Chapters (95)
- Front Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Contents
- Video #1
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Video #2
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Sixty-Two
- Sixty-Three
- Sixty-Four
- Sixty-Five
- Video #3
- Sixty-Six
- Sixty-Seven
- Sixty-Eight
- Sixty-Nine
- Seventy
- Seventy-One
- Seventy-Two
- Seventy-Three
- Seventy-Four
- Seventy-Five
- Seventy-Six
- Seventy-Seven
- Seventy-Eight
- Seventy-Nine
- Eighty
- Eighty-One
- Eighty-Two
- Eighty-Three
- The Final Video
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Back Cover
I reach the back of the house and the windows to Chloe’s bedroom. There are two of them. They’re fairly large, side by side. Chloe always said she was glad she didn’t have any siblings to fight her for the bedroom with the big windows. She also liked that her parents’ bedroom was on the other side of the house, separated from Chloe’s by the kitchen and the living room. She—and we—always had a lot of privacy on her end of the house, which was something I liked, too.
The left window is the one with the broken lock. I’ve opened it dozens of times, so I don’t even have to think. Using my fingers, I push the screen up as high as I can. I place my hands on the wooden frame and start to push it as well.
At that moment, a shout comes from next door.
I drop to the ground like someone has fired a gun. I lie there, frozen, the grass tickling my nose, the rich scent of damp earth filling my nostrils.
Was it Olivia? Gabriela? But why would they shout?
The person yells again.
“Trevor?”
“What, Mom?”
“Get in here right now.”
My held breath escapes. Just a kid getting chased inside by his mom. Although I never knew his name, I’ve seen that kid, Trevor, playing in his yard many times.
I pick myself up, brush the grass and twigs off my clothes, and return to the window. I get a good grip on the frame again and push. As the window moves up it makes a squealing sound I never noticed before. It’s a surprise because the window used to have the opposite problem. It was so loose it would just slide closed behind me without anyone touching it. Or is it possible I never noticed the squeak because the stakes were never this high? How would it look if I got caught inside Chloe’s house now? What would everyone think?
I push the window farther up, even though it sounds like a chorus of banshees howling in the night.
Now the hard part.
The part I’m not really sure I can do alone.
Every other time I came over, Chloe was there, waiting for me. And when I boosted myself up, she would grab me by the arms and help pull me in. Chloe is strong. She’s almost as tall as I am. She’s lean and fit. When she’d grab my arms as I pulled myself up, I could feel the strength in her grip.
Conversely, when Chloe snuck out of the house to see me, it was easy. She’d just jump out, and I’d steady her when she landed.
All of a sudden, I wonder—had she been sneaking out of the house to meet someone else?
Had she helped someone else in to see her?