Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 122030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Sloane snorts. “Bullshit. Let me see it.”
“Why didn’t you come home with Sloane after school?” Dad interjects. His face is red and practically throbbing, deep ridges carved into his brow.
“Jazmine asked if I wanted to hang out and do homework together. So we went to her dorm instead. Studied, watched a couple movies. Then she dropped me home and now here I am. Not sure what the big deal is—I told Sloane.”
They both stay right on my heels when I go to the kitchen to chug a glass of water and pour another. From the looks of things, they started making dinner—veggies chopped and a pot of water on to boil—but must have aborted when I didn’t show up.
“Bullshit,” my sister says again. “You told me Jazmine was giving you a ride home, not that you were chilling at her dorm.”
“Oh my God. The plans changed. I don’t need your permission to make friends.”
“That’s enough attitude,” Dad snaps.
“Since when am I getting interrogated for being late for dinner?” Anger heats my cheeks. Sloane gets to sneak around all over town while Dad barely notices. I come home late one time and it’s like a jailbreak from Alcatraz.
“This is serious, Casey!” Dad shouts in a decibel I haven’t heard in years. “I can’t believe you’d be so thoughtless and irresponsible.”
“I’m seventeen!”
“That doesn’t mean you get to do whatever you want.”
Something in his inflection, or maybe this whole week, sets me off and I can’t hold it in. “Everyone else I know gets to have a life, Dad. What about me? When do I get to be normal? I’m not a child anymore.”
He huffs at the questions, rubbing the bridge of his nose in frustration. “You can’t simply decide whenever you feel like it to stay out all night and not tell anyone where you are.”
“All night? It’s nine the fuck o’clock.”
“Language!”
“Sorry. But come on, it’s not even that late. And we were in the dormitory of an all-girls Catholic school.” I frown at him. “Am I not allowed to have any friends? Is that it?”
“That’s not what I said.” He crosses his arms tight to his chest. “Curfew is dinnertime on weeknights. You know that. If there’s going to be an exception, your friends can come here and introduce themselves. Or your sister will be with you.”
“Wait,” Sloane objects darkly. “Why am I getting dragged into this?”
“This is so unfair. You can’t keep me locked up in this house. I’m not your prisoner.” I drop my glass in the sink, then stalk to the fridge to get the kitten milk. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to feed Silver.”
I storm up to my room and slam the door shut, then throw my backpack in the corner and turn my phone back on. Sloane, of course, has no respect for boundaries and comes barging in because she’s the only one in this house with any right to privacy.
Ignoring her, I peek into the shoebox. The moment a sliver of light penetrates the darkness, Silver squeaks and shifts on the soft pink towel I’m using for her bed. Relief flutters through me, escaping in the form of a shaky breath.
“She still alive?” Sloane asks.
“Yes.”
I close the box and set it down while I prepare the milk syringe and gather a few cotton balls from the plastic container on my desk.
“I know you’re lying,” she accuses.
“Why would I lie about that? She’s alive. See for yourself.”
“Not about that.” My sister takes a combative stance against my bookshelf. Arms crossed and head cocked. “You weren’t out with some new friend. Who was it?”
“Duke.”
Her eyes all but pop out of her skull as her mouth falls open.
But I can’t keep a straight face and crack immediately. “Jesus, relax. Of course it wasn’t Duke. I just had to see your face.”
Her shock turns to frustration. “I’m serious, Case. You know I’ll find out. Don’t make me CSI this shit.”
“Calm down. Lawson and I—”
“Lawson? Are you fucking kidding me?”
“We took a drive through the country. Got ice cream. Nothing scandalous.” Well, except for the stolen Porsche, but technically that happened before he picked me up.
“I thought you were smarter than this.”
“Please. I can handle Lawson.” I can’t help but roll my eyes, which gets Sloane gritting her teeth.
“Seriously. Stay away from that guy,” she orders, getting in my face. “You don’t know him. Whatever he’s said to you, I promise there’s nothing good about his intentions. He’s toxic and only ever looking for trouble.”
Yeah? Maybe a little trouble is what I’m after, did she ever think of that? It’s not like playing the good sister has spared me more than my share of misfortune.
Aloud, my tone takes on a defiant note. “Do you even know why you think that about him? Like, do you actually know anything about him? Ever had a real conversation with him? Because I have. And he was perfectly nice to me. In fact, he’s the first person in a long time who let me feel like a human being and not a piece of porcelain.”