The Here and Now by The Here & Now (epub)

Author:The Here & Now (epub)
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-385-73680-0
Publisher: Random House Children's
Published: 2014-04-07T16:00:00+00:00

Fourteen

It is still early Friday. We are driving along the Meadowbrook Parkway as though in a dream. The sun is shining and I’ve got one bare foot out the window, feeling the wind through my toes.

We stop at Target to buy a prepaid phone.

“Go ahead, splurge,” Ethan says to me jokingly when I hold up two. I guess it’s not every day we come upon thousands of dollars.

I use one of the phones to call my mother. I’ve been wondering what she knows, whether they told her I got away. I know how they hate to admit mistakes or ever let on that they are not in control.

“Molly, I can only talk for a second,” I tell her breathlessly when she picks up. I have a lurking fear they will somehow trace the call if I stay on too long.

“Prenna! Where are you?”

“I’m fine. I got away from Mr. Robert, and no one is hurt. I need to try to fix something Poppy told me about, but I’ll be home by Sunday at the latest.” I hear voices in the background. I realize she’s not alone. “Mom?”

“Prenna?” Now it’s a different voice. I think it’s Ms. Cynthia on the phone. It’s a voice that curdles my blood. “Can you hear me, Prenna? You’ll make life very unpleasant for your mother if you persist in this. And for Katherine.”

She is grotesque. I should hang up. “They didn’t do anything.”

“All the more reason you should bear them in mind.”

“I’m not the one wanting to hurt them!” It’s the twelve-year-old me, rising to defend us against the insidious Ms. Cynthia. I need to calm down. She starts to talk but I talk over her. “I’ll be back in two days. You leave them alone, and I will go straight to Mr. Robert’s door and turn myself in. You can do whatever you want to me then. But if you hurt them, I swear I will bring EVERYTHING down.” I hang up. I crack the phone in two at the joint and throw it across the parking lot.

I walk a few yards away from the car, crouch down and put my face in my hands. A minute or so later I feel Ethan’s hand on my back.

“That didn’t go so well.”

“Not so well.” I stand up. I wipe my eyes. “It’s going to be okay, though.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” And somehow I know it’s true, because for the first time in the history of Ms. Cynthia it wasn’t me who sounded scared. It was 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.