Chapter one
I sat at the window, the ivory laced curtains pulled back from the window pane. I wasn’t exactly sure what it was I had been staring at for the past hour. Was it the forest that enclosed our small house or the lady bug that had been crawling along the window, enjoying the early March sun like I was? I sighed as I looked out at the start of the forest; it had to only be a couple yards away. Papa was still at work and there was no telling when he would be back. He worked in town, in a garage fixing cars and sometimes towing them.
If I hurry I could at least make it to the river and back, before Papa catches me. My mind involuntarily pulled up all the memories of when Papa use to tell me about the ‘wild ones’ that lived in the woods. In all my seventeen years of sneaking into the woods I have never caught sight of the so called ‘wild ones’ not that I didn’t get a little creeped out every now and again.
I left my room then, determined to at least go to the small gully that was full of beautiful wild flowers and intoxicating smells that rush from the tiny creek just a little further back. As soon as I got outside I knew my plans were foiled. I watched with narrowed eyes as Shooter McKean walked up our long dirt drive. “Hey Everly!” he shouted as he closed in the distance between him and my front porch. “Hey” I greeted when he was close enough to hear. I sat in the wicker rocking chair and flaked off the chipping paint on the porch with my big toe. He flopped down on the steps, near my feet. He brushed his short honey blonde hair, which was plastered to his forehead from sweat, back. He was sweating and his breathing was uneven. “What’cha been up to, shoot?” I asked, nonchalantly. He smiled widely and his hazel eyes had a certain glimmer to them. He was up to no good…like always. He merely shrugged, feigning innocence. “Nothing really…but if anyone asks, I’ve been with you since twelve this mornin’, got it?” he insisted. “Sure” I shrugged. His shoulder’s relaxed a little and he leaned back against the post behind him, he eyed me. “Haven’t talked in a while, have we?” he asked, scrunching up his nose. The bridge of his nose was lightly peppered with freckles; he used to hate his freckles until I accidently admitted, when we were younger, that I wished I had freckles.
I shrugged and looked down at my bare feet, my olive complexion seemed to always seem prettier to me in the sunlight. There was a soft breeze that blew my chestnut brown hair into my face. “How’s your dad?” he asked, but I knew what he meant. “He’s at work” I answered. Shooter nodded. My dad wasn’t too crazy about me hanging out with Shooter not that I blamed him, the boy was trouble but growing up he had been my only friend and since he was our only neighbor that was close by my Papa had no choice but to get use to him.
Shooter looked away from me then, as if he just noticed something. He was staring at my shoes that were at the foot of the porch steps, I always left them there in case I want to go into the woods without Papa noticing. “I know what you’ve been up to Evvie Ormand” he said, his glaze was severe and caused me to advert my eyes to my feet. “I don’t know what you’re talking about” I said lowly, my eyes still on my feet. To my surprise Shooter started to laugh and I stared at him with a puzzled face expression. “Evvie haven’t you learned by now?” he asked with a devilish smile on his face. “Learned what?” I asked; my honey colored eyes giving away my frustration. He shook his head like he was ashamed of me. “I know…everything, but you can trust me…for the most part” he attempted to smile again but then caught himself. “It’s very…dangerous what you’re doing, ya know that right?” his face told me he knew exactly what I had been doing all these years.
I looked down at my hands that were in my lap and nodded guiltily. It was quiet for a good twenty seconds. “I’ve been around my neck of the woods a time or two…maybe you could show me around yours” he paused momentarily. “Evvie, you shouldn’t be out there alone, haven’t you heard the stories?” his voice was as forceful as the early springtime breeze that tousled my hair around my face. “Only a million times” I muttered. “Then you know it’s not safe and that it’s only a matter of time before you- his voice faltered and he looked away from me, at the forest. I knew what he was going to say, before I disappear like my mother did. I didn’t want to respond, not when we were on the subject of my mother. She had disappeared when I was about eight years old.
The stories of the “wild ones” had started long before, before my grandparents were even born, but when my mom had mysteriously disappeared, the town’s folk lore revived itself and some. “Sorry” he whispered. I shrugged and feigned boredom with the conversation. Before he could say anymore I stood and walked past him. “Where you going?” he asked, from behind me. I shrugged. “Don’t know” I answered.
