Chestnut by Jennifer Li Shotz

Author:Jennifer Li Shotz
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780358359036
Publisher: HMH Books
Published: 2020-10-06T00:00:00+00:00

★ Chapter 15 ★

* * *

* * *

Meg tiptoed up to the back door of the house and used the key hidden under the statue of a sleeping gnome to let herself in. She pulled the door closed and listened. The house was silent except for the steady ticking of the grandfather clock in the hallway. Meg held her breath as she crossed the kitchen and snuck through the living room. She was halfway across when she froze at the sound of footsteps above her. Her stomach dropped out, and she forced herself to remain calm.

Meg knew she only had a few seconds to get upstairs before her dad stumbled down to make coffee. She took the stairs two at a time—skipping the squeaky step—and moved as quickly and quietly as she could toward her room. Ben’s snores seeped through his bedroom door. Sarah’s alarm went off and Meg nearly jumped out of her skin. At the end of the hallway she heard her parents talking softly in their room.

“I’ll make the coffee.” Her father’s voice had grown louder, and she heard the door knob rattle in his grip.

Meg ducked into her room and closed the door as fast as she could. She pulled off her jeans and tennis shoes and wrapped herself in her bathrobe. She needed to get into the shower before Sarah woke up—and before anyone got a good look at her. The scent of moldy shed and damp dog wafted off her clothes, and no matter how she tried, she couldn’t think of any lies that would get her out of that.

She untangled her braid and opened the door, faking a yawn. As she crossed the hall, the door of Sarah’s room flew open. Meg scooted past it and hustled to the bathroom.

“I call first shower,” Meg said over her shoulder, shutting the door behind her. She crossed her fingers that Sarah hadn’t managed to catch a glimpse of her face. She feared that guilt was written all over it.

The hot shower felt amazing after the cold night in the shed. Meg washed the smell of Chestnut out of her hair and the dirt from under her nails. When she had towel-dried her hair, brushed her teeth, and put on her bathrobe again, Meg stepped back into the hallway. Sarah brushed past her without a word, her face puffy from sleep and exhaustion.

Meg sighed as her bedroom door clicked shut behind her, her panic dissipating as she realized she’d gotten away with it. She dressed quickly and ran a comb through her hair, then headed downstairs for breakfast.

The morning was already in full swing. Her parents were ricocheting around the kitchen, stuffing cereal boxes back into cabinets and tossing milk cartons into the fridge. They were so busy they hardly noticed her standing there—let alone realized that she’d been gone all night. Meg felt horrible for lying and sneaking around, but she was equally full of something she hadn’t been feeling much of lately: hope. She ate the cheese omelet that Ben offered to share with her.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.