“Cole,” she says softly, pushing my knee to get my attention. “Why aren’t you going to class?”
“It’s depressing,” I tell her honestly. “I don’t like thinking about shitty things that happened in the past.”
She sends me a puzzled look. “History is in the past; it can’t hurt you.”
“That’s not true,” I tell her. “The past hurts me every day.”
She looks away with an unreadable expression, and I begin to feel a little guilty. The only thing worse than my past is not having any past at all. At least I knew my parents before I lost them—Scarlett has always been alone.
We sit together awkwardly for a moment before I clear my throat. “With these AP classes, it’s mostly about the exam at the end, anyway. That’s what determines whether I get the college credit so I can get the hell out of here faster. It’s all I really care about, Scar. I’ll ace that test; I promise.”
“Good,” she says, standing up and moving over to my desk. “If you flip through the papers I gave you, you’ll find some practice questions. They may or may not be the exact questions that will be on this year’s final exam.”
“Are you kidding me?” I ask, flipping to the questions to scan through them. “Jesus, Scar! You’re a little cyber criminal.”
“No,” she says, glancing back at me with an innocent smile. “I’m just a good sister.”
I shake my head in disbelief, placing the papers down beside my baseball bat. “This is really impressive, but I don’t need to cheat.” Proudly sticking out my chest, I give her my most charming smile. “I actually am a genius.”
“Maybe. I’m not convinced.” Scarlett curiously fingers some of the sketches on my desk. “Is this what you’ve been working on instead of going to class?”
“Don’t look at those,” I warn her nervously. “They aren’t finished. They are just… doodles.”
She holds a sketch up to the light and squints at it. “This is a beautiful house,” she says quietly, removing her glasses to study me from across the room. “Most teenage boys draw pictures of naked girls. You’re a strange one, Cole Hunter.”
“Most teenage girls are into makeup and shopping,” I counter smoothly. “Not cyber sabotage.”
“Maybe we could take over the world together,” she says to me with a playful smile.
“Sure. If we survive adolescence in this house.”
She looks down at her feet, and her smile abruptly disappears. “It’s not so bad,” she says with a shrug. “We have food and Internet access. There are plenty of books on the shelves. What more could we need?”
“Parents who give a shit,” I inform her.
She gives me a sad little smile. “Well, I’ve never had that. The Browns are pretty great compared to some foster parents. I don’t mind being here.” She hesitates and places my sketches back down on the desk before looking at me shyly. “And it’s kind of nice having a genius big brother.”
I am unable to respond before she rushes to the door, disappearing as quickly as she arrived. “Goodnight, Cole!” she calls before slipping out into the hall and back into her own room.
A goofy smile settles on my face as I snuggle down into my blankets. Scarlett has the ability to lift my spirits so easily. Maybe I will take some of my medicine so that I can get a better night’s rest and avoid falling asleep at school tomorrow. If I can pull off great grades while half-asleep, I am sure that I could get scholarship-worthy results with a little more effort.
Scarlett doesn’t know that I have already taken the SATs and applied to colleges. I didn’t want to get her hopes up if I was rejected. It’s still early, but if all goes well, I could be out of this place in a few months—while I’m still fifteen. And maybe I could take her with me.
Reaching for the bottle of pills, I feel a renewed sense of determination. Can I really do this? When I originally planned my future, Scarlett wasn’t in the picture. Could I manage to provide a good life for her, even if I am living on campus and going to school full-time? Does she even want to be around me after we leave this house? I hope so.
I think I can take care of her.
And I don’t want to be alone anymore.
She will probably like the idea of getting away with me—anything would be better than this hellhole. Closing my eyes, I imagine how awesome it would be to get into the college of my choice. I could study architecture like I’ve always wanted, and start my own company as soon as I graduate. Then our real lives in the real world can finally begin.
Chapter Three
A muffled sound in the distance pulls me from my drugged daze. I feel like I have been sleeping deeply for several hours, and my limbs are heavy, like I have been partially turned to stone. This is strange for me as I can normally only reach a state of limbo where I am partially awake. Falling any deeper would require letting go—something I refuse to do unless I’m artificially knocked out.
When I open one eye to peer at the clock, I am surprised to see that only about thirty minutes have passed. What the hell? Maybe the medication isn’t that effective after all. I am grabbing one of the bottles to check the expiration date when a bloodcurdling
