If Kylee kept still, maybe whoever it was wouldn’t be able to find her.
The leaves in front of her hollowed-out log crunched, and a pair of black shoes with electric blue trim, visible even in the darkness, appeared.

“Hello?” he said again.

Kylee grimaced. There was no escaping it. She’d been found.

The legs bent into a crouch, and then Price’s face stared at her. A flicker passed through his eyes before he nodded. “I knew it was you.”

For some reason his comment annoyed her. Her fingers released the knife, and she shoved it back into the dirt. Kylee pushed herself out of the tree trunk.

“What’s that supposed to mean? You hear crying and assume it’s your snivelly, white-trash neighbor? Cause that’s what people like me do, right?”

She stood to her full height, which was at least a head shorter than he was, and glared up at him. Somehow she doubted she looked as intimidating as she wanted to.

He stared back at her, his brown eyes flicking back and forth over her face as he studied her. “No. That’s not what I meant.”

Kylee folded her arms across her chest with a huff, though her annoyance was fading with the triumphant realization that he was talking to her.

“What did you mean, then?”

He blinked and dropped his gaze. “Nothing. It’s hard to explain.”

“Oh. That clears things up.”

A brief smile graced his lips. “I thought you wanted to be friends. Now all you’re doing is griping at me.”

Kylee’s face burned. She was glad it was dark, or he would notice the red creeping up her cheeks.

“I did. But you’ve been a jerk since you moved in, so I pretty much gave up. I don’t need any more jerks in my life.”

He shoved his hands in his jeans pockets and shuffled his feet. “Why are you out here?”

“I needed some air.”

“Was it a bit stuffy where you were?”

“Stuffy? No, stuffy isn’t the word I’d use for it. More like, suffocating.”

“Ah.” He nodded. “I can see that. Kind of makes sense.”

She shook her head. “I was fighting with my stepdad. That’s all.”

He chewed on his lower lip. “He still fights with you?”

“What do you mean, still?” Then Kylee realized what he meant. He probably heard them every evening. She pressed her hands to her face, hoping the cold in her fingers would help soothe her hot skin. “Yeah. So you’ve noticed? Do you hear him?”

“Sometimes I do.” He seemed uncomfortable by the admission and lowered his head, kicking at the foliage again.

No wonder he thought so poorly of her, acted afraid of her. Who would want to be friends with the lower-class, uncouth neighbors who didn’t know how to act civilized? “Right. Okay. Nice talking to you.” Bow out and exit gracefully. Kylee slipped around him.

“Wait,” Price said, calling after her. His footsteps thumped over the dirt as he jogged up to her. “Hey, I’m sorry. I know I’ve been . . . well, weird.”

“Rude,” Kylee corrected, hugging her torso with her arms. “What’s your problem, anyway?” She knew she should let it go and be glad he was talking to her. But the days of aggravation since he’d moved in had mounted up into a big ball of angst. She had the right to know why he’d acted this way. “Is it just because I’m poor?”

“What? No, no, of course not!” he exclaimed. He made a face. “You think I’m rich, huh? Because my dad drives a hot car and our house is bigger than yours. So?”

“Then what is your problem with me?” Kylee pressed her lips together, not about to let him off easy.

“I don’t know.” He gestured toward her house. There were no windows in the back, and it wasn’t visible from here in the forest. “I guess I was afraid.”

“Of my stepfather? Because of the fighting?”

“Everything, I guess. You. Your house.”

Kylee pictured her old rundown house. Ugly, unkempt, yes, but not scary. “What do people say about us?”

He avoided her eyes. “Nothing.”

“You’re lying.”

He shrugged. “It doesn’t matter.”

Kylee opened her mouth to press the issue, then changed her mind. “Like I care. Small people always talk.” Take that, she thought, hoping her words hit him somehow. “I’m Kylee, by the way.”

“I’m Price.”

“I know who you are.” She gestured at the distance between them. “I don’t bite, you know.”

He shuffled a little closer.

She laughed. “Do I make you nervous?” It was kind of cute. Like he’d never been near a girl before.

“Je ne sais pa.”

“What language is that?”

“French.”

“And you’re speaking it because. . . ?”

“It helps me think.”

“Are you French?”

“Technically but not really.”

Kylee waited for more explanation, but he offered none. Swirling her hand around, she said, “And it means . . . ?”

“I don’t know.” He ducked his head, then lifted it and met her eyes. “You’re a bit . . . different than other girls I’ve met.”

Kylee considered that rather ambiguous statement. “Okay . . . I’m going to take that in a good way.”

She paused, but Price didn’t say anything. She turned and started walking down the path toward her yard. Ahead of her, the jungle of weeds separating her house from the forest loomed darker and more forbidding than the trees. She could sneak in the bedroom window and lock the door to her room.

“Where are you going?” Price joined her, walking behind her but keeping pace.

Kylee glanced at him, pleased he hadn’t left yet. “Home, I guess.”

“Why do you want to go there?”

