Chapter 19

The weather wasn’t the only difference between WhiSare and Down Hills. Where WhiSare was quiet and peaceful with friendly neighbors waving out windows, Down Hills was an edgy town with pubs at almost every corner. The road Kayla drove on led to the heart of town. The curbs were parked with people, trucks lined the streets and the front of every club. Leather jackets, fish nets, buckled boots, and skin-tight leather skirts made the outfits of the many party-goers that hung outside of open club doors. I recognized some people from school hanging around streetlights with flickering bulbs sharing liquor bottles and cigarettes. The town reeked of booze.

“Down Hills is where people from school come to hang out. It’s a free town.”

Free town was putting it mildly. Music blasted from the club while people danced carelessly close to the road.

Kayla swerved the car multiple times to avoid drunken teenagers and adults who stumbled across the road without looking. She guided the car to another str