Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 92208 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 461(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92208 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 461(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
“You acted quick,” Ryan’s dad said.
I almost squeaked. It sounded like he was walking Ryan back to his room.
Moving like a ninja, I lowered myself to the ground and rolled under the bed. This had been my move to hide from Willow if she decided she wanted to talk late at night.
Two shadows stood at the door.
“How are you doing? I know you and that Malcolm girl have become close.”
“What?” Ryan’s voice matched the slight hysteria I felt.
Shit, shit, shit. If they found out about me, if they told my parents, if this, if that—so many ifs ran in my mind. But they couldn’t. None of that could happen because then my parents would start watching me again. I wouldn’t be able to sneak out, and Ryan wouldn’t be able to sneak in, which was our pattern. We traded off unless we knew one of us absolutely couldn’t get away.
“I talk to Phillip every now and then at work. He’s struggling. I’d assume they all are. How’s the girl?”
“Uh, she’s dealing. I think.”
“Peach said you were close. Rose said she’s been over a bunch.”
“Oh! Yeah. I mean, yeah. She’s dealing. I mean, that’s all I can say.”
His dad sighed. “I suppose. Phillip said the littlest is at the gifted academy. He seems to be liking it a lot. They go down there four times a week to see him.”
They do? That was news to me.
“What about her?” Ryan asked. “Are they checking in with her enough?”
I almost cursed. What was he doing?
“I suppose. It was her twin. I’d imagine they worry about her the most.” A second later, he added, “Why? Are they not?”
“No. I don’t know.”
“You’re friends, aren’t you? You’re acting weird, Ryan. What’s going on with you?”
“No. I know. I mean, I’m not. Yeah, we’re friends. She’s in our group with all of us.”
“She and Cora are friends then?”
“Uh.” Ryan sounded so stiff, like he had a stick up his ass. “They’re both the girls in our group. It’d be weird if they weren’t.”
“You’re still being weird.”
“It’s in the middle of the night. What do you expect? Peach woke us up with a blood-curdling scream.”
“Yeah.” His dad sighed. “You’re right. All right. Listen, go to bed. Maybe I’ll ask Phillip if they want to come over for dinner sometime. Would you like that? Have your friend over for a meal with the ’rents?”
“Sure. Yeah. Sounds good.”
Again, I wanted to smack him. He could’ve discouraged that in two seconds.
“Okay, son.” A thump on his back. “Try to get some sleep. I love you, Ry.”
“Love you, Dad.”
One shadow entered the room, the door clicked shut, and soft footfalls moved back down the hallway. I waited for Ryan to come back to the bed, but he didn’t move.
“Mackenzie?” he whispered, half-hissing. “You here?”
I could stay under the bed. He’d assume I slipped out, went home, and I could haunt him the way Willow continued to haunt me. But that wasn’t nice, and he wasn’t the person I wanted to get back at.
I crawled back out from under his bed. “You were having a nice chat with your pops there.” I stood, sliding back into the bed.
He came over and reached for the covers. “What could I do? If I acted weird, he might’ve thought something was off.”
“He did think you were acting weird.”
He shrugged. “Normal is easier said than done. I kept thinking, Whoa shit! I got a hot chick in my room somewhere, and they can’t find out, and whoa shit, whoa shit, whoa shit!”
I laughed, lying back down in his bed. “I got it. I’d be weird too.”
He gazed down at me. “You aren’t normally pissy with me. You mad about something else?” Waiting a beat, he added, “He brought up your family.”
My throat burned, his words echoing in my head. “I didn’t know they’d been going to see Robbie four times a week.”
“They didn’t tell you?”
I shook my head.
“Your brother didn’t say anything?”
Another head shake.
I was barely home, and if I was, it wasn’t for long or I wasn’t alone. I had no clue they were driving to see Robbie. A part of me was glad, thankful they checked in on him, but another part of me ached with jealousy.
I was there. I was in their house, and I struggled every day to say something.
My parents weren’t evil. They didn’t mean to forget about me because they didn’t love me, but I fully believed they didn’t want to see me.
They saw her when they saw me.
So, I stayed away. Hell, I didn’t even enjoy looking in the mirror myself.
My eyes were hers. My hair. My body. I’d lost weight, losing the healthy weight I held with those Cheetos. The more I dreamed about her, the more she talked to me, the more she haunted me—I was becoming Willow.
If I took her place, would they mourn Mackenzie? Maybe that would be easier for them.