Total pages in book: 150
Estimated words: 136791 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 684(@200wpm)___ 547(@250wpm)___ 456(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136791 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 684(@200wpm)___ 547(@250wpm)___ 456(@300wpm)
I sit down in my favorite one and start pushing myself, but I don't feel like swinging today. Once I slow down, I drag my feet through the dirt and let the swing drift back and forth. Using the toe of my shoe, I draw a heart in the dirt and then write Cade's name inside it. I quickly wipe it away so no one sees. They'd just make fun of me if they did.
Mandy laughs incredibly loud. I peek over there to find her sitting between Cade and Titan. She's holding my brother's hand, but she leans over toward Cade and whispers something in his ear. He leans away from her, which makes me happy. I really don't like her very much.
Done swinging, I hop down and then gasp.
The older guy who was on the other side of the park is standing in front of me, smiling. I think maybe he's homeless because his clothes are dirty and he smells gross. He's missing some of his teeth, and his eyes seem funny. They're unfocused like Mr. Ruben's when he drinks moonshine, the stuff my mom says is worse than normal alcohol. Sometimes he drinks a lot of it and gets loud and falls down.
"Hi," I whisper and take a step back. I wish I hadn't told Cade to go with his friends. The way the older guy keeps looking at me makes me uncomfortable.
"Sarah?" he says and steps toward me. His legs wobble beneath him, and he stumbles before righting himself. He smiles real big, but his eyes still look funny. "I can't believe it!" He reaches out to grab me.
I try to step back so he can't get me, but I trip over my own feet and fall.
He quickly wraps his hand around my arm. His grip is tight and painful. I try to pull free of him, but he squeezes my arm even harder, and I can't get loose. My pulse begins to race, and my skin feels hot and sweaty.
"I missed you, Sarah. Your mom wouldn't let me see you, but it's okay now. I'm home," he says and yanks on my arm, trying to pull me to my feet. When I don't go, he starts to drag me through the dirt.
He's trying to take me away.
I open my mouth and scream as loud as I can.
"January!" Cade yells.
"Let go of my sister!" Titan yells at the same time.
"Shut up, girl." The guy tries to slap my face. He trips over my legs and falls down in the dirt beside me. He still won't let go of my arm, though. He's starting to really scare me.
"Let me go," I cry, tugging on my arm.
The man tries to hit me again, but suddenly Cade is there. He kicks the man in the side and then grabs his arm, tearing it off of me. Titan rushes up a second later and kicks him, too. He yells at him to leave me alone.
The man starts to cry.
"It's okay, baby girl," Cade says and pulls me from the ground into his lap. He hugs me tight, keeping himself between me and the man who was hurting me. "Everything's okay."
I bury my face in his shirt and cry.
"Don't cry, January," Cade whispers in my ear. His voice shakes like he's scared too. "Please don't cry."
Titan keeps yelling at the man not to touch me, and then a bunch of other people are talking all at once. A few minutes later, sirens wail in the distance. Cade doesn't let me go though. Not even when a police officer comes running up to us to ask what happened.
"He was trying to drag my sister away!" Titan yells.
"Sarah," the guy cries. "My Sarah!"
If my brother and Cade hadn't been there, I don't know what would have happened. It scared all three of us, especially Cade. Even though I was younger than the two of them, he didn't mind that I followed him and my brother around like a lost puppy. He didn't go anywhere I wasn't invited. Neither of them did. They kept me close, and I loved every second of it.
I wish I'd been stronger back then. I wouldn't have let them make me the center of their worlds. Maybe things would be different now if I hadn't. Maybe they wouldn’t have started the MC. Maybe our lives wouldn’t have fallen apart. Maybe seeing Cade again wouldn't hurt like hell. Maybe Titan would still be here.
Maybe I could actually face myself in the mirror.
"I don't know why he's back," I whisper.
"You didn't hear?" Mariah arches a brow, clearly surprised.
I shake my head. My goal in life is to get through each day without hearing about him…without thinking about him. Pathetic, right?
She reaches into her bra and pulls out her cellphone before quickly pulling something up on the screen and holding the phone out to me. I stare at it for a minute, and then curiosity gets the better of me. I grab the hot pink iPhone.