The way it hits those tin roofs is still something, even after all these years.
"Oh, and Eli Hoffberger got arrested for dealing," Jinx adds casually. "Cyrus may have had something to do with an anonymous tip."
"Snitch," Kade says, but there's approval in it.
"He was selling to middle schoolers," Cyrus defends. "That's fucked up even by our standards."
"We have standards?" I ask hopefully.
"Very low ones," Cyrus confirms. "But still. Standards."
Then Jinx's phone buzzes and the change is instant. His whole body goes rigid, the laughter dying in his throat as he reads whatever's on the screen. We don't need to ask. We all know that look.
Kyle.
"I gotta go," he says, already standing.
"Jinx—" I start, but he's already moving, pausing just long enough to press a kiss to my cheek.
"Night, Princess. See the rest of you assholes at school tomorrow." And then he's gone, jogging toward the trailer he shares with Kyle and their alcoholic mother.
"So I guess that hasn't changed," Kade mutters once Jinx is out of earshot.
"No," Cyrus says, and there's something bitter in his voice that makes me wonder if my earlier revelation isn’t totally one sided. "If anything, it's gotten worse."
"We've gotta get out of here," Kade says suddenly, fierce and determined. "All of us. Before this place eats us alive."
"I'll drink to that." I raise my soda can in a mock toast.
Cyrus lifts his beer, then Kade. Tank raises his fist. Three cans clink together in the dying light, Tank's knuckles bumping against them a beat later. A promise and a prayer rolled into one.
"To getting the fuck out," Kade says.
"To staying together," I add, and Tank nods.
"To not ending up like our parents," Cyrus contributes.
The beers and soda are warm and flat, but we drink them anyway, watching the sun disappear behind the rusted roofs of Creekside Estates. Tank watches too, arms crossed, part of us even when he can't participate in exactly the same way. Somewhere in the distance, a dog barks, making him flinch. A baby cries. A couple fights loud enough for the whole park to hear.
This is our kingdom of broken things and abandoned dreams. But we're going to get out.
We have to.
Chapter 7
ELLIE
Age Seventeen
The July heatis fucking suffocating, but I keep the pastel pink hoodie on anyway. Sweat trickles down my spine, making the fabric stick to the bruises blooming across my ribs. Every breath hurts, but I've gotten good at hiding that kind of shit.
I lean against the peeling side of our old RV where we’ve made so many memories, trying to look casual instead of like I'm using it to hold myself upright. My phone buzzes, probably Mom wondering where I am again. I ignore it. She made her choice when she said yes to that bastard's proposal.
Six months. That's how long Todd fucking Waterson has been in our lives, and already, everything's gone to hell.
The familiar rumble of Kade's obnoxious new Thunderbird cuts through the summer symphony of croaking cicadas. My chest tightens, but not from the bruises this time. I force my face to look normal as three doors slam in quick succession.
"Princess!" Jinx bounds toward me like an overgrown golden retriever, his blond hair whipping around tanned shoulders too broad for his lanky frame. He hit another growth spurt recently. "You're early. Must've missed us."
