Free The UnKnown (A Novel) by Lara Henley Page B

got for letting her get her way. Maybe it would go away by tomorrow. Who was I kidding? I never had that much luck. I jumped in the enormous shower and quickly washed my body and readied myself for bed. As I dozed off, my last thoughts were of Misty.

Chapter 11
     
    Misty
     
    I woke up to the pitter patter of little feet in the hallway. My guess was that it was Lee and Lizzy getting ready for school. I heard Lizzy ask her mother if she could wake me for breakfast. Aunt Silvia told her to let me sleep. The last thing I remembered was Drake’s sweet voice telling me goodnight. I had a terrible dream and he was kind enough to stay awake with me until I could fall asleep.
    I had felt that creep’s hands on my body, I felt him getting ready to rape me. The image of his face was burned into my memory and I woke up in a cold sweat. The sweat was so bad that my sheets were completely soaked. I began sobbing into my pillow. How could I let that bastard corner me like that? I knew better than to not know my surroundings. I felt so alone and lost again. I wish Drake could’ve killed him or chopped his balls off so he couldn’t hurt anyone else. What if Drake goes to jail for beating him? I would never forgive myself, NEVER.
     I got up to take a shower because just thinking about it made me feel dirty. I scrubbed and scrubbed my body until it was nearly raw. When I got out the only thing I wanted to do was curl up in a ball and die. Instead, I called Drake and he turned my mood around. He was such a sweet guy and almost too good to be true. It scared me a bit that I’d grown so attached to him so fast. I sat up in the bed and noticed that it was raining outside. Probably why I slept like the dead the second half of the night. I loved the rain. It was so soothing and I always thought it was God’s way of washing the earth clean. My mother had always said that cleanliness was next to Godliness. I stretched my arms out then went to my bag to pull some clothes out. They were a sorry excuse for clothes but they were all I had. I needed to get a job quick so I could update my wardrobe.
    When I finally made my way downstairs, the house was free of all the commotion that I had heard earlier. There was a little noise coming from the kitchen. I followed the sound and walked into a kitchen that looked like it had thrown up cows. There were cows everywhere. Cow cookie jars, towels, canisters, and little cow figurines. The coffee pot was even in cow print. I saw Aunt Silvia standing there holding a coffee mug with a picture of a cow on it.
    “Good morning baby girl, you sleep well?” I couldn’t even speak at first because I was still focused on the cow stuff.
    “Um, yeah. I did.” I found it very weird for someone’s entire kitchen to be decked out in cow print.
    “I thought we could do some shopping today. Have a girl’s day and get caught up. I got a babysitter for the kids after school, so we have all day.” I didn’t have any money for shopping right now. How would I turn her down? Plus I sort of made plans with Drake that I would like to keep. I knew I had plenty of time to hang out with him, but I missed him.
    “Thanks.  It’s a great thought, but I haven’t worked to save up money for shopping. The state of Texas only gave me a few dollars when I left.”
    “No baby girl, I don’t expect you to pay for a thing. This is my treat. I saw you only had that one bag. Why don’t you make a list of things you need while I go get myself ready?” She began to walk past me and stopped to turn around. “You have no idea, Misty, how good it is to have you here.  Don’t be modest with the list either. Write down everything you will need,” She said before continuing out of the room.
    “Hey, Aunt Silvia,” I called out after her. “Where can I find a pen and paper?”
    “There is some paper in the top right drawer next to the fridge,” she yelled. I walked over, opened the drawer, and there was the paper; covered in cow