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"Hey, I know you," I state as we step off the curb "Don’t I?"
"How should I know?" She peers over her shoulder atnition in her expression, just like I’m almost certain I know her
She continues to hobble toward a row of parked cars and I ith her
"Wait… I’ve seen you around at UW… We have Cheether" I make the connection as she stuffs her hand into the pocket of her jacket "And I think you’re Callie Lawrence’s roo or other?"
She shakes her head as she removes her keys from her pocket "And you’re Luke Price The stoically aloof and somewhat intense man-whore/football player who dorms it up with Kayden Owens" She stops in front of a battered up Cadillac "Yeah, we know each other So what?" She extends her hand toward the lock on the door, holding the key, but I grab her arhtly offended "What the hell does that mean?" I’ve crossed paths with her quite a few times, but never actually talked to her I’ve heard Callie say she’s intense, which I’ht now But people say that about me, too, and it’s for a reason A dark reason I don’t like to talk about I wonder if she has a reason, too, or if she’s just a bitch Plain and simple
"It means whatever the hell you want it to lancing over the roof of the car "Noill you please let go ofher and I instantly let go, tracking the line of her gaze to the sidewalk and a guy heading toward us When I look back at her, there’s panic in her eyes, but when she noticesat her, the look quickly disappears and is replaced by indifference
"Is that guywith you?" I ask "Because if he is I can kick his ass if you need e as I say it becausepunches I have a hard ti
She seeain the look vanishes "I can take care of myself" She leans into the car and falls into the driver’s seat She puts her hand on the steering wheel and takes a breath before looking up atfroer todeal," I tell her "But I’d really like to knohy you… fell out the " I’ht word She could have jumped On purpose For so many reasons
"I didn’t fall… I ju in her eyes I have to search et there Detach For a brief second I envy her
Before I can say anything else, she glances through the windshield at the guy who’s reached the border of the parking lot and then she slaine and I have to ju away like her life depends on it and all I can wonder is what the hell she’s running fro, but I’m too excited to sleep My sixth birthday’s tomorrow and I can’t wait to see all ave me one, a really cute purple bear with a pretty bow on the front of it He told et one of my presents early, but that’d I’d have to wait for the rest tomorrow
It’s really late and I can see thelike a half-eaten cookie The stars sparkle like the glitter on ht in the corner ofIt was the Fourth of July today and I can still hear so off
I lie in , some shaped as hearts, so Finally, I decide to get out of bed and go down to my toy room in the basement Maybe if I play withso et toht I keep in htstand drawer, I tiptoe down the stairs I pause at the botto roo sky It’s so pretty and I stop at the bottoood look at them When the colors fade, I turn for the basement door and open it A lot of the kids I know are afraid of the basement, but mine’s not that bad My dad even let et to keep all ht, instead I use ht because I’ht, but the et the flashlight turned on, I skip down the stairs to where my toys are stacked in boxes around the room There’s also a chair in the corner by a bookshelf where I have a ton of books I love to read about anything Princesses Monsters Magical kingdoms I asked my dad once if stuff like that really existed and he told me of course and asked what fun would life be if fairy tales weren’t secretly real
I go over to the bookshelf, deciding I’ll read for a while, and maybe that will help h, so I go to the storage room where there are more books stacked on the floor My dad loves to read, too, and we have so many books that there’s really nowhere to put them At least that’s what my mom says
I set the teddy bear down on the floor and shine the light on the first pile of books I come across They’re all my dad’s books so I kneel down in front of the next stack, reading over the titles Finally I find it, but as I’ fro oes to the possibility thatelse with claws My hand shakes a little as I stand up and turn back toward the room When I step into it, I feel the wind hit ht around and notice one of the s is open I don’t understand why I didn’t open it and I don’t think it was open when I caht around the room at all ht lands on so tall… I hear voices Ones that don’t sound like they belong to a