Page 19 of Sunrise

“I should probably get going,” he says, collecting his half-completed test.

Mom smiles at him. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay for dinner? We’re having chicken parm.”

“I’d love to, but I gotta help my pops with something tonight.”

I drop all the bags onto the counter and will him with my clusterfucked mind to stay. We can go into my room. Shut the door. I… I don’t want him to go.

“Well, be careful going home, sweetheart.”

“I will.” He flashes a smile I can’t read. “Bye.”

No, no, no, no! Don’t leave. Fuck!

The screen door slams shut behind him.

“Knox!” I yell out, shoving the door open with one foot already outside.

He halts in my driveway, his black bookbag slung over his shoulder, and he turns around. “Yeah?”

Now what? Shit. Ummm… “Wanna go on a midnight run tonight?”

The smile on his face goes a mile fucking wide. “Yeah.Definitely.”

“What about us?” My hand trembles when I raise the can to my mouth and fake drink it. My heart’s beating so fast, it’s going to break through my ribs.

“I dropped Sophie off at her place.”

“Okay.” I’m failing to get the message he’s delivering.

“She’s taking a shower and running errands.”

I set my drink back down and he grabs my wrist, covering it with his big hand.

We both stare at each other and my mouth runs dry.

“I’m meeting her here tonight,” he says cautiously. “At nine.”

My throat tightens a little. “Okay.”

His bottom lip is fatter than the top. The urge to stand up and pull it between my teeth is strong.

“She wants you to be here.”

My brain cells fire off in quick succession as I calculate what that means. “Here?”

Knox leans over and balances one hand on my desk, by my hand, the other grips the back of my chair. Then he gets so close to me I can smell his toothpaste. “Right.Here.”

With that, he straightens up and leaves.

Chapter 7

Sophie

A long, hot shower washes away the residual negativity from last night. I think I was just in my head too much. It happens. When I’m overloaded, small things set me off and with the plans I’ve got for Knox and Vault, coupled with the overwhelming surge of new members last night, and all the stress I’ve had at my day job lately, I guess I just snapped.

Just in case, my doors are locked and bolted. All my curtains and blinds are closed, too.

I think this is the worst part of my trauma. Going back to this level of fear and caution. Living in quiet darkness because I’m scared someone’s at my window, peeking in.Breakingin…

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