Chapter 15
“Lift your arms.” I take Bryn’s shirt off. “Dip your toes in the water and see if it’s too hot or cold for you,” I instruct her.
She grabs my hand to steady herself and dips her small toes into the water before fully stepping in. “It’s good.
Kai and I fell into a routine, sneaking out and spending the night together until the early hours of the next day. My heart stings a little just thinking about it and knowing I won’t see him at nighttime anymore.
“Are you going to jail?”
I narrow my gaze at Bryn. We haven’t talked about last night. Neither my mom nor I knew what to tell her. My mom kept telling her everything was fine. I think she was too stressed to even think about what to say to her after everything. “No. I’m not.”
“Then why were you with the policeman?”
“Get your hair wet so I can shampoo it.” She leans backward and drops the back of her head into the water. I fill a cup with water and get the front of her hair wet.
“Why does everyone keep ignoring me?”
I pour shampoo into my hands and scrub it into her hair. “I went out with Kai, and we fell asleep in the park. The policeman found us and called Mom to come get me. That’s all.”
She grabs her mermaid Barbie and plays with it in the water as if she’s swimming. “Then why was Mom so mad?”
“She got scared.”
Brynlee leans back and places her head in the water, so I rinse off all the shampoo.
Kids are too smart. They catch on more than people think.
“I hope you don’t go to jail because I’ll miss you.”
I chuckle. “I’m not. I promise.”
After Bryn’s bath, I got her to bed, and she fell right to sleep. I’m guessing she wasn’t the only one tired after last night. I feel bad that she was dragged out of bed just because of my dumb decision.
After showering myself, I opened up New Moon, the second book in the Twilight series, to see if it would help me take my mind off of Kai and how we won’t be seeing each other tonight.
My mind kept wandering to other things, and I had to keep rereading the same page over and over.
Now I’ve been lying here, staring at the ceiling and just thinking.
Maybe I can ask my mom if she’ll let me see Kai at our house when he gets off work. An hour or two shouldn’t hurt. I know she said I’m grounded, but how can she think it’s fair to keep me from my boyfriend? It’s not like we can do much at the house with her watching.
I sigh at all the thoughts I have, knowing my mom will never go for any of them. It’s a little past nine, and my mom still isn’t home. She definitely went out with friends.
I had to pull out my old-fashioned alarm clock that reads the time in bold red numbers to wake me up for school since I don’t have my phone anymore.
The beeping that comes from the stupid alarm makes it sound like a huge evacuation is happening.
Every time it goes off, it jolts me awake and makes my heart rate speed up.
I hate it. I miss the calm tone from my phone.
The sound of the garage door opening catches my attention. Mom is home. I reach over and shut my lamp off, turn away from the door, and pretend I’m sleeping.
The sound of her steps increase the closer she gets to my room. Small creaks come from my door, letting me know my mom is opening it. I don’t bother closing my eyes since I’m turned away from her.
She says nothing. She’s probably checking on me to make sure I’m home. The small creaks sound again as she shuts the door, and I shut my eyes, hoping sleep will come soon.