Page 41 of Woke Up Like This
Mom keeps talking, but her words are echoey and garbled, as though we’re stuck in a fishbowl. All I can hear is the blood rushing through my ears. I repeat the words again silently.Kassie and I haven’t spoken in years. We aren’t friends anymore.Everything has changed.
I need to get out of here. Now.
SIXTEEN
Please work. Please work,” I plead to whatever cosmic force is to blame for this mess. Beads of sweat pour down my forehead as I scan my pass on the school door for the fifth time. No dice.
Renner sighs from his perch, slumped against the door. “It’s locked, Char.”
After the bathroom at Ollie’s, Renner and I went straight to the school with an unspoken urgency, entirely forgetting that it’s locked after hours for security purposes. I learned this when Ms.Chouloub and I got locked out after Halloween dance prep. We had to store the leftover decor in her car overnight.
I rattle the door again, kicking it for good measure, as if it will magically open with my rage.
“We’ll have to come back tomorrow morning. Students will be here to finish decorating before prom,” Renner says.
“But we can’t wait until tomorrow morning. I can’t stay here!” My voice echoes into the dark night.
I can’t stay in a world where I’ve lost thirteen years and I’m marrying Renner. And I can’t stay in a world where Kassie isn’t my friend. It feels criminal that she wasn’t at my bachelorette. And even more criminal that I didn’t choose her as my maid of honor. She should be by my side, taking pictures with me, holding my bouquet during the ceremony, telling me to straighten my back, and giving a charming speech about how she’s myrealother half.
“You think I want to stay here?” Renner counters.
“There has to be another way. We could go through an open window.”
“All the windows are closed. I already looked,” he says.
“Well, if we can’t go through ...” Panicked, I hastily scan our surroundings for anything. Literally anything. My sight zeroes in on a large rock in the garden along the pathway. I like to think I’m the opposite of impulsive. I always think before acting, probably too much. But right now, that cautious side of me is drowned out by desperation. Before I know it, the rock is in my hand and I’m flinging it toward the window.
Renner screams something I can’t hear as the glass shatters into a million pieces, shards of all sizes clattering to the pavement.
Holy crap. I just shattered a window and tried to break into the school like a common criminal.
Who am I?
A piercing alarm sounds, and we both cover our ears to block the screeching.
Renner is taken aback, his eyes wide and body still until he snaps into action.“Run!”he bellows before sprinting away from the school premises.
We’re off like a pair of bats from hell, tearing down the dimly lit street at full tilt. The cool night air stings my lungs. As we round the corner for our car, a police cruiser comes out of nowhere, speeding down the street toward us.
We have a split second to decide if we should go left to the walking trail or right into a six-foot arborvitae privacy hedge. We both dive right.
A branch pokes me in the eye as I huddle into a small alcove of bush next to Renner. It’s kind of cozy, except I’m wheezing and dried shrubbery prickles my knees. The scent of damp wood and cedar elicits a violent sneeze.
“Shh!”Renner warns, shooting me a furious glare.
“Oh, like I did it on purpose,” I whisper, brushing my forearm frantically at the tickle of something crawling across my arm. I don’t even want to know what evil lurks in here.
Renner’s arm grazes mine as he parts the branches to peek out. “The police cruiser is going by super slow,” he whispers. “I think ... I think it’s Cole.” He saysColelike he’s his close drinking buddy, and I remember that Renner’s dad is the chief of police. Or at least, he was, thirteen years ago.
“I forgot. You’re above the law,” I snap, while also letting out a sigh of relief. Renner’s connections could come in handy.
“Nah, I’d still rather not get grounded.” He sits, knees to his chest, as the cruiser does yet another slow drive-by.
“Grounded? Tryarrested. We’re adults, Renner. I wouldn’t fare well in prison.” I’m far too frail to make my own shiv and use it with any amount of gusto. This is the last thing I need.
“Ugh. Neither would I.”
I shrug. “True. You’d be in for it. Your face kinda screams privilege,” I say out of pure frustration.
