Page 66 of The Lucky One

Jon sighed. “Good thing you aren’t me, then, huh?”

I had no comeback for that one. I was walking in his shoes more than he knew. My heart fluttered just hearing Paul’s name in my mouth.

“Good night, Jon.”

I hurried into my house. When I closed the front door behind me, my mother yelled my name so loud, it made me jump. “Don’t tell me you’re seeing that boy again!”

“Mom, I’m not. He was just giving me a ride.”

“You were supposed to be home hours ago,” she said, pointing a finger at me. “What about your test on Tuesday?”

I inhaled, slipping myself back into good Kiki mode. “I forgot the time, Mom. I’ll go study now.”

I treaded up the stairs and got back to what I did best.

Moving Out

Emily

Six years ago...

“Could you pass me the third nail?”

I handed it to Richard. He had spent what felt like forever arranging all the nails in little piles, and now we were putting up bookshelf number eleven. Well actually, he was putting it up. I was just sitting there, giving him whatever he needed.

Richard had a lot of books—something I realized when we all moved into a new house with him. When Mama broke the news I was happy. Richard wasn’t around much but when he was, things were good. Except for that one Christmas when him and Lucas had a fight over Monopoly. Apart from that, everything was going great. I saw him even more than Papa, who sometimes canceled my weekend visits.

The move from our old place to this awesome half-timbered house, which was even farther from my old school, breezed by in just a day. But bringing all of Richard’s stuff here took about a week. I did my best to help out, but he didn’t want me to touch his stuff.

Richard went above and beyond, buying me a new bed, a chest of drawers, and even a desk for studying. Lucas got a new set of furniture too, but he seemed less grateful than I was. He was already out and about, making friends with the neighborhood kids. I couldn’t figure out how he made new friends so easily.

Mama came in with bulging grocery bags. “You two working hard?”

I jumped up from my chair to help her. I gaped at it all. We hadn’t had that much food in a long time.

“We should have all the bookcases set up by the end of the day.” Richard walked over and gave her a kiss on the mouth. It felt foreign to me: Papa didn’t use to kiss Mama. She smiled at him before going into the kitchen. I started to followed her but Richard’s voice pulled me back. “Emily, could you pass me nail number four?”

I went back to our setup and did the job I was supposed to do.

That night I had trouble sleeping. Tomorrow was my first day at a new school. It was only a ten-minute walk away, but I’d be starting in the middle of the year. I was already dreading all the small talk I would have to do. My stomach cramped all night until I was so exhausted, I finally drifted off to sleep.

Now...

So many questions rolled through my head, they threatened to overshadow the amazing night I had with Jon. Paul and Kiki were hanging out now? Paul got into another fight? Did he get attacked again?

And Jon hadn’t answered my question about going to Germany with me this summer...

“Emily,” Henry said.

“Oh, hi!” So much for sneaking to the basement stairs. He and Gena were perched on the couch with a bowl of popcorn, wearing unusually serious expressions.

“You’re late,” he said.

“And why is your hair wet?” Gena asked.

“I’m so sorry. I got tomato sauce all over me, so I—”

I hesitated. It felt wrong to lie to them. That was the old me, the one who thought lying was better than speaking the truth.