Kylee stifled a gasp and pressed her hand to her mouth. She hadn’t expected Price to come over today! Unannounced! She hurried out of her room and stopped in the hallway, in Price’s line of sight.

His eyes flicked to her for a moment before returning to Bill.

“Yeah, so?” Bill said. “What do you want? You the one whose dog’s been pissing on my yard?”

Oh, lordy. Kylee ducked her head. This was going badly.

Price furrowed his brow. “No, don’t think so. We have a fence around our house. The dog’s never crossed it unless he’s with me. Must be some other neighbor.”

“You got an attitude problem, boy?”

“No, sir. Just clearing up a confusion.”

“Maybe you’re a confused individual.”

Kylee stepped forward, ready to drag Price away before this conversation got ugly.

“I am a little confused about one thing. I was hoping you could tell me about Kylee.”

Bill stiffened. His whole back went rigid. “Tell you about Kylee?” he growled, the words low and ominous. “What do you know about her?”

“Nothing,” Price said. “Just things I’ve heard. From kids on the bus, you know. Different stories. I thought you could tell me the truth.”

Enough was enough. Kylee hurried to the door. “Price, what are you doing?” Bill would hurt him. His dad and the big house and fancy car wouldn’t save him. Why was he egging Bill on?

“Get off my porch!” Bill shouted. “Stay away from my house!”

Price didn’t budge. His face went stony, his eyes cold. “What happened to Kylee?”

Kylee stepped outside and grabbed Price’s arm, dragging him backward before Bill lashed out and hit him.

“That’s right!” Bill yelled. “Get your sorry ass out of here! Before I call the cops on you for trespassing! If you come back, I’ll put a bullet in your butt!” The door slammed shut so hard, a shutter fell off the front window.

“What were you thinking?” Kylee cried, letting go when they were past the mailbox. She didn’t realize she was shaking until that moment. Her whole body trembled, and she choked back a sob.

Price gripped her shoulders. “Hey, Kylee. Hey.”

“He’ll kill you! Price, he’s a drunkard with no conscience! Why provoke him?”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” Price’s arms went around her, and he pulled her close. “At least he can’t hurt you.”

Kylee shook her head and stepped backward. “You think you’re protecting me from him,” she whispered. She made her hands into fists and turned them outward, displaying the inner parts of her arms. “Price, I know it makes me look like a depressed psycho or something, but I did this to myself. He didn’t do it.”

Price pushed her hands back down. “Look me in the eyes and tell me he never laid a hand on you. Tell me you didn’t cut yourself because of him.”

She opened her mouth to object, but the objection died on her lips. Instead, she hugged herself and whispered, “Yeah. Maybe.”

Price lowered his head and swallowed, his throat bobbing with the effort. “Listen, I—I better go home. I shouldn’t have come. I thought—I don’t know. Maybe I could change things.”

“It is what it is,” Kylee murmured.

“Yeah. But, sometimes, the unexpected happens.” He grabbed her and hugged her to him. “You were unexpected.” He let her go and turned his face toward the road. “It’s not fair.”

“What isn’t?” Kylee asked, though she thought she knew.

“None of this is.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and trudged off without looking back.

YYY

Price didn’t get off the bus with the other kids on Monday. Kylee waited after the bus had driven away and Lisa had disappeared inside their house. Where was he, then?

She supposed he could’ve had a doctor appointment. Or tried out for a sport. Or had something as mundane as detention. Still, it drove her nuts not to know.

She was finishing up her English workbook when she saw Price through her bedroom window, taking Sisko outside for their daily play. She dropped her pencil and hurried out the front door, not even trying to find an excuse to see him.

“Hey,” she called, approaching the fence. “I didn’t see you get off the bus.”

He threw a stick across the yard, and the dog ran for it. Then he walked over to her, resting his forearms on the wood. “I rode home with someone.”

“Oh?” Kylee’s heart tightened. Had it been a girl? “Why?”

He looked down and kicked at the bottom of the fence. “I wanted to go to the library.”

“Ah.” She nodded. “Research project?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” He met her eyes. “How was your day? Bill get on to you about yesterday?”

“Actually, no.” Kylee shook her head. “Thing’s have been weird with him. He’s been pretty much ignoring me.”

