บททั้งหมดของ Lay Me Down: บทที่ 11 - บทที่ 20

Kylee lowered her eyes. Suddenly everything about Price was endearing, from his spiky brown hair to his light-brown eyelashes to his fidgeting feet. She made him nervous? The thought brought a delighted smile to her lips.He coughed. “Yeah, okay, you can laugh.”Her eyes shot up. “No, no, I’m not laughing at you. I understand better than you think, actually. I get nervous too, right?” She gave what she hoped was a sincere smile. “I’d love to go. It would be nice to have a friend. I deserve that, right?”He cocked his head and peered at her. “Yeah. Yeah, you do.”Something in his eyes was so serious, so tender, that Kylee felt like he was seeing an intimate part of her. She pulled her shirt tighter around her as if to block his laser eyes.“I better get inside,” she w

The thought hammered through her head like a metronome. She couldn’t stay here. Bill would get in. Kylee whirled around. She slipped out the open window and raced across the yard. Bill’s voice carried all the way to the tree line. Kylee covered her ears, sobbing as she ran to her fallen trunk. Shaking and trembling, she crawled inside the hollow.Finally, silence. From here she couldn’t hear Bill. She was safe.Her heart tightened as she thought of her mother. Bill would turn on her now, take out his anger on someone else. “Stupid, stupid,” Kylee sobbed. She never should’ve asked to go to the beach. She knew better.She needed a release. She needed a cut. To hell with her resolution. Reaching behind her and digging her fingers into the dirt, Kylee’s fingers brushed the small paring knife before she found what she wanted: a sharp steak knife.

The rooster crowing woke Kylee in the morning. She stretched her arms out, wondering why the bed felt so hard beneath her shoulder blades. And she had a horrible crick in her neck. She rolled over and opened her eyes.This wasn’t her room. Kylee bolted upright before her memory came crashing back. She spotted the open window, the screen propped up under it. Her eyes scanned along the pastel-blue wall and reached the desk with a fancy computer monitor next to a set of speakers. A stack of games in plastic cases leaned against the side of the desk. She had no idea what that desk was made of, but she knew it was something more solid than the plywood construction she had in her room. Swiveling in her blankets, Kylee turned to see the twin bed next to her, the sheet-covered lump in the middle that rose and fell with each heavy breath.She pulled her own blankets up around her chin. She’d slept in Price’s house last night. The thought was so illegal and illicit that she giggled. She could j

As soon as the door closed, Kylee hopped to her feet. This was her chance to find out who Price really was. She’d expected his room to be more extravagant, judging from the rest of the house. But it was about the same shape and size as her own. He had a standard sliding closet door that looked like it remained perpetually open. Posters of different athletes decorated the walls, and a shelf held various trophies. Kylee stood on her tiptoes and examined them. Baseball, soccer, basketball. Looked like he played everything. Several of them had years from tournaments and championship games imprinted on them.The door creaked open, and Kylee ducked, ready to hide behind the bed if necessary. Price came in, wearing his navy blue swimming trunks and a white t-shirt. Kylee glanced down at what she wore. Blue shorts and a white shirt. They looked identical.“Hey,” he said, tossing a pile of clothes on the bed. “My dad’s up. He said he’ll be re

The bus pulled up, and Price stood. Kylee thought of something, and she wished she could melt into a puddle and disappear. “Price.”“Yeah?” He shouldered his bag.“I don’t have any money.”“Oh. Don’t worry about it. I’ve got you covered.”She bit her lip. She hated to put him out in any way, but if he didn’t pay for her, she wasn’t going. “Are you sure?”“Yeah.” He nodded. “Go on in front of me.”The door was already open, so Kylee climbed up the steps. “Um, he’s paying for me,” she said to the driver, jerking her thumb at Price. He came up behind her, handed the driver some bills, and nodded for her to find a seat.She walked down the aisle of the bus, avoiding backpacks and extended feet from sleepy passengers. She spotted an empty seat in the back and collapsed into it. She gave Price a smile when he s