Page 2 (1/2)

"E I just said?" My mother’s clipped tone draws my attention back to the room

"No, ma’am Sorry" I s hard as she reaches formy chin with her manicured hand, she forces me to look at her "E off lately, and you’re really starting to remind me of Ellis" She whispers my older brother’s name as if the walls can hear her

"I’m sorry I’ll work on it, irl" She irl If you use it to your advantage, you could go far in life But you need to stop irl

Like that’s all I ahs as she squeezes my cheeks "And Evan will take care of you, which is one of the s in this world"

Evan Moleney, my boyfriend of three years who I’ve been told I’ether, the perfect couple Everyone talks as if we’re already engaged, but we’re not I fear, though, if I don’t get out of Ralingford soon, it’ll only be aI belong to the son of the town’s richest lawyer and one of my father’s closest acquaintances

She releases my chin then sticks her hand into the pocket of her apron to retrieve a pink pill and a red one "Now take your et dressed Breakfast is in tento put the cuffs back on your ankles at night" She waits forthe roo the door behind her

I instantly spit the pills into my hand For years I’ve taken them without an explanation of what they do or what they even are I’ve never questioned their purpose, just like I’ve never questioned the purpose of curfew, until three o when I snuck out of the house in the ht

The idea sprouted when I overheardof exile and a controlled environment; words I didn’t understand at the time

"There’s so much more to the world than what’s inside the walls of our ho the day," he said when I’d asked what he’dfor my father’s return from his day job "Our mother and father They’re not likeabout?" I was nervous, too, mostly because Ellis seee stuff sometimes, but what are other parents like? Because they act likeabout different in coford" He nodded his head at the here the sky was pink with the sunset "Once the sun goes down, sneak out and find out for yourself See what happens when the sun goes down"

I’ it I’d never been one for rebellion He looked so terrified, though, more than when he had one of his episodes So I broke the rules for the very first ti me to the bed, so it was pretty easy to slip out of the house unnoticed Just a duck out theand the scaling of a nearby tree

In Ralingford, there are two sides of the tohat locals refer to as the Golden side and the Shadows The Golden area is where the wealthy live--the doctors, the lawyers, and the townmen who make the rules The Shadow area is the poverty-stricken side of town near the railroad tracks where crioes down behind the shallow mountains, that heavy crime seeps over into Golden area At least, that was the rumor

I’ve heard some of the horror stories of what happens after the sun sets: robbery, assault, once I heard about a murder But the stories couldn’t prepare s thatmy own existence