“That’s good, right?”

“Yeah,” she agreed, though she was starting to feel like she didn’t exist.

“I better go back in,” Price said. He picked at something on his side of the fence. “Time to eat.”

He seemed more subdued. Maybe school was hard right now. “It’ll be okay, Price.”

He squinted at her and faked a smile. “Right.” He stared at her a moment longer, opened his mouth, then shut it and shook his head.

“What?” she asked.

“I don’t even know.” He shook his head again. “I better go.”

“Okay,” she replied, frowning as he walked away.

He whistled for the dog and paused long enough to glance over his shoulder. He gave a small wave before going into the house, Sisko at his heels.

YYY

Nobody called Kylee for dinner. When she came into the kitchen, the table was cluttered, but not with plates or food. If they’d eaten, they’d done it without her.

This silent treatment was getting old. Kylee wandered into the den. Bill and Theresa lay sprawled out on the couch, arms and legs dangling from the sides and armrests. A beer can dangled in Bill’s hand. Kylee exhaled, hating to bring their attention to her. But she couldn’t go on this way. She stepped next to the couch and drummed her fingers on her thighs.

“Okay,” she said, “I get that you’re mad at me. I disappeared all day Saturday. I’m grounded, sure, whatever, let’s move on. Okay?”

Neither adult looked at her. Kylee’s frustration got the best of her. “Hello!” she shouted, waving her arms in the air.

Bill lifted his can to his lips. Kylee shoved the armrest, and Bill jerked upright when his beer spilled down his shirt.

“I’m sorry,” Kylee said, immediately contrite. “I’ll get a rag.”

She headed for the kitchen just as Bill’s yelling started. “You idiot! You bumped me! Or are you going to blame that on Kylee, too?”

Kylee hurried in with the towel, guilt twisting her stomach. She should’ve reveled in her solitude. “I’m really sorry. I got carried away. A bit klutzy.”

“Don’t you say her name,” Theresa whispered, lifting her bloodshot eyes. “All I wanted was the best for her.”

“That’s it,” Bill growled, pushing himself to his unsteady feet. “I’ve had it with your lip, woman.”

“Don’t you touch her!” Kylee shouted, ramming her shoulder into his ribcage. She knocked him off-balance. Kylee caught a glimpse of his eyes widening a second before he went down, his head slamming against the coffee table with an audible crack.

Kylee stood frozen in shock. Bill didn’t move. Had she killed him?

Her mother crouched next to him, her face gaunt and pale. Her fingers twitched, and she scratched at one arm. “Bill?” she whispered, her eyes wide. “I didn’t do this. I swear I didn't do this.”

He groaned in response, his eyelids fluttering. Then he lay still.

Relief flooded Kylee’s bones. He wasn’t dead. Terror followed on its heels. There’d be hell to pay for this one. Her finger burned, and she shook her hand. The burning increased. She turned her attention to it, expecting to find a cigarette ember or something irritating her skin.

It was the ring. It glowed a purplish red. She gripped it and tugged on it, but it refused to budge. The burning decreased, but the glow didn’t diminish. She turned and ran through the kitchen. She opened the front door hard enough for it to bang into the wall next to it and bolted from the house.

“Kylee?” her mom called after her.

Kylee let herself in through the gate to Price’s yard and stumbled across the brittle grass, sobbing and shaking. She stopped beneath his bedroom window and stared up at it. For the life of her, she couldn’t remember how she’d made it up there the first time. Had she climbed the bricks? Scaled the vine?

She bent down and picked up a couple of pebbles, then reared back to chuck them at his window. Before she could, the front door swung open, and Price stepped out. He closed the door behind him and took a step in her direction.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

Hot tears sprang to her eyes, and she shook her head. He beckoned to her, and she walked toward him, still clutching the rocks she’d picked up. He pried open her fingers and let them fall to the ground.

“Come inside. Wait for me in my room. I’ll be up in a bit,” he said.

She nodded. He tipped her chin back with one finger and peered at her.

“Will you be okay?”

Again a nod.

“Promise?” Price asked.

“I promise,” she whispered.

“Okay.” His hand slid down her arm and he squeezed her fingers, then pulled her into the house.