Page 56 (1/1)
CHAPTER ONE
Tenleigh – Seventeen Years Old
The first ti someone's discarded breakfast off a cafeteria table I'd looked away, atteut reaction on my part But then I'd looked back as he walked inthe small portion of leftover food in his , as again, I looked away,as if I'd just intruded on a deeply personal moment And it was I should know I'd done it myself I knew the sha after a long, hungry weekend Evidently, Kyland knew it, too
Of course, I'd seen him before that I'd bet everyone as fely handsome face, and his tall, solid build But that was the first time I really saw hi in my chest for the boy who always seemed to wear an expression of nonchalance, as if he didn't careI ell acquainted with ive a rat's ass That was trouble I didn't want any part of
But apparently not all the girls in our school had too much of a problem with trouble, because if he was in the company of anyone, it was always someone female
It was a large school, housing students from three towns I'd only had a few classes with Kyland over the three and a half years we'd been in high school, and he'd always sat in the back of the roo a word I always sat in the front so I could see the blackboard—I guessed I was probably nearsighted, not that we could afford an eye exarades I knew he ly careless attitude But after that day in the cafeteria, I couldn't help looking at him differently, and my eyes always seemed to find him I looked for hi slowly to class like cattle being herded to greener pastures—in the cafeteria, or walking ahead of me Most times I found him with his hands stuffed in his pockets, and if outside, his head down against the wind I liked to watch the way his body moved, and I liked that he didn't know it I was curious about him now And suddenly that look on his face seemed more wary than immune or removed I only knew a little about Kyland He lived up in the hills like I did And apparently, he didn't have enough to eat, but there was no shortage of hungry people around these parts
In thees, lies Dennville, Kentucky, a part of the Appalachian Mountains that would put any urban slum to shame, where hopelessness is as commonplace as the white oak trees, and unemployment is the rule more so than the exception
My older sister, Marlo, said God had created Appalachia and then had pro inside me suspected that more often it was people who disappointed God than the other way around But what did I really know of God anyway? I didn't even go to church
What I did understand was that in a place like Dennville, Kentucky, Daras the one who had his facts straight: only the strongest survived
Dennville hadn't always been as bad off, though—there was a time when the Dennville coal e, even if some had to supplement with food sta businesses in town, jobs for people anted one, and people who had a little money to spend Even those of us who lived on the mountain in a sad collection of small houses, shacks, and h to get by on in those days But then thetragedy in fifty years Sixty-twoon them at home, were killed Kyland's father and older brother both lost their lives that day He lived in a tiny house a little ways below mine on the mountain with his mother as an invalid What she suffered from, I wasn't sure exactly
As for me, I lived with rove of pine trees In the winter h and rock our trailer so violently, I was sure we'd tip over Soround so far Soround So far
One late fall day, as I walked up the road that led to our trailer, pulling ha ways ahead Suddenly, Shelly Galvin went running past me to catch up to him, and he turned and nodded his head at her as she walked beside hiht of theot lost in hts A few minutes later when I turned around the bend, they were nowhere in sight, but as I passed a grove of hickories, I heard Shelly giggle, and stopped to peer through the brush Kyland had her pressed up against a tree and was kissing her as if he were some wild, untamed animal Her back was to me so I could only see his face I don't knohy I stood there, staring at the along But so about the way Kyland's eyes were closed, and he wore a raw, heated look of concentration as he ether as heat flooded rippedsound in the back of her throat My own nipples pebbled as if it were ht next to ht his attention because his eyes popped open and he stared at htly as he did so I was Hot shame moved up my face as our eyes locked, and I was unable toback, I stumbled backward, filled with humiliation