“Can Emi come?” I asked. It wasn’t often that I got to spend time outside of the house for non-academic purposes and even rarer that we got to spend the day out together. I would do what I could to ensure she wasn’t a burden on them, wanting only to have her with me. The thought was enough to send a wave of warmth across my body.“Who?” Sydney asked, turning to look at me for the first time since they entered.In my excitement to see the little girl again, I forgot she was still a secret. It had been so good to share the knowledge of her with someone, to have them acknowledge her and understand how

“No…” Adam was more reflective. His eyes hadn’t left Emily from the moment they walked over. He was studying her in ways he never did his math or geography, mapping every contour…every freckle…every eyelash. He was drawn to features he recognised but could not say from where the familiarity sprung. In some ways, he was looking into the mirror, yet his brain wouldn’t let him see the full picture. “She kinda looks like me. What do you guys think?”He reached a hand over to tip her chin upward, hoping to get a better look but I jerked her away. “Don’t touch her.”“You’re right, man,” Cory said, now taking a closer look himself. “She&r

The boyish grin and warm brown eyes chased the worry from me. Jayden signalled me quiet then began leading me further and further from the girls who’d so graciously taken me from my house that morning.When we were at a far enough distance, he turned to me.“Hi.”“You nearly gave me a heart attack and that’s all you’ve got to say?” Even as I chided him, I knew he felt no hint of remorse. The pride that shone in his eyes made that clear. The student body president was pleased as punch with himself and would do it again if given the chance. “Sydney and Jonie will freak out when they realise.”“Nah, I already told Jonie I’d be kidnapping you at some point today. When you turn up missing, she’ll know why. If we’re both being honest, she already knows you’re gone.”He was right. There wasn’t a chance Jonie didn’t know I was gone—not after the run

Jayden waited for me to get inside before heading off. Matt was waiting for me on the other side.“Some guy’s here; he wants to see you,” he said, unimpressed by the turn his afternoon was taking.It wasn’t the greeting I expected and not something I was prepared to handle. There were occasions my mother’s friends would make special requests to see me. They weren’t very often, and she wasn’t always in the mood to acquiesce, but it seemed she was in a giving mood.I entered the living room and felt my stomach drop violently. The nausea such a sudden movement caused was enough to make my head spin as I took in the man sitting across the couch from my mother.…Dad?My father hopped to his feet the moment I entered, an earnestness setting itself on his face.  He resembled a man who’d been left in the desert for days then offered a drop of water. The relief that radiated from him was enough to

Muffled as it now was, the conversation was difficult to ignore. Whether my mother decided to keep me or pass me on to the man who bore equal disinterest depended on two factors; how much would she miss torturing me and how badly did Matt want me to stay? My fate lay in the hands of the woman who was as likely to take me as she was to leave me. The home I once felt secure in was dissolving beneath my feet and brought me back to an earlier conversation with Jayden.Even in the middle of my panic about the future, there was a certain comfort in knowing it was still far enough away that it could be ignored. Now it clawed at my door, more terrifying in this new form that offered less certain outcomes.I would have to run away. If my mother relinquished me to that man’s care, I would have to liberate myself earlier than I’d initially planned. Jayden wouldn’t be an option; his parents were unlikely to feel comfortable with a runaway minor hiding under their