Free Perfected (Entangled Teen) by Kate Jarvik Birch

the yellow light from the hallway spill into the room. The congressman’s large body stood silhouetted in the doorframe.
    “Ella?” he called, poking his head into the room.
    I sat up straighter on the couch and arranged a content expression on my face.
    “Please, come in,” I said, pressing down the tremble in my voice.
    The congressman strode into the room and sat beside me on the couch. The light was nearly gone from the sky and the only bit of illumination in the room was the yellow rectangle of light in the doorway. Sitting in the dark next to him felt too intimate, and I wished I had at least turned on a lamp.
    “How was your first full day in your new house?”
    “It was lovely.” My face flushed at the lie, thinking of all the things that had happened during the day that I knew I shouldn’t mention. Had he heard about that woman, Rhonda, and her crazy rant? Or about my swim in the pool? Or the forbidden piece of candy Ruby had given to me? I feared all of my secrets were written on my face as clearly as the words in Ruby’s book of fairy tales, but the easy look on his face suggested he couldn’t see them.
    “I brought you a little something,” the congressman said.
    I hadn’t noticed the small box he held until he placed it in my hands. The box was flat and rectangular, covered in soft, white satin.
    “Go on, open it,” he said.
    I cracked the lid and stared down at the gold chain that glittered ever so softly in the dim light. On the end of it was a round pendant. I lifted it up and held it to the light so I could see that the gold pendant was encircled with a ring of shining diamonds. Inside something was engraved in loopy script.
    “It’s your name,” he said, reaching out to run his finger over the lettering. “And on the other side it has our address and phone number.” He cupped the side of my face in his hand. “Let me put it on you.”
    My hands shook and I turned away from him, lifting the hair from off my back. The scooped back of my nightgown left me feeling bare, and without my hair to cover me a chill brought goose bumps to my skin.
    The congressman reached his large arms around my body so the cold metal of the pendant rested across my collarbone.
    “Now you’ll never forget where you belong,” he whispered next to my ear.
    I reached down and touched the front of the pendant. “It’s beautiful,” I said. “Thank you for thinking of me.”
    “You’re easy to think about, Ella.”
    My name sounded peculiar on his lips.
    His hand still rested against the bare skin of my shoulder, but he didn’t attempt to move it. Leaning forward, he brushed his lips lightly against my cheek.
    When I raised my gaze, the congressman’s wife was standing in the doorway. In one fluid motion the congressman removed his hand from my shoulder and scooted away from me.
    “Elise, what wonderful timing,” he said, standing. “I just gave Ella her new tag.”
    He stood and flipped on the light to the chandelier, casting the room with such bright, yellow light that I had to shield my eyes. Even so, I didn’t miss the strange look that passed across his wife’s face.
    “Wonderful,” she said, walking across the room to where I sat. “Let’s have a look.”
    She only gave the pendant a passing glance before turning to her husband.
    “It’s late. Don’t you think we should let Ella get to sleep?”
    The congressman nodded, smiling at his wife. “Good night, love,” he called behind him. A moment later the two of them closed the door, leaving me alone under the bright lights of the chandelier.

    I don’t know how long I sat on the edge of my bed, running my finger along the gold necklace, but eventually I switched off the light and lay down in the dark, waiting for the other lights in the house to blink out one by one. Finally, after what seemed like hours, I climbed out of bed and crept out onto the patio.
    The house was dark and the light to the pool was off, but bits of moonlight glistened