I turned off the hot water and stepped out of the shower. Dinner had been a disaster and it was entirely my fault. After Mr. and Mrs. Walter had calmed down the mayhem, everyone was given a job to clean up the mess. That was everyone except for me. Katherine had apologized profusely for her son's behavior and sent me off to take a shower even though I had pleaded to help. Most of the boys threw me dirty looks as I left the kitchen.
"Oh!" I squeaked when I walked out of the bathroom to find Cole sitting on my bed. He was still covered in tomato sauce, but was eating out of a take-out Chinese carton. A smile spread across his face when he looked me up and down.
"Nice towel, Jackie," he laughed.
I blushed, wrapping it tighter around my figure. What the heck was he doing in my room? What if I had walked out naked? Mortified, I turned away from his prying eyes and went to get my clothes from the dresser.
"Want some?" he asked while holding up the carton of food.
"Yeah, hold on," I replied as I hurried back into the bathroom to change.
When I came back out, he was still sitting on my bed. Cautiously, I sat down next to him and he handed me some chopsticks. For the next few minutes we sat in silence, eating sweet chicken. It felt surprisingly peaceful sitting with Cole. But of course he had to go and ruin one of the only relaxing moments I'd had since moving here.
"I enjoyed the dinner show tonight," he said.
I turned away from him and buried my face in a fluffy pillow.
Cole laughed. "Aw, come on, Jackie. It was just a joke. To be honest, that stuff happens all the time in this house."
I propped myself up on my elbows and raised an eyebrow. "Really?" I questioned. "'Cause that sounds like a load of bull."
"Well, it's not always that dramatic, but at least you did it with flair. You should've seen the look on your face when you pulled Izzy out." He let out a whole hearted laugh again.
"Izzy?" I asked in confusion.
Cole set the empty box of Chinese down on the bedside table and scooted closer. "He's Jordan's snake."
"Any other dangerous pets I should know about?" I grumbled.
"Nope," he said with a laugh. "Just Isaac."
My bedroom door swung open as Danny burst into the room. "Cole! Kelly's here looking forâ" Danny stopped mid-sentence when he saw us. "Oh. Um, sorry for interrupting, but she's waiting in the living room."
"Okay," Cole replied calmly. He was still staring at me. Danny backed out of the room and shut the door. He looked at me for a moment longer before getting off the bed and grabbing the empty container to throw away.
"Don't worry, Jackie. Tomorrow will be better, I promise. Besides, you should be excited about tomorrow. It's your first day at ourschool."
"Oh, great," I moaned and flopped back onto my pillow. I was so caught up in the dinner disaster that I had almost forgotten that I would be going to a public school for the first time in my life tomorrow morning.
"'Night, Jackie," he said as he walked across the room.
"Goodnight, Cole," I responded. Suddenly, a thought ran through my head. "Wait," I called just as Cole was about to shut the door. Â "Who's Kelly?
Cole paused before responding. "Oh, she's my girlfriend."
***
I was in the car with my family. My dad and mom were in the front seat and Lucy was sitting next to me in the back. We were sharing a set of headphones and jamming out to an upbeat song. When it came to an end, I smiled and looked out the window. It was one of those crisp, sunny spring days that let you know that winter was almost over. A small green haze that almost invisible surrounded the tree branches as new buds started to push forth.
I looked down in surprise as suddenly my seat belt slid off. "What the?" I muttered to myself and clicked it back in. A sinking feeling formed in my stomach when the buckle clicked undone again. Before I could push it back in an invisible force yanked me from the car.
Now I was standing on the concrete. The trees on both sides of the road had shriveled up and the sky darkened to an ominous gray. Our car sped by and I caught a glimpse of Lucy staring out the back window at me.
"Wait, stop!" I cried and desperately started to sprint down the street.
But the car didn't stop. I watched in horror as a mile down the road the pavement started to crumble apart. When the road split in two, our car drove right off the edge and I watched the earth swallow my family up.
Panting, I sat up straight in bed with a thick layer of sweat covering my body. As my vision adjusted to the dark, a ball of dread built upinside me at the sight of unfamiliar surroundings. Â I kicked the covers off and my toes curled upwards at the foreign chill from the hard wooden floor beneath them. For a moment I was confusedâmy room didn't have a wooden floor, so where was I?
I searched in the dark for the light switch and when I flipped it on, the mural on the walls lit up around me. The shock of reality hit me so hard, that my knees buckled and I crumbled to the floor in a heap. I couldn't tell how long I cried for, but when my face was finally dry the clock read five o'clock.
Slowly, I picked myself up off the floor and went to my dresser. After finding my workout clothes, I pulled on a pair of athletic shorts, grabbed my running shoes and unhooked my iPod from its charger. Even though I was exhausted from my nightmare, I needed to run. It was one of my daily habits. Never too farâonly a mileâbut I always ran enough to break a sweat. But today I wasn't just keeping routine. Today I wanted to run to get away from everything.
The sun was creeping into the sky and a cool breeze swept across my neck as I stepped out onto the rickety, wooden porch. The morning dew sparkled on the lawn as I sat down to tie up my shoelaces before stretching.
As I stretched, butterflies knotted up my stomach. I couldn't tell if they were left over from my nightmare or if I was nervous for the rest of the day. The prospect of going to a new school not only scared me, but it made me feel sick. I had only been in the Walter householdfor a day, and so far it had been awful. I couldn't imagine going to a public school with hundreds of boyâtwelve had been bad enough.
The thought nearly made me shudder. I would rather repeat the whole dinner situation over again than be forced to go to this new school. It was already nearing the end of the school year and I was positive that I wouldn't make a single friend. I found myself wishing it were already three in the afternoon when school ended, so I could shut myself in my room and curl up under the covers.
Just as I was about to take off, the screen door screeched open as Mr. Walter stepped out. Will and Cole were right behind him and they were all dressed in work clothes.
"Morning Jackie," Mr. Walter said and tipped his hat at me. Will waved.
"Morning Mr. Walter, Will," I replied.
"You're up early," Cole grumbled and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.
"I could say the same to you."
Cole scowled. "Chores," was all he said.
"The boys have some work on the ranch to get done before they head off for the day," Mr. Walter told me with a smile. "If you're going for a run, you might want to wait for Nathan. He'll be out in a second."
"Oh thanks," I said as the three stepped off the porch.
As I waited for Nathan, I watched them head in the direction of a barn that was barely visible in the early morning light. At one point in their walk, Will playfully shoved Cole, who tripped and fell over into the grass as a result. I covered up the smile on my face with my hand.
The screen door screeched open again and Nathan stepped out. When he saw me, he beamed. I smiled back at him; it was funny to see him wearing clothes that weren't covered in paint.
"You like to run?" he asked me excitedly, without a good morning.
"Yeah, I run every day."
"So, do you want to run with me?" He seemed genuinely eager about it.
"Sure, I don't mind," I said and shrugged. "Actually, I'm surprised that you want me to come with you. Everyone seemed rather mad at me last night."
I felt my cheeks burn up at the memory of the spaghetti flying through the air, but Nathan just grinned. He was going to look so much like Cole when he was older.
"Of course I want to run with you! And besides, I thought it was funny. Don't let Jordan get to you. He's just a prankster."
"I'll try to keep that in mind," I said as we headed down the steps.
"Want to follow my normal route?" Nathan asked me.
"Lead the way."
***
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