Page 70 of Midnight Between Us
She was so fucking afraid.
Not of me—of what would happen to her if I didn’t come back.If she stayed.If she became everything she swore she wouldn’t.
And I wasn’t there.I didn’t even know she was drowning.
She said she might run.
Did she?
I remember the call.She found me even when nobody—not even my mother—knew where I was.
How many other versions of her life did I break by walking away?I can’t help but put away this letter and open the next one.
ChapterTwenty-Seven
KT,
I probably broke, like, five laws today.
Not great for someone who’s trying to do better ...but yeah, I’m failing.
First, I told my grandparents I was sick so I wouldn’t have to go to Bible school.They weren’t thrilled—someone had to cover for me.And of course, my grandmother dropped me off at the clinic to make sure I wasn’t lying.
That’s where things got ...interesting.
While I was there, I told Frances—the receptionist—I’d watch the phones so she could go to her nail appointment.Which I did.However, I also used their computer to seek for help.I remembered someone mentioning a place in Seattle that might actually take me in.And they did—they called the clinic back, right away.
Third lie of the day?I told my grandparents I saw Nina hanging around outside the clinic spying on me.Now they’re planning to keep me home for the rest of the week.No more camp.No more pretending.
My ride out of here comes tomorrow.
I don’t know if this is the right call, but it’s the only one I’ve got.
Wish me luck,
Simone
P.S.Okay, maybe I didn’t break fundamental laws but my grandfather will condemn my soul.
ChapterTwenty-Eight
Keir
It’s notwhat I expected.Again.
This one isn’t about me.Not exactly.It’s not pleading or poetic.It’s a confession.A list of small rebellions, stacked like bricks in a wall she was desperate to build between herself and whatever hell she was trying to escape.
What did you do, Sims?
She lied to her grandparents.Lied to get out of Bible school.Lied just to survive long enough to leave maybe.
And that’s what stuns me most.
She was planning her exit like it were a prison break, and I didn’t even know she needed one.I would’ve taken her with me if she had told me the problem.No, I would’ve fixed her problem because that’s what I did.
I lived to make sure she was okay—always.I left her so she could be okay.
There’s no way she got in trouble between the time I left and when she escaped which it sounds like it was immediately.Simone was always so composed—so fucking strong.But these letters?They’re full of the kind of fear that doesn’t shout.It whispers.It hides between jokes about damnation and fake illnesses.
