against him, his hand stroking her arm. “I’m trying to picture what happened. What did your mom say?”
“Nothing. Just went to his side.” Of course her mom was worried about Bill, but the action felt like a betrayal.
“What were they fighting about?”
“Me. I spilled his beer. Then my mom started to defend me because Bill says everything’s my fault.”
“What’s your fault?” Price whispered, his breath tickling her ear.
“Bill’s always blamed me, for our lack of money, for his bad job, for us not moving, for whatever. And now he’s under investigation—”
“Investigation?” Price interrupted. “For what?”
“Something to do with me.”
Price didn’t say anything for a long moment. Then he squeezed her shoulder. “It’ll be okay, Kylee.” He pushed off the bed and went to his closet.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
He pulled his shirt over his head, displaying his bare back. She’d seen his tanned skin before at the beach, but somehow it felt different, here in his room. Her heart rate quickened, and something tightened in her stomach.
“Getting ready for bed,” he said. He opened his dresser drawer and glanced up at her. “Am I making you uncomfortable? I can change in the bathroom. My dad might think it’s weird, but I’ve done weirder things before.” He cracked a smile.
Kylee shook her head. “No, it’s fine. I won’t watch.”
He pulled out a cotton shirt and put it on, and she forced herself to look away. A part of her wanted to watch him, wanted to know every little thing about Price Hudson. But another part was terrified of the idea.
She lifted her head when he approached the bed, wearing long plaid pajama pants with his cotton shirt. He scratched his head. “What are you going to do now?”
Translation: I’m going to bed and you’re in the way. Kylee’s neck burned, and she scrambled off the bed. “I’ll go home, I guess. Thanks for letting me stay here for a few hours.”
His hand grabbed her wrist as she moved toward the door. “I wasn’t asking you to leave.”
She turned back to face him. “You weren’t?”
His hand moved to her elbow, and he pulled her to his chest. His arms wrapped around her. “Stay with me.”
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“Stay with you?” she echoed. Could she sound like any more of an idiot?
“Yes,” he whispered. “Stay the night with me.”
The blood thundered so hard in her ears she could hardly think. “You mean, like, sleep on your floor again?”
One of Price’s hands moved through her hair, catching in the rubber band that held her ponytail. He slid it out and combed his fingers through. His mouth pressed a kiss against the skin at the corner of her eye. “If you want.”
Wild horses couldn’t have pulled her away from Price’s room at that moment. “Yes. I want.”
“Then stay. Stay with me always.”
Always. “Okay.”
Price released Kylee and stepped back. “You take the bed this time. I’ll sleep on the floor.”
She longed to be back in his arms, but she nodded. “Okay.”
He grabbed a blanket and pillow from the closet and turned out the light. From the soft whiteness of the moon, Kylee made out his figure as he settled on the floor beside the bed.
“Good night,” he whispered.
“Night,” Kylee whispered back.
Silence descended over the room. The window was closed, but Kylee still heard the sounds of the crickets and cicadas calling in the night. Downstairs, dishes clanged as she presumed Mr. Hudson was cleaning up. Kylee closed her eyes and pictured again Bill’s face as he hit the table, his mouth slack and open.
The worst part was, Kylee wished he’d died.
A small whimper escaped her, and she pressed her hand to her mouth to hide the sound. Price stirred on the ground.
“Are you scared?” he asked.
“No,” she replied. Then she reconsidered her answer. “Yes. I don’t—I—” She couldn’t tell him how much she wanted Bill to die. Price would think she was an awful person. She curled into a ball and squeezed her eyes shut.
“Don’t be scared. I’m here.”
“Hold me,” she whispered. The ring on her hand glowed lighter, a small ball of blue lighting up the ceiling.
The floor creaked, and then the bed sank a little as Price’s weight added to it. She opened her eyes, but it was too dark to see anything besides his shadowy shape. He settled down next to her and pulled her against him. Kylee leaned her head on his chest. The anger and hatred seeped out of her, replaced with a feeling of calm contentment.
His fingers ran through her hair, as gently as a breeze blowing off the ocean. “Dors,” he said. “Just sleep.”
***
The rooster crow sounded farther away than usual. She lay in bed a moment longer. The minutes ticked by, and Kylee drifted off again.
When she opened her eyes, she knew from the light in the bedroom that at least twenty minutes had gone by. Her head bobbed up. No one had woken her. She shouldn’t be surprised, as no one had since Saturday. But she kept waiting for things to return to normal.
She looked around the unfamiliar room, at the gray walls with sports posters and trophies. Where was she? And then the evening before came flooding back to her. She swiveled her head, half expecting Price to be gone. But no, he slept in the bed next to her, his face peaceful in sleep. The brown hair stuck out like a child’s again, and the long lashes lay soft against his cheeks.
Without thinking, she leaned over and kissed his mouth. Price’s eyes fluttered, and he focused on her.
“Kylee,” he murmured. “You stayed.”
