hood. The battery wasn’t dead, so I tinkered with some wiring in the hopes that I could get it to
start. When I cranked it again, it still wouldn’t budge. I repeatedly turned the ignition, pumping
my foot on the gas, praying that I could get out of here before Skylar woke up and noticed me.
I took a break, slamming my head against the steering wheel in frustration. After about five
minutes, I decided to try it one last time before I would abandon my car and walk the several
miles home in the freezing cold.
This time, I pumped harder on the gas as I turned the ignition, and to my absolute horror, the
car backfired in a loud bang.
Fuck!
I needed to grab my shit and just go. Now. Go!
I exited the car, and as I turned to lock it, there was the sound of a door bursting open and
footsteps scraping the pavement behind me.
“Is everything okay out here?”
My body froze. My back was toward her. I had a hood on, so she couldn’t see my face to identify
me. I was almost mad at her for coming out because for all she knew, I could have been a serial
killer. But Skylar always had balls too big for her own good.
I had two options: run with my head down or turn around and face her. But how would I
explain this?
It felt like my heart was in my mouth when I turned around and removed my hood. “Skylar…
it’s me.”
FIFTEEN YEARS EARLIER
CHAPTER 1
MITCH
I really hadn’t wanted to go to the playground that day. Gram thought it would be a good idea
for me to get out of the house because I had done nothing but play video games since I arrived
yesterday.
I was staying with my grandmother for the summer because my parents were fighting all of the
time, and my mother didn’t want me around to witness it anymore. The excuse she gave me was
that my grandmother had been lonely and asked for me to live with her, but I knew better.
Things back home were really bad. Some nights, Dad didn’t come home, and I was scared that
there would be nothing left to go back to.
“Come on, Mitch. Maybe meeting some new kids will brighten your mood.”
I begrudgingly slid into the backseat of my grandmother’s older, beige Camry. “Gram, I love
you. But I just don’t want to be here all summer. I want to go home in a couple of weeks.”
“Sweetheart, I know. But your folks…they have some things to sort out. Besides, I have been
waiting all year to spend quality time with my most handsome grandson.” She smiled at me
through the rearview mirror.
“I’m your only grandson.” I offered her a half smile before staring out the window for the rest of the ride.
Gram pulled into the playground parking lot. “You go on and play. I’ll be sitting right here in
the car knitting if you need me.”
I had already made up my mind that I was going to remain miserable. So, while the other kids
chased each other around, played ball or climbed the rock wall, I walked across the park and
planted myself on the bench farthest away from the action. I had snuck my portable video game
player into my shirt before we left the house, so I took it out, trying to drown out the screams and whistles of the other kids.
I felt a whack on my arm. “Tag! You’re it!”
My head rose slowly in annoyance. A scrawny girl with two long braids was running away from
me, egging me on to chase her. She looked back with a silly smile that soon faded when she
realized I still hadn’t moved from my spot to play along.
She walked back to where I continued playing the video game. “I said you’re it. You’re
supposed to chase me.”
I stared at her for a few seconds. “I’m really not in the mood for this today.”
She looked down then sat next to me and whispered, “Then, now would not be a good time to
tell you that you have dookey on your shoe.” She flashed a shit-eating grin and covered her mouth
in laughter.
I lifted my foot. “Shit.”
“You shouldn’t use that language.”
“Excuse me: crap,” I shouted sarcastically as I rubbed my foot on the grass to remove the dog poop.
She tilted her head. “Why are you such an asshole anyway?”
“Oh, you can say ‘asshole,’ but I can’t say ‘shit?’”
She ignored my question. “You should go over there. There’s a sprinkler you can turn on to
clean your shoe.”
I groaned in frustration, walked over to the sprinkler and ran the bottom of my shoe under
water, careful not to get the rest of me wet. When I turned around and walked back, the girl had
disappeared. So had my video game device.
“Shit!” I mean… Crap! Where was she?
“Looking for this?”