Luke reached out and touched my arm, his fingers rough against my flesh. “Hey, I’m serious, Jos. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine!”
He put his hand over mine. “Go inside. You have work to do. Leave the rest to us.”
“Yeah, we’ll take care of this,” Dan announced, appearing in the doorway of the container. He took one look at Luke’s hand on mine and reddened almost as much as his stupid polo.
“You sure?” I asked, looking up at Luke. As much as I hated what he’d done in the past, I appreciated him at that moment.
He nodded, and I fled, grateful for Luke Barrett for the first time in years.
Josie FOURTEEN YEARS EARLIER
Failure. Shame. Disgust.
Mom would die from disappointment.
Dad would disown me.
I’d never see Olivia again.
I’d heard about rock bottom before, a place I’d never seen until Matt Smith shoved me there. But I was just as much to blame, a brat who took advantage of a good life. All I had to do was behave, and I couldn’t even do that.
I had to go to that party. I had to be cool.
I’d brought it on myself.
Dad always told me: trouble only happens when you’re looking for it. I not only looked for it – I ran toward it.
I reached into my pocket and freed the offending box, stuffing it in the flimsy plastic bag, needing it off my body. I’d repay the $10.99 it cost to the pharmacy, but it’d have to wait a week. I’d already spent my allowance on flowers for Mom, her latest test results stealing any bit of hope we had.
I rushed down the sidewalk toward the park, not wasting a second. Dad was asleep, but he might wake up to check our rooms. If my butt weren’t in bed, there’d be hell to pay.
I passed a muscle car parked too close to the curb, its tires brushing the concrete. I didn’t have my permit, but even I knew they shouldn’t.
A shaggy-haired boy sat on its hood smoking a cigarette, his muscled arms exposed by a tattered tank top. Judging by the looks of him, he was likely a junior or senior.
Dad would never let me out so late, weekend or not. I wondered if he snuck out too, though doubtful in a car like that. Those suckers made a heck of a lot of noise in the school parking lot.
As I got closer, I recognized him from school – Luke Barrett, a junior who lived a step away from expulsion but always scored a last-hour lifeline.
“What are you doing out so late, Joey?” he asked.
I flinched, surprised he acknowledged me. Juniors didn’t talk to freshmen. Especially flat-chested freshmen with braces. “Huh?”
“You heard me.” He smirked, drumming a free hand on the hood of his car, each tap louder than the last.
“My name is Josie.” I straightened, rolling my shoulders back. Mom always said if you wanted respect, you had to earn it. Slouching wouldn’t get any.
He shrugged, letting out a cloud of smoke into the night air. “Same difference.”
“No, they’re different,” I muttered, wrinkling my nose at the scent.
A slow smirk appeared as he took a slow drag from his cancer stick. “Not really.”
I rolled my eyes, holding my breath as he released another noxious plume. “Alright, Luka.”
Smoke billowed from his nostrils as he tapped ash into the street. “It’s Luke.”
“Same difference,” I mocked.
I wondered if his family knew he smoked, not that he’d be able to hide it. The smell clung to everything. Dad would flip if he caught me smoking, not that I was tempted to sample poison.
“Got me there,” he admitted. “What is a dainty little thing from Collins Ave doing out so late?”
“Running errands.”
He raised a brow as he sucked in another toxic breath. “The congressman’s daughter? This late?”
I hated it when people called me that. I was more than a political pawn.
I sighed the thought away, flustered he wouldn’t leave me be. “Yeah, this late.”
“What’s in the bag?” he asked.
“Tampons.” I wished that was all I’d been rushing out to grab. I'd never hoped for a surprise period before. I’d take ruining a pair of pants at school in front of all my friends over the nightmare I was stuck in.
He chuckled, hopping from the hood and tossing his cigarette to the ground to stomp it out before shoving it in his pocket. “Hop in. I'll give you a lift home.”
“Sorry I can’t.” A strange boy got me into trouble in the first place.
He narrowed his eyes. “Don’t be stupid. It’s too late to walk across town alone.”
“Your car is loud,” I shot back, not knowing what else to say. I turned and kept going toward the bike trail that cut through the park. I wouldn’t let his words rattle me, though the threat of something lurking in the shadows sent my heart aflutter.
“You’re being stubborn, Joey!” he called. “I’ll drop you off a block away from your place. Daddy will never know.”
I glanced at the bike trail, the winding stretch of gravel much darker than I remembered. Dark enough for a bear to hide. Or a kidnapper.
“That’s right. Listen to reason, Joey.”
“It’s Josie,” I groused, jittery at the thought of heading into the dark again.
Luke seemed harmless, never anything less than friendly in passing, not that he looked my way. He hung out with the bad kids, the rowdy group notorious for skipping class and raising hell when they bothered to show up.
His brother Ethan was in my grade, an art prodigy that teachers worshiped, skipping class to paint in the studio. Meanwhile, I had to come in early most days for tutoring after missing too many days when Mom went downhill.
“Hop in, Joey.” He slid in the driver’s seat, leaving me alone on the sidewalk.
With everything else out of control, I had nothing to lose. I scrambled to climb in while he fired up the engine, its roar bouncing off the surrounding brimstone.
I buckled in and
