Free Breathe into Me by Sara Fawkes Page A

the trailer park—a step in the right direction, if you asked me.
    “He should be okay with it, but I’ll text him anyway.”
    The thought of one night where I didn’t have to face my grandmother’s barbs and my mother’s unbearable silence sounded heavenly. I deliberated for a moment, and then sighed. “Can you text him now?”
    Everett quickly typed out a message as I stared at my own phone. I realized I should probably let my mother know that I was okay, but I just couldn’t do it. The blow to my face had long since stopped stinging, but the jolt to my heart was a raw, seeping wound. I couldn’t remember any time my mother had ever touched me in anger, not even as a child.
    A phone chimed, and I saw Everett turn his over. “He says it’s fine, and wants to know if you like pizza?”
    Slowly, a smile crept across my face. “I love it.”
    * * *
    It was one thing to drive past a dream house for years, but another entirely to actually go inside.
    The grounds were immaculate, the flowers and green grass perfectly trimmed and maintained. White columns rose up from the entrance, as tall in person as I’d imagined when I’d seen it from the road. Whoever had built this cut no corners with the house; it looked straight out of a Civil War documentary.
    When I stepped through the front door, it was like walking onto the set of
Gone with the Wind
. The furniture in the entryway was almost delicate, ornately carved and filigreed. I was afraid to touch anything, for fear I’d break it. The house opened up immediately once you entered, with high ceilings and a staircase on the far right wall. A great crystal chandelier hung above us in the entryway, all gold and brass and sparkling facets.
    “This place is incredible,” I murmured, awed by the overabundance of splendor.
    “Yeah, a little posh for my tastes,” Everett said in a dry voice. “Watching over a place like this definitely makes you paranoid. My entire summer’s salary couldn’t replace some of these antiques.”
    The smell of pizza wafted to my nose, and I heard noise farther in the house. I followed Everett into the kitchen to see Trent with a large pizza box on the counter. He was pulling several slices onto a paper plate, and didn’t bother to look up as we walked in.
    “Save us some, will you?” Everett said as Trent piled the wedges high on his plate.
    “There’s more than enough. I gotta eat and run, though. Got a date.”
    “Seriously? Who is it this time?”
    “No idea, but Cole called saying he needed a second guy for a double date. I guess the threesome he’d been gunning for was a miscommunication, so he’s doing damage control.” His eyes swung over to me. “Hey, Lacey.”
    I didn’t say anything, just gave a small wave. My insides clenched nervously, realizing with him leaving I was going to be alone with Everett. On the best of days, the boy alternately confused and aroused me, and now I was still tipsy. Mixing alcohol with the situation all but guaranteed I’d make a bigger mess of things.
    “I figured his little story sounded too good to be true.” Everett shouldered his way into the kitchen, checking out the refrigerator. “You drank the last of the beer?”
    “Yeah, I was gonna leave you a note to get more.”
    “Asshole.”
    They bickered like a pair of old friends, and I wondered how exactly they’d met. I didn’t know where Trent had gone off to college, but was fairly certain it wasn’t New York. They acted like I wasn’t even there, and I preferred it that way.
    “Hey, before you leave, think you can take a look at an old transmission?”
    “What, that rattrap of yours finally dive off the deep end?”
    “No, this is for a friend. Just want to see how much it’ll cost.”
    Trent’s eyes darted over to me, and then he hitched a shoulder. “Can do. Just tell me when, where, and what. See you lovebirds later.”
    I flinched at his words, and watched out of the corner of my eye as he walked out the door, still