“What are you doing out here?”
“I was trying to get some homework done. If I sit out here, sometimes I can connect to someone’s internet.”
“You don’t have the internet?”
“My mom doesn’t think it’s safe.”
That makes me chuckle. All the bullshit in my head lifts away, and I let myself laugh.
“What classes are you taking?” I sit on the landing below the slide, letting her choose to come closer. And, she does, rattling on about the college-accredited courses she’s taking and the classes she needs to graduate with honors next year.
It’s refreshing being around someone whose biggest problem is seeing how much they can succeed. She is going to make something of herself. I don’t know her very well, but I can tell she’s one of those types. She’s meant for great things.
Peace flickers inside of me.
Maybe the world isn’t as fucked up as I think it is, and I don’t have to go down with the rest of them.
* **
Present…
The second Jo told me that Liv was trying to get in touch with me, I knew something was wrong. I dropped what I was doing and jumped on my bike.
I know where Thea’s house is. I memorized the route after realizing how often Liv spends her time here.
Since the day I saw Liv at the sanctuary, I’ve been keeping tabs on her. She accused me of being her stalker, but I’m only trying to keep her safe.
I accelerate down the street until there’s an opening in the curb, driving up onto the sidewalk and into the front lawn. It’s dark…
Too dark.
The street lights illuminate the front porch of the old Victorian house just enough that I can see there isn’t anyone out front, but all of the windows are blacked out. It’s completely dark inside, and my head’s on a swivel as I climb the porch steps.
I try the front door, but the handle only twists because the deadbolt is locked above it. I glance up at the porch light.
Jesse doesn’t seem like the type of homeowner who would let something like that go. It looks intact above my head, but I reach up anyway to tinker with it. One slight twist and it floods the entrance with light.
My palm halts before it connects with the door. I don’t want to startle her. “Liv! It’s me!” I shout instead.
I step back, contemplating how I’m going to get in if shedoesn’t answer, because I’ll break the door down if I have to, but luckily, it swings open.
“Hayes,” she pants my name like she’s out of breath. Her eyes are wild, staring at me as if she’s hardly holding herself together.
“Are you okay?” I keep my tone low as she glances left to right, as if she’s waiting for something to jump out at us.
“No,” her voice cracks. She’s terrified.
Seeing her like this bothers me to my core, and it takes every ounce of willpower not to erase the distance between us, so I can wrap her in my arms.
That’s what she needs, and what I’ve always been good at. But I’m nearly a stranger to her now.
“Do you want me to come in?”
She nods, stepping back to let me through the door, and that’s when I see the gun in her hand.
“Liv,” I utter her name, staring at the firearm.
“Oh. It’s Jesse’s gun, I got it out of the safe upstairs.” She hands it to me like it’s burning her skin, and I stick it in the back of my waistband.
