eyes. Within seconds he has me in his arms and he hugs me like

I’m the most important thing in the world to him. “Don’t ever

change, Callie Lawrence,” he whispers in my hair. “Promise me you

won’t.”

I enfold my arms around him and set my chin on his

shoulder. “I won’t. I promise.”

The printer starts making shrill noises as buttons glow and

flash and Luke clears his throat. “I hate to break up your little

moment, but I’m ready to share my plan.”

We break apart, but still hold hands as we turn to him. He

swivels in the chair, back and forth and back and forth as the

printer spits out pieces of paper stained with ink. When it stops, he collects the papers and holds one up. It’s a picture of a light-blue

beach house that sits near the ocean. The sky is unblemished and

the sunlight reflects off the water and makes it look like crystal.

“You want us to go to the beach?” Seth squints at the photo

as he bends forward, leaning in.

Luke nods as he gathers the papers and lines them up by

tapping them against the desk. “Yep, my father has a beach house

in California that he hardly ever uses and I have a key and

everything.”

“You want us to drive to California?” Seth gapes at him like

he’s insane.

Luke shuts off the computer, grabs the papers, and strolls

toward his organized closet with the papers secured underneath

his arm. “It’s only, like, ten hours.”

Seth glances at me with skepticism. “Really? Only ten hours?”

“I’ve never been to the beach,” I admit. When Seth and Luke

gape at me, I shrug. “What? My family doesn’t like to travel. My

grandparents even live in Florida, but in the central area and every

time we’ve been there my mom refuses to drive anywhere besides

the closest grocery store. And my dad always just wants to watch

the sports network.”

Luke blinks as he shakes his head, and then he begins

yanking shirts off hangers, some falling onto the brownish carpet,

but he doesn’t bother picking them up. “Well, that gives us even

more reason to go.”

Seth bobs his head up and down in agreement. “Agreed

completely. And might I say that it’s a brilliant plan. Much more

brilliant than my lame old road trip I was planning to a cabin up at

the sky resort.”

Luke throws a few shirts and pants into a large navy blue

duffel bag that he gets from the top shelf and then he adds a pair

of striped shorts and a pair of sandals and sets the bag onto his

bed. “I’m just desperate to get away from here, man. That’s all.”

I wonder what he’s running away from. “How long are we

going to be gone?”

Luke’s shoulder moves up and down as he zips up the bag.

“Until break’s over, I guess.”

I look at Seth to see if he agrees and he merely nods his

head. “We have nothing better to do than hang out with your

mom.” He makes a disgusted face. “And I for one don’t want to do

that.”

“Yeah, but telling my mother that I’m not going to be here

for New Year’s… she’s going to flip,” I tell them.

“Then don’t tell her,” Seth says simply. “Text while we’re on

the road.”

I contemplate the idea for a briefer amount of time than I

expected. “I can do that.”

Seth beams and points a finger at his chest. “I’m a very bad

influence and I’m glad.”

Luke slings his bag over his shoulder, folds the papers neatly

in fourths, and then stuffs them into his back pocket of his pants.

“Ready to hit the road?” He walks toward the door, scooping up

his car keys off the desk. “We’ll stop and pick up your things and

then we’ll go get Kayden.”

“But how are we going to get Kayden?” I ask as Seth and I

follow him across the room. “He wouldn’t even talk to me when I

went to see him. And what if he doesn’t want to go?”

His fingers wrap around the doorknob and he jerks the

bedroom door open. “I don’t give a shit what he wants. He needs

to go and get away from that fucking torture chamber known as

his house. It’s fucked up that he’s there.” He steps out into the hall and glances over his shoulder at me. “Besides, we’re going to

teach you how to be a little bit more persuading.”

“We?” I ask, confused. I try to breathe through my mouth as I

enter the hallway and the air becomes asphyxiating again. “As in…”

He tips his chin at Seth, who flashes us a brilliant smile. “As in

Seth and me.”

My shoulders slouch as we head down the gloomy hallway,

the air pressurizing the farther down we go. “I just worry we’re

going to do more harm to him by taking him away.”

Luke stops abruptly. Hitching his thumb underneath the

strap of the duffel bag, he reels to face me and his bag bangs

against the wood-paneled wall. “Callie, I’ve known Kayden for

forever, and trust me, that house is going to do more harm to him

than going away with us will.”

“All right,” I agree, but my stomach twines into thorny, firm

knots. Not because I want him to stay at his home, but because I’m

worried. Worried I’ll do something wrong—mess it up for him

again. I worry he’ll end up lying on the floor in a puddle of his own blood.

Unexpectedly, the front door slams shut and a bustle of

banging sounds fill up the house. “Luke,” someone singsongs in a

high octave.

Luke’s body stiffens and his breath hitches. “Shit.”

“What’s wrong?” I whisper, but Luke doesn’t respond. He just

stands there with his hands limp at his sides and grinding his teeth.

The bag starts to fall from his shoulder and I reach for him

and then withdraw as he turns on his heels and motions at us to

move backward. Seth drags me by the shirt as I hurry backward

and Luke takes energetic strides as he ushers us into the room and

toward his bedroom window.

“We’ll have to go out this way,” he insists as he unlatches the

lock and boosts the window up. Artic air rushes in and breezes

through my hair and kisses my cheeks.

“What?” Seth peers down at the high mound of snow below

the window. “Are you crazy? We’ll get stuck in the snow.”

Luke shakes his head as he backtracks to the desk. “No, we

won’t. I promise.”

“Luke!” the woman shouts. “I know you’re here so come out,

come out wherever you are.”

“Please,” Luke begs with dread in his large brown eyes as he

scoops up the iPod from the desk.

I’ve seen that kind of fear in my own eyes and in Kayden’s.