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Back Moment of Truth Save as PDF
Chapters (47)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. One
  4. Two
  5. Three
  6. Four
  7. Five
  8. Six
  9. Seven
  10. Eight
  11. Nine
  12. Ten
  13. Eleven
  14. Twelve
  15. Thirteen
  16. Fourteen
  17. Fifteen
  18. Sixteen
  19. Seventeen
  20. Eighteen
  21. Nineteen
  22. Twenty
  23. Twenty-One
  24. Twenty-Two
  25. Twenty-Three
  26. Twenty-Four
  27. Twenty-Five
  28. Twenty-Six
  29. Twenty-Seven
  30. Twenty-Eight
  31. Twenty-Nine
  32. Thirty
  33. Thirty-One
  34. Thirty-Two
  35. Thirty-Three
  36. Thirty-Four
  37. Thirty-Five
  38. Thirty-Six
  39. Thirty-Seven
  40. Thirty-Eight
  41. Thirty-Nine
  42. 2 Months Later
  43. Acknowledgments
  44. About the Author
  45. Books by Kasie West
  46. Back Ad
  47. About the Publisher

Wasn’t that the point? The point of facing my fear, of coming out of the past? But no, it wasn’t about my parents. It was about me facing my brother. I could drive the truck and put it back. My dad had to have some ramps in the garage. How else would he have gotten it up here in the first place? Yes, that’s what I’d do.

I turned off the ignition and my heart immediately calmed. A check of the garage found exactly what I was looking for. Two rusty ramps. I dragged them out of their corner and across the lawn, wiping spiderwebs and dust off my jeans as I did. When I made it back to the truck, I plopped them down with a deep breath. Now I wouldn’t damage the truck by driving it off.

I lined up one ramp in front of each of the front wheels and then returned to the cab of the truck. Maybe it wouldn’t start now. No such luck. The hum of the engine vibrated through my legs and back. I almost turned it off again. I couldn’t do this. Heath Hall stared at me from the dash, daring me to, reminding me of how many fears he’d successfully faced in the past. “I don’t need you judging me, Heath.” I was stalling. I was chickening out. “Okay, stupid feather, give me some power.” I grabbed the mask and pulled it on.

Twenty-Eight

It was hot in the mask, my breath making it stuffy. Plus, the eyeholes weren’t very big. It was hard to see out. I tugged at the neck to readjust it on my face, which helped a little with my vision. My parents were going to kill me if they found out. They were going to see that I was irresponsible and selfish. They were going to wish him back all over again.

“No. I will not compete with you anymore, Eric.”

Besides, I wasn’t doing this. Heath Hall was. I laughed at my own thoughts, knowing my fear had officially taken over.

Don’t analyze, just drive, I told myself. I pushed on the gas and the truck lurched forward. The ramps were a little lower than the platform and the truck dropped a few inches before easing down. My stomach dropped even further. But then I was off the platform and on the street and my nerves seemed to settle. I was still hot and couldn’t breathe, so I ripped the mask off and propped it back on the dash. “You did your job, Heath Hall. Thank you.”