“I know, right?” She chuckled. “Who would want to go back in there? I don’t have any choice.”

“You can’t just not go in?”

“What, are you allowed to stay out all night?” She stopped to face Price.“Everyone’s tied to their home, right? We can’t just walk away from it. No matter how much we want to.” Oh, and she wanted to.

“Have you tried to leave?”

How was it he seemed to know her thoughts? Kylee shook her head and lowered her voice. “Not yet. But I plan to. Maybe sooner than later.”

She cleared the edge of the forest and paused. Even without the trees, the sliver of moon didn’t cast enough light to see. She barely made out the clothesline several paces in front of her. She fought the desire to turn around and run back into the dense nest of trees. The earthy aroma of the dirt and bark called to her.

“How far can you go?”

Kylee pressed her back against a tree trunk and sighed. She stared at the star-studded sky. “As far as I want. I have all kinds of plans. When I go to college—”

“College?” Price interrupted. “You’re thinking about college?”

She leveled her gaze on him. “Sure. I’m gonna make a name for myself, just you wait.”

“Really?”

“That’s what most people do, Price. Grow up. Go to school. Get jobs away from home. What do you plan to do?”

He shrugged. “Oh, well, the same kind of thing. As what you said,” he mumbled.

Kylee tried to discern his features in the darkness. “You’re so strange.”

A choked laugh escaped him. “Me? You’re calling me strange?”

“Yeah, yeah, I already know. Everyone thinks I’m weird.” She pushed off the tree.

He matched her steps, this time staying by her side. “What about your friends?”

“I don’t have any,” she answered, so softly he leaned in closer to hear her. “Nobody talks to me now. Nobody comes over. Once I quit going to school, it’s like I just quit existing. Amy and Michael ignore me when they walk to the bus.” She swallowed past the sudden lump in her throat. “I’ve tried so many times to talk to them. Just to say hi. They won’t even look at me.” One hot tear rolled down her cheek, and Kylee shoved it away with the bottom of her palm.

“You don’t know,” Price whispered.

“What? What do I not know? What they’re saying? Please. I can imagine.” She rolled her eyes. “I was so happy when you moved in,” she admitted, not daring to look at him now. “I thought we could be friends. But you did the same thing. Why? You don’t know me!” She let the tears trail down her nose and drip into the grass.

Price lifted his hand like he was going to touch her shoulder, but he didn’t. “I was a little scared. Uncertain.”

“Sure.” She nodded. “We all have things we’re scared of. I guess creepy neighbors is right up there.” She thought of Bill, his anger, the loneliness that crept into her room at night. “I like talking to you.” She risked a glance toward him.

Price hesitated, and then bobbed his head. “Yeah. Me too.”

She couldn’t stop the smile that pulled at her lips. “Can I visit you sometime? Come to your house?”

“Can you do that?”

Kylee shrugged. “Maybe some time during the day, when my stepfather’s not home. Like when you first get home from school.”

Price squinted one eye. “Yeah, you know, probably not a good idea.”

“Oh. Because of your dad?”

“Yeah. Something like that.”

Kylee cocked her head. At least they’d introduced themselves. That was good enough for a night. “Well, I’m gonna sneak back into my house.” She gave a smile, hoping it looked confident.

“Are you afraid of your stepfather?”

She remembered in school, how if she started to mention Bill’s abuse, her friends changed the subject. Teachers looked wary. Nobody wanted to know about it. “No, it’s fine. We just don’t get along. Anyway.” She gave a little wave and crept closer to the house. “Good night.”

“Night.”

Price hovered in the yard a moment longer. Kylee gave him another wave, and he turned back to the forest. She figured he must be cutting around to the back of his house, where there was no fence. She waited until he’d disappeared from sight before going to her window. She climbed inside, glad she always left it open.

A quick scan of her room showed it was empty. No Bill lying in wait for her. Thank goodness.

Her feet barely made a sound as she landed on the threadbare carpet. Kylee fell into her bed. She pulled the blanket up to her chin and closed her eyes. The conversation with Price replayed in her mind. She pictured the cock of his head, the quizzical expression in his eyes when he spoke to her. Her lips pressed into a smile.

***

Kylee had just finished taking the clothes off the line when it started to rain.

“Dang it,” she muttered. She hadn’t been fast enough to beat the downpour. She clutched the laundry basket of clothes to her chest and ran for the front door. The rain came in at an angle, slamming into the sagging porch steps. She lifted one arm over her head, though it did little to shield her from the onslaught of water.

“Hurry!”

“Come on, Lisa, it’s pouring!”

Kylee paused on the porch and watched the kids from the bus run toward their houses. Amy squealed and laughed, holding her notebook above her like a shield, her backpack bouncing behind her. Michael howled and charged through the rain as fast as he could. Price tugged on Lisa’s hand, trying to get her out of the puddles.

He stopped and looked her direction. The back of Kylee’s neck grew warm, but before she could dart inside, he nodded his head at her.