So she wasn’t the only one that expected the other to disappear at any moment, like some fantasy they’d dreamed up.
The quiet moment was shattered by the sudden ringing of a small black alarm on the computer desk. Price rolled away from her and stumbled over, leaving a trail of blankets from the bed to the desk. He slapped the alarm a few times before it shut up.
“Listen, I gotta get ready for school,” he said. He grabbed a few articles of clothing from the ground and then a few more from the closet. “I’ll be in the shower. You staying?”
Kylee looked at his bedroom window. She couldn’t see her house from the bed, but its presence weighed heavy on her like a coming storm. A feeling of dread crowded the pleasant emotions from the morning. It would be so much easier to hide out here for the rest of her life. “I have nowhere to go.”
His hand reached for the doorknob, though his eyes never left her face. “I keep thinking you’re gonna go, that you won’t be here when I get back.”
She gave a half-smile. “I know the feeling.”
“Be right back.”
Kylee got out of bed as soon as he left. She’d been lying there for hours, and she needed to move. She did a few stretches and bent over, touching her hands to the ground.
A shoebox under Price’s bed caught her attention. She hesitated a moment, then knelt down and pulled it out.
The lid was taped shut, giving Kylee a moment to reconsider. She pried off the tape and lifted the lid. Photos and newspaper clippings filled the box, some organized with paper clips, and other stuffed inside like used toilet paper.
She picked up the first photo. It showed a beautiful young woman with long, auburn hair and a radiant smile. In her arms, his round cheeks pressed against hers, was a little boy with honey-blond hair, brown eyes, and a confused expression on his pudgy face.
Kylee sat back and studied the picture. It had to be Price’s mom. And the darling little boy had to be Price. She traced her fingers around his face, then looked into the eyes of his mother.
“You have an amazing son,” she whispered.
In the hallway the bathroom door banged open, and Kylee shoved the photo back in. She kicked the box under the bed right before Price came in, the warmth and smell of the shower still clinging to him.
“Okay, I’ve got to go,” he said, squeezing a ball of gel in his palm. He ran it through his hair and spiked it up, then slung his backpack over his shoulder.
“Come on, Price!” Mr. Hudson yelled from down below. “Lisa’s waiting!”
“It’s always like this in the morning,” Price said. “Craziness.”
Kylee panicked. Price was going to school, and she’d be stuck here by herself all day. She wasn't sure how she’d get out of the house, but trooping out with Price and Lisa would attract his father’s attention. “When does your dad go to work?”
“About twenty minutes after we get on the bus.”
She nodded. “Okay. I’ll sneak out after he leaves.”
“He sets the alarm,” Price warned. “Just come with me now. We’ll go out the garage door. He won’t notice.”
“Okay,” Kylee agreed uncertainly. Price took her hand and guided her down the hall. She pulled her hand away as they neared the front door, certain Lisa would say something.
“Hurry!” Lisa cried when she saw them. “We’ll miss the bus!”
Sure enough, the bus’s air brakes pumped outside. Price stepped into the garage and pushed the button to lift the door. His eyes met Kylee’s, and he winked.
“Let’s go!” he said to Lisa. Without a backward glance, they took off running.
Kylee followed, watching them streak across the yard and down the road. She heard Amy and Micheal’s voices, calling and cheering them on. A moment later the brakes whooshed again, and the bus started moving.
She inhaled a careful breath, trying to imagine what waited for her at home. She crept to the side of the house. Her window was unlocked and ajar, just as she had left it. Hefting herself over the side, Kylee stood still for a moment in the room and listened. The house was silent. No TV going.
The doorknob twitched, and Kylee jumped back as it opened. “Mom,” she exhaled when her mother came in. She peered closer at her mother and noticed the purple shadows like bruises ringing the red, glossy eyes. “Mom? Is everything okay?”
Her mother sat down on the bed and ran a hand over the blankets. “Kylee,” she whispered. “I failed you.”
Kylee sat down next to her. “No, you didn’t, Mom. I know you only stay with him because you’re scared.”
“How could I let this happen?”
Kylee’s heart tightened. “Let what happen?”
“I tried. I tried so hard. I tried to do the right thing with you.” Her mom buried her face in her hands.
Kylee hesitated, then reached out and placed one arm around her mother’s shoulders.
Theresa jerked upright, dropping her hands from her face. Kylee pulled back and scooted away, alarmed by her mother’s reaction.
“Sorry,” Kylee said. Her own eyes welled up with tears. “I miss feeling close to you.”
Her mom didn’t say anything. She pushed off the bed and left the room, closing the door behind her.
Kylee hadn’t thought she had any tears left, but fresh ones rolled down her cheeks. The aching in her heart engulfed her, threatening to consume her whole. With shaking fingers, she fumbled under her pillow, looking for her knife. She needed something sharp, something poignant.
It wasn’t there. Growing more desperate, Kylee turned down the blankets, searching. No sign of the knife, the razor, or even the nail clippers.
Someone had taken them.
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