Free The Change (Unbounded) by Teyla Branton Page B

bushes here, and if I saw a car, I could jump inside to hide. Good thing I wore long sleeves, though they were damp from the effort of my run.
    The residential neighborhood seemed to go on forever, and so far I was alone in the streets. My mind raced over the possibilities, but short of going up to a house and asking to use their phone, I didn’t see what I was going to do. I didn’t recognize this part of town, and I might have to walk for hours before I even knew where I was.
    When the bushes ended, I saw two teenagers on a sloped front lawn, a boy and a girl, their dark heads close together, cell phones gleaming in the darkness. Maybe one of them would let me use a phone, though I’d begun to have second thoughts about calling. What if Tom thought it was a prank? What if the Emporium really was listening and was able to pinpoint my location? I still didn’t know who I could trust. I needed another plan.
    The teenagers were staring at me now, though I didn’t look threatening. Even in my dark clothing, I was just a woman of average build with an odd French beret on her head.
    “Excuse me,” I said. “My car broke down back there, and I don’t have a cell phone. Could I use yours?”
    “Sure.” The boy pressed a few more buttons on his phone and handed it to me.
    I punched in a number and held the phone to my ear without pressing send. After a while, I shut the phone and handed it back. “No answer. I guess I’ll have to wait. I’m too tired to walk all the way there. Truthfully, I’m a little lost. I’ve been distracted since my cancer treatments.” I pulled off the beret so they could see my short, uneven hair, and then put it on again quickly, as though embarrassed. All an act, except the tears of frustration stinging my eyes.
    “Man, sorry about that,” said the boy.
    The girl next to him nodded. “You going to be okay?”
    “Well, if you can call living with my parents okay.” And the fact that I was now Unbounded and presumably had other Unbounded hunting me who wanted to either use me or cut me into three precise pieces.
    The boy laughed. “I hear you on that. I’m leaving for college at the end of the month, and it’ll be a relief to finally be on my own. Hey, why don’t I give you a ride? You can come back and get your car later.”
    “Would you? That would really help.” My gratitude was real.
    “Sure. We got nothing to do anyway. Just got back from a movie, and she’s got an eleven-thirty curfew. Talk about strict parents.”
    “You live close?” The girl asked, obviously concerned now that her curfew had been brought up.
    I had no idea. “I think so.” I gave them Tom’s address, and to my relief the boy nodded. “I know where that is. About ten or fifteen minutes from here. No problem.”
    Minutes later, I was standing in front of the white clapboard house Tom had shared with Justine. It was as large as my parents’ home, but nicer inside since Justine had remodeled it with dark wood flooring, plush carpet, and granite countertops. I hoped Tom would be home alone, yet I also hoped he wouldn’t be. Maybe a friend at the firm where he worked as a stockbroker had thought to spend time with him so he wouldn’t have to mourn alone.
    I went up the walk and rang the bell. No answer. I couldn’t tell if he was home because the garage was shut, but I tried the door anyway. The knob turned under my hand. “Tom?” I called as I stepped inside. “Tom, are you here?” The house was dark, and no alarm sounded, so I turned on the cast iron lamp by the brown leather couch. “Tom? It’s me, Erin. Don’t be frightened. I’m okay. There was a mix-up at the hospital. Tom?”
    He came from the master bedroom down the hall, his brown hair askew, his blue eyes bloodshot. Something felt different about him, but after what he’d been through, that didn’t surprise me in the least.
    “Erin? Oh, Erin!” He pulled me into his arms and we were touching, kissing. The familiarity of him