Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 75015 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 375(@200wpm)___ 300(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75015 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 375(@200wpm)___ 300(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
“Jayson?” I called out.
“Over here.” I followed his voice to the right side of the cottage and spotted him and the rectangular window belonging to the bathroom illuminated with light. A sconce attached to the house was pitched next to the window with insects swarming around it. Something dark was flapping around at Jayson’s feet.
“What is that?” I asked.
“A bat,” he said, frowning down at it.
“That’s what hit the window?” I breathed a sigh of relief as Jayson stepped back.
“Yeah, looks like it. Probably tried going for the moths. Might be injured now.”
He walked my way and we both watched the bat thrash around. The left wing appeared a bit crooked. There was no way we could really help it though. Bats could carry rabies and all sorts of diseases.
“I’ll find something to use so I can move it. Come on.” Jayson wrapped an arm around my damp shoulders and led me back to the porch.
I couldn’t help peering over my shoulder at the bat.
The way it thrashed.
Squeaked.
Begging for help.
Begging for more out of life . . .
Just like Eve, the voice in the back of my head whispered.
Eve Castillo journal entry
I’m feeling too emotional today. For some reason I can’t stop thinking about a situation that happened when I was younger. I ran away from Abuela’s and went straight to Rose’s house. I burst into her room and had a panic attack out of nowhere.
It was the first of many to come.
She asked me what was wrong, what had happened, but I couldn’t give her an explanation. I remember feeling so overwhelmed. Something had triggered me. After calming down, I realized what it was. That morning, Abuela told me my mom was being let out of prison early. When she told me over breakfast, I shrugged it off and told myself I didn’t care.
But I think I glossed over my emotions. I swallowed it down and pretended it didn’t matter. The truth is that throughout the whole school day, I kept picturing my mom showing up to the building and dragging me out of the classroom by my hair right in front of my peers. I pictured her yelling at me, berating me, slapping me, mocking me. Blaming me for her problems.
Then I wondered if my dad would get out too. Would he find me? Punch me in the stomach again? Lock me in a room? Force me to get into the trunk of a car? Starve me for hours? That’s all I could wonder when I got home after school.
As I thought about it all, I only wanted to be comforted by Rose. I wanted to hear from her that I would be okay, then I wanted to hear from Rose’s dad Ben that they would never hurt me again. My parents lost custody of me and Zoey. They couldn’t just show up and take us away, and if they did show their face, the police would be called.
Ben reminded me of that constantly and didn’t stop until it was planted deep in my brain like a rooted tree. Rose hugged me tight and cried with me that day. Then she brought me Oreos and cold milk. We talked about it a little more as we dunked the cookies into the cold white liquid. We liked it when the Oreos got just a little soggy on one half but stayed crunchy on the other.
We started giggling about this boy named Bradley with braces who was dying for an invitation to Rose’s pool party. Both of us had black crumbs and cream in our teeth and we looked ridiculous as tears of joy left the corners of our eyes.
Rose and I had known each other for three years then. We had been friends in middle school, but became even closer our freshman year of high school. I ate alone at lunch on the first day. Back then, I was wary of everyone and preferred being alone.
Rose sat right next to me and said, “I enjoy eating alone too.”
I remember looking at her and smiling. She smiled back then offered me a pack of fruit snacks. Our friendship started out simply. First there were sporadic dinners at her house that Ben would invite me to, then later laughing together in middle school PE. At the start of high school, we began to trust one another more and began walking together in the hallways, meeting at our lockers, and sitting together at lunch every day.
When I ran to Rose’s house that night, it was the first time I’d been truly vulnerable with her. I knew before that I loved having her as a friend, but that night she became my best friend forever. I also knew that I would do anything for her . . . and she’d do anything for me.