Free First Kiss by Tara Brown

me.
    Brandon gets up, “What? I just think it's a bad idea. I think
you should stay here.”
    I shake my head, “Brandon, are your parents going to let me
stay with you? Mary kicked me out. She took all my savings and bought a car. I
have nowhere to go, and I don’t even have five dollars to get a sandwich. I
have no money for New York now. I need a real summer job and preferably one
with room and board.”
    He looks pained, “Go to Lune’s.”
    “For what? She hasn’t even tried to talk to me in almost a
week. She believes it was me.” I look at the man, “I need to go now.” He looks
at Brandon, as if he is checking to make sure it’s okay for me to go. Brandon
puts his head down to the buckets again, “You should think this through.”
    “In the meantime, I think this is a good idea.” I ignore them
both and go climb into the back seat of the car, "See ya later."
    Brandon continues to look down, muttering something. I look
away from him and stare at the headrest as I close the door. It feels like the
wrong choice, but I don’t see another. Not an immediate fix like this is. This
is an instant job. I need a bed and food. I need to earn back my savings.
    The man gets into the car, “I’m Lance, the driver. The master
hired me out of Portland yesterday.” He reaches back, offering me his hand. His
face is old and weathered. He makes me uneasy but the flyer was too random to
be faked. I stare down at it and then back at him.
    I take his hand, shaking it lightly, “I’m Erralynn Lake.” Did
he say master?
    “Nice to meet you.” He nods. He has no idea what that name
means. He doesn’t know me.
    He starts the car, and as he drives away, I watch Brandon
through the tinted glass. He doesn’t wave goodbye. He doesn’t even look up to
watch me go. I wave, but I don’t know if he can see me.
    We drive up the hill to the estate houses on the lakeside. My
family’s homestead is up here. It is a haunted old mansion now. No one has
lived there in ages.   So to say I am
stunned and slightly scared when he takes the turn into the old Lachlan
mansion, would be a huge understatement. The estate was my family’s home up
until fifty years ago. My grandfather lost the house gambling, right before he
died. He left Mary to raise their small kids alone, destitute and bitter. It
really is no wonder she is as mean as she is. The curse has been awful for
her—both her sons and her husband have died. She and I are all that is
left of the Lachlan family.
    When he gets halfway down the scary driveway, I shudder. I
always hated it here. I have only been here a handful of times, but I have
always thought it was the kind of driveway you don’t go down unless you have to.
I look out the back window, wondering if it’s too late to run back to Mary’s
and beg her to take me back.
    “Creepy, huh?” Lance asks.
    I nod, “Creepy.”
    He is older, maybe fifty and skinny. His face suits the
driveway, kind of scary. He pulls up to the mansion and parks. The place
doesn’t look much better than it did the last time I saw it, when I was ten and
my mother brought me to see it.
    Maybe Lance does know me. Maybe he’s one of the crazy
townspeople who has come to sacrifice me at the
Lachlan mansion. I shudder when I open the door, ready to run. The wind pushes
on it, like it’s trying to tell me not to get out of the car. Lance comes and
grabs the door, “Windy here on the hill.” He holds on to the driver’s hat on
his head. He doesn’t know the half of it, when it comes to the wind.
    I climb out, gripping my bag, and follow him to the front
door. A lady in a maid’s uniform answers the door, giving me a sweet but
uncertain look. Lance points to her, “This is Heidi. She runs the house for
Master Monstreau.” A young boy, maybe ten years old, peeks around the side of
her shoulder, as if hiding from me. It’s not the first time someone has. He has
dark hair like hers and dark eyes. Heidi gives me a kind smile, “This is