By the time I got to the end of my drive I realized that I couldn’t go very far without any shoes on. “Hop on” he said, gesturing for me to get on his back. “No way” I shook my head. He grinned and made a grab for me but I was expecting it and backed away. What I didn’t expect was him to be so fast. He reached for me again and this time caught hold of my arm. I jerked away before he could tighten his grip. I backed away quicker this time. “Oh no, ya don’t” he warned, about to reach for me again. I gave him my best ‘oh yes I did’ grins, before I turned and ran back towards my house. I heard him laughing behind me, keeping up with my pace easily.
I made the mistake of looking back. I felt the warmness of his breath in my hair before I felt the patch of grassy area he chose to tackle me in. I frowned as I suddenly felt as if I wasn’t getting enough air; he was squishing me to death! I wiggled around, trying to lift my face off the ground. He laughed and I felt a little of his weight come off of me. I tried to go with the element of surprise and flipped my whole body over, I was now belly up. I smiled a smile of victory. He laughed. Since I was lying horizontal and he had tackled me from the side, he was vertical, he had had his knee in my back and his hands pushing down on my shoulders but when I had flipped to face him he moved his knee away. He stared at me a second and removed his hands from my shoulders. I sighed, happy he had given up.
Before I could even take a steady breath he began to tickle me near my ribs, some how knowing I wasn’t ticklish under my arms. I wiggled violently and giggled uncontrollably. “You’re. Gonna’ Make. Me. Pee!” I managed to say through my giggles. He didn’t listen, he just laughed lowly. After a few more seconds we both froze to the sound of a truck on the main road, it was getting closer. Shooter hopped up and grabbed my arm, jerking me up with him. I dusted myself off and ran a hand through my hair. I gave him a wide-eyed grin and reached for his hand. He gave me a confused look but didn’t pull his hand away. I pulled him along towards my house slowly. By this time Papa’s truck was right behind us. “Evvie, what the hell are we doing?” Shooter whispered, eyeing me out the corner of his eye. Papa was right next to us then and his eyes were on our entwined hands. I waved at Papa with my free hand. “Hey, Papa” I greeted cheerfully. Papa’s dark brown eyes narrowed and he made a grunting noise then sped up the truck, leaving Shooter and me in his wake.
As we got closer to the house I watched as Papa walked in. Shooter finally pulled his hand away. “What are you up to?” he asked, forcing me to turn and face him. I shrugged. “Nothing really, but…if you tell anyone where I’ve been going, I’ll tell Papa that you and I’ve been secretly dating for the past year” I threatened, hoping I sounded nonchalant like he did when ever he threatened me. His hazel eyes narrowed and his face went red, he was measuring how serious I was. “Barlow wouldn’t- he started but I cut him off. “Why wouldn’t he? You’re the only person I’m ever around and you’ve got to admit we do make a cute couple” I teased. Despite himself he smiled. “Damn you Evvie, you got me this time” he didn’t seem angry one bit, he looked a little surprised that I had came up with a blackmail so fast. I grinned and started to walk away. “This isn’t over” he warned. I looked back. “It is…for now” I answered, half serious. Then I walked into the house where Papa was undoubtedly waiting for an explanation. Too bad I didn’t have one.
Chapter two
I got ready for bed in a haze, not really paying attention to anything in particular. I sat at my vanity and brushed through my wet hair, which was just to my shoulders; it smelt of my lavender shampoo. It was starting to form in loose curls; I sighed and placed my brush in its rightful place. When I had came in from talking to Shooter I had expected Papa to get angry and for us to argue. Instead he said nothing and acted as if he hadn’t watched Shooter and me walk to the house hand in hand. To be honest I felt a little disappointed in Papa. Did he not care about me dating, of all people, Shooter? Not that we were really dating or anything. Shooter could be sweet at times but at others he was just plan horrible. Back in his middle school years he got in a fight and a teacher tried to break it up and Shooter broke his nose, he ended up being home schooled like me but he went back when it was time to go to high school, I didn’t. Simply because I didn’t like the way people gossiped, Papa agreed so now I’m almost done with my schooling with only one more year to go.
I absently thought about how it would be if I did go to school. What group would I be in? Would I still hang out with Shooter? What would it be like to make new friends? My mind went to the time when Shooter had started dating Clare Froter, I hated the girl. Though I would never admit it to Shooter, I had been jealous. Not that I was jealous romantically, but in a brother-sister type way. It was like Clare was trying to take Shooter away from me. I was so jealous and lonely that I ignored him for weeks until one day he came to me and said that she had cheated on him. I had tried to comfort him the best I could. That was when I decided I was never going to ignore him again no matter who he dated. It wasn’t worth all the frustration.
