Family Ties

It had only been a couple of hours since the caseworker dropped me off at the Shaws'. Ernie and Hensley seemed nice enough, but I hadn't spent much time talking to the adults. Or Portia-a strange name that somehow suited her, even with the little bit I knew. The three of them showed me my room and the mounds of books they'd stocked on the shelves, and I stayed holed up alone until dinner, lost in the pages of a made-up world. It was weird to eat with anyone other than my mom, or anywhere other than at our table for two. Ours was nestled into a corner of our living room to create a makeshift dining space. Even at eight years old, I knew it wasn't much, but it was ours, and my mom worked hard to make sure we had a nice place. It wasn't as big as the Shaws' house. Our carpet was flat from walking on it all the time, and my twin bed didn't have a matching dresser, much less a nightstand and a lamp. The walls were white and our dishes mismatched, but at home, my mom tucked me in every ni

Sweat covered my skin, and a clammy chill clung to me through the thin fabric of my pajamas. They were the only thing I recognized in the dark. It took me a minute to remember where I was, and it wasn't home. My mom wasn't down the hall, my stuff wasn't strewn about the floor, and I wouldn't be eating at the diner tomorrow morning when daylight took over the night, illuminating the room."Are you all right?" A voice startled me.Jerking my line of sight toward the sound, I waited. I prayed my eyes would adjust and the shadows would stop tricking me into thinking things moved around the room. I'd woken up in here hundreds of times and never felt the panic I did now.Portia didn't wait for me to respond. My heart hammered in my chest, although I didn't know if it was the nightmare that woke me, the unfamiliar fear clawing at me, or the girl crawling into bed next to me. Portia slinked between the sheet and the comforter. When the blankets moved, the swirling air from the fan hit my

"Come on. Get up. Get up. Get up." Portia woke me by bouncing on my bed in animation. Her dark hair flew around her, blocking her face from view, but her voice gave away her excitement."God. What time is it?" I pressed the heel of my hands into my eyes and tried to rub the sleep away. "If it's before noon, come back at twelve." Yanking on the covers, I rolled onto my side to block her out.She tugged on my arm and used her weight to pull me into a sitting position. "It's already ten. By the time you shower and eat, it will be noon before we get on the road. And then it's an hour drive. Come on." I hated it when she pouted and even worse when she whined. Portia was the only female in the world who could spin me upside down by puffing out her bottom lip and lowering her voice half an octave. I was a goner the instant she did it."Fine. I'll get up when you get out." There was no way in hell I was tossing back the blankets to give her a visual of all the things I'd dreamed about

When he met my eyes, I relaxed. It was easy to see how he could get a reputation from women who felt slighted after he'd rejected them. I wouldn't say Chet and I were close; we hadn't known each other long. Although, his reputation and perception were important to him. He took pride in his position on the lacrosse team, he made sure to talk to anyone who said hello, and he was part of a handful of clubs and organizations. Chet played an active role on campus. He was a popular guy. It would be easy to mistake his confidence for cockiness if I hadn't spoken to him."Do you want something to drink?" he asked, as though he'd just realized he had a beverage and had been rude not to offer me one."I'm not a fan of beer. Thank you, though.""I'm pretty sure there's a stash of wine coolers in the back." Charisma oozed from his smile, and I was putty in his hand. "Come on, you can pick whatever flavor you want."I debated refusing. It wasn't that I wasn't interested in having one. I'd j

Maybe that was the problem-this was so common that women no longer respected themselves. I didn't want to be one of them."What do you think is going on behind every one of those closed doors in the hall? I can assure you, they aren't just making out. And most of them probably have more than one couple fucking inside."My face quirked into an uneasy expression. I couldn't believe what I'd heard. He didn't even apologize or pretend that my discomfort mattered. This was someone I thought-at the very least-was my friend. I didn't know boys who acted this way. Jude sure as hell wouldn't have been this disrespectful to a girl. Jude would have remembered to engage the lock. Jude would have shielded me with his body. Jude would have pushed those gawking, uninvited strangers into the hall. Jude would have found a way to conceal my nudity and ease my embarrassment. Because that's what a man should do. It shouldn't matter if they had a spoken commitment between them; a guy with any integrity