Page 18 of The Sun
Daddy exhaled through his nose. “Boys like him—”
“You don’t know him!” My cheeks burned.
“And neither do you.”
“I do know him, Daddy. I know that he—”
“I’ve kept up with him, and I hate to say it; he’s nothing but trouble. Not to mention that no decent boy is gonna sneak in your room and sleep in your bed!” His jaw ticced. “There’s only one reason a boy would do that, and the thought of what he had on his mind makes me sick.”
“Daddy, it’s not like that,” I whispered. “You don’t understand.”
He shook his head. “I understand better than you do, and I raised you better than this, Sunny Ray.”
“Whatever,” I mumbled and dropped my fork.
“Excuse me, young lady?”
I glanced up at him, my nostrils flaring as I fought the urge to cry. “I said. Whatever!” And then I shoved away from the table, stormed out of the kitchen, and up the stairs. My father called for me while my mother told him to let me be. I went to my room, slammed the door, and I sulked. At fifteen, my parents owned my life, and a boy I could never see again owned my heart.
5
Sunny
The chain to the porch swing groaned when I pushed back as far as it would go. I picked up my feet, and the humid air blew over my face, catching my hair.
It had been nearly three weeks since Elias was caught in my room. Twenty-one days since my father had banished me from having any contact with him, and with each day that passed, the seed of anger in my chest sprouted and grew.
My parents opened up their home to those “less fortunate.” They had, at one time, opened up their home to Elias, and yet, I wasn’t allowed to see him because suddenly he wasn’t good enough. The entire ordeal took a toll on my parents as well, though. Having your pride and joy slumming it with a guy from “the wrong side of the tracks” was enough to make any parent question where they went wrong—at least that was the conversation I overhead a few nights before when I pressed my ear to my bedroom wall. And the fact that Momma mentioned the incident to Daisy’s mom, well, that meant she was really troubled with it. She was never the type to air out dirty laundry, especially not to the preacher’s wife. I guess she must have asked her to say a special prayer for my soul. Which would explain why Daisy sat on the porch step staring at me. “Mother told me what happened.”
“What?” I played dumb.
Tilting her head, she raised both brows. “Elias Black.”
I shrugged, and she rolled her eyes with a huff.
“In your bed, Sunny! You had a boy in your bed, and you didn’t tell me?”
I shrugged again, then we sat in silence for a minute.
“So, what was it like?” She chewed at her lip, anticipating, afraid.
“What waswhatlike?”
“Sleeping with him.”
Sighing, I hopped off the porch swing and took a seat on the step beside her. “I didn’t have sex with him, Daisy.”
She deadpanned me. “I’m your best friend, Sunny. Come on.”
“Come on, nothing. He slept in his shorts and T-shirt. All we did was kiss.”
“Okay well, what was that like?” She grinned.
“Like. . .” I took a breath and closed my eyes, recalling the way his lips felt, the way my heart beat like it wanted to break out of my chest. “How you feel when you see a shooting star. In awe and breathless.”
She didn’t make a peep, and when I opened my eyes, there was a small crease in her forehead, her brows scrunched inward. “That sounds deep. I’m not going to lie. I’m disappointed that you didn’t lock your door. That was a bad, bad mistake.”
“I did lock it. The stupid lock didn’t catch.” The house had settled, causing a few of the doors to no longer line up the way they should. I found that outafterI’d been caught.”