“Everly” Papa called from down the hall. My shoulders tensed. I walked down the hall and into the tiny but cozy living room. I leaned against the side of the couch, waiting for him to say something. He didn’t, instead he patted the place next to him on the couch. I obeyed. We sat there in silence for a while; he was probably collecting his thoughts. I stared at him out the corner of my eye, too afraid he would be glaring at me. His skin, which held a permanent tan no matter what the season, looked especially red at the moment. Was he so angry that he was turning red? “I know you think I hate him but I don’t” Papa said suddenly, breaking the uncomfortable silence. I stared over at him, speechless. Papa ran his hand through his short wavy brown hair. He sighed. “I figured it would be him” he stated, sounding defeated. Again I said nothing, what lie could I come up with that made sense? He sighed again. “Could’ve done worse though, he’s a good boy when he’s ‘round you” Papa admitted.
I clasped my hands together and with a sudden burst of inspiration. “Papa, we’re not …dating” I said, slowly gathering what I was going to tell him about us holding hands. “Everly, I saw the two of you holding hands” he said in a firm voice. I dropped my head. “I grabbed his hand” I mumbled, looking at the cup of coffee my dad had left on the coffee table when he had left for work this morning. “You like him?” his tone was accusing. I shook my head back and forth. “No, he had come by at a bad time…I had been thinking about mama and he…umm…tried to cheer me up by walking me up the drive and back, when you had came up I had just grabbed his hand and was about to say thanks for trying to cheer me up…” I said lowly so he couldn’t detect the shakiness in my voice. I felt bad for bringing up mama; Papa always flinched a little when I bought up her name. I wished that I had never taken hold of Shooters hand. Papa was silent, taking in all that I had said. I didn’t look at him, scared I would start giggling. That was one of my worst qualities, I giggled when I was either scared or under pressure. At the moment I was both. He made a grunting noise then smiled. “Dodged a bullet, for the time being, didn’t I?” he grinned, relieved. I smiled back at him weakly. “Good night Papa” I said, making my way to my room. “Everly?” he called from the couch. I turned to look at him. “You know what I said about not hating him?” he asked, a smile forming around the edges of his mouth. “You want me to keep my mouth shut” I guessed, trying not to laugh. He laughed and nodded. “Exactly” he smiled.
Chapter three
Later that night I woke to the sound of my bedroom window being forced open. I slowly slid out of bed, not wanting the intruder to see me. Not that he could, since my room was pitch black. My heart was thumping loudly and my breathing was even louder. I prayed the intruder wouldn’t hear me. As I slowly made my way to my door, I tripped over a pillow that I must’ve thrown off my bed in my sleep. I shrieked as I went down and knew Papa wouldn’t have heard me. The man could sleep through a tornado. I heard the window screech open even more. I stayed perfectly still letting the darkness and silence hide me. “Evvie?” a voice called through the window.
My heart pounded so loud it took me a second to recognize that it was Shooter at my window. I got up, a tad bit embarrassed that I thought I was going to get killed. “Shooter?” I called back, making sure it actually was him. “In the flesh, are you ok…I heard you scream?” he answered. I made my way to the window. “What are you doing here?” I asked, ignoring his question. I was leaning through the window now, the moonlight being bright enough for me to see his face. He was making his ‘trouble-maker’s’ grin. He reached out and grabbed my wrist. “Come on” he ordered, trying to pull me out the window. I pulled away. “Where are you going?” I asked. He smiled his most genuine smile. “The meadow” he answered, sounding matter of factly about it. “If Papa catches us…” I said, warning that we would get in serious trouble. “He never has before...come on” he ordered again, holding his hand out. I frowned then turned away from him. I switched on the lamp and looked around my room, trying to locate my jacket and a pair of shoes. I found my jacket and a pair of flip-flops. I kept on my PJ pants and tank top instead of changing clothes. I switched off my lamp and climbed out my window, making sure it was left open just a crack.
The air was chilly and blowing my, still damp, hair around my face. As we walked away from my house and down the road I shivered at regular time intervals. I hadn’t noticed before that Shooter had had a soda bottle in his hand, which he took a swallow of every now and then.He noticed me eyeing the bottle and held it out to me. I grabbed it and took a sniff. Just as I expected, the smell of liquor burned my nose. “Stealing your daddy’s moonshine again?” I asked, handing him back the bottle. He grinned at me before he took another sip.

Impressum

Texte: The cover is from google images* This book is here by under copyright and any unlawful reproduction or distribution without the permission of the author, Breauna, will result in immediate legal action
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 05.09.2011

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