Free Life Before by Michele Bacon Page A

new life devoid of name-calling and those thumps on the wall and the constant screaming.
    But then they divorced, and life improved, and I didn’t feel like running away anymore.
    Until now.
    I’m robbing Jill of her summer. Everything is on hold until Gary is found. If Gary finds me, he’ll kill me. I’m sure of it. The whole state knows he murdered my mother, so he has nothing left to lose. They need to find him before he finds me.
    And while he’s watching this house waiting for his five minutes, I know just where I can hide out.
    Like everyone else, I spent junior year poring over hundreds of college brochures, dreaming of the life that awaited me. The University of Vermont sits above the snow belt, so it was never on my short list, but one photo from their stunning brochure sticks with me: the Burlington Youth Hostel, where students in their hospitality program have the option to work.
    Hostels are cheap.
    Burlington also is one of the most educated cities in America, with high levels of reading. I like reading. And Burlington is in the opposite direction of where anyone will look for me. I can disappear there for a while.
    I let the thought marinate, weighing the pros and cons against other options.
    The only other option is to stay here and rot.
    This is totally above board: I’m not a suspect, I’m not under arrest if you don’t count Dale Jail, and I don’t legally have to stay in Laurel.
    I crawl over to Jill’s bed to rouse her. She sleeps through her name three times, but startles when I say, “Are you naked under there?”
    “What the hell, Xander?”
    “Sorry. I was trying to be funny. Remember? You used to wake me up like that.”
    Jill is groggy. “That was a long time ago.”
    It was three weeks ago, but that was Life Before. This is Life After.
    “Jill, I don’t think Dale Jail is going to get any better.”
    “They have to let us leave the house sooner or later.” Her silhouette appears over the side of her bed. “We just have to wait it out.”
    “I don’t think I can. I think they’re right: if I leave the house, he’ll kill me.” My face contorts into a cry again. I’m getting used to it. “You aren’t safe with me here. And Dale Jail sucks. I just need to go away until they catch him.”
    “This isn’t some pre-teen escape-plan fantasy, Xander.” Jill also remembers our Youngstown Escape Plan. “This is real life.”
    And real death. She’s forgetting the death part.
    “I can’t see any other way out,” I say. “For either of us.”
    Back in my sleeping bag, I can’t get comfortable. The idea is out there now. I can elude my minders, get to the bus station, tell Jill I’m going somewhere, and head in the opposite direction.
    Dale will lift Jill’s house arrest while I lay low in Burlington. Holed up in the hostel, I won’t have to watch my back. And when Gary is captured, I can return to Laurel and Infinite Summer will commence. Simple.
    An hour of silence later, Jill says, “So, what’s our plan?”
    “I thought you were asleep.”
    She sighs. “Nah, it’s too fun to think about.”
    Fun? Nothing will ever be fun again.
    “So, where are you going?”
    I hem and haw for a minute. I don’t want to tell her.
    “Come on! This is me, Xander.”
    It just comes out: “New York.”
    It’s sort of the truth. I mean, in the messed-up route map that is Greyhound, I do have to pass through New York to get to Burlington. I guess it’s sort of a lawyer’s answer, but it’s definitely the first time I have lied to Jill in a big, big way.
    “Alright then.” Jill flips on the light and pulls two pads of paper from her drawer. “What’s the plan?”

T HIRTEEN
    Standing on the threshold of my house for the first time in seventeen days, I’m having trouble focusing. From the landing inside the door, I have to choose: six steps down to the basement and laundry, or eight steps up to bedrooms, bathrooms, living room … and kitchen.
    As a kid, I used to hold my breath