Free First Kiss by Tara Brown Page B

morning.” His eyes glisten when he says it. He is officially scary. The
stink and the dark hallway add to his creepiness.
    He stops at a room at the end of the hallway and opens the
door with a key. He hands me the key and walks away.
    I look at the back of him, “Thanks.”
    He doesn’t say anything. He just leaves. I sigh and walk into
the room. It’s neat and doesn’t smell like the hallway. It overlooks the lake
and the town. I had always imagined the view of the town was better though. I
can barely make out the small shops, and yet from the town, the mansion is
colossal and easily seen. The window is large, and the feel of the room is soft
and airy. I like it, instantly. I want to stay. I want to sleep. I want to fit
in here. I have no idea why, and yet, no desire to argue with the want to be
here.
    I ignore all of my common sense and sit on the bed, bouncing
to test out the softness. It’s firm but not too firm. I lie back, closing my
eyes and let out a huge sigh. I feel wearied in ways I can't explain. I get up
to lock the door and jump back onto the bed, curling up to sleep. I should
change and help out with the cleaning, but I am drained in a way I have never
been.
    When my eyes shut again, I have the strangest feeling I am
being watched, but I crash into a deep sleep too fast to care.

 
 

 
    Chapter Five

 
    I wake to a sound that reminds me of something.
    Without opening my eyes, I prepare for Mary to wake me with
biting fingers and rage. I open my eyes slowly and see that, instead, I am in
the pretty room at the mansion and not my dingy bedroom. I feel like I’m waking
up at home, but it’s not Mary’s, it’s my real home.
    Maybe I am at home. Maybe all along it has been my home. I
don’t remember where I lived when I was little. My mom said it was in Maryland.
A small town in Maryland that was never important to us. I don’t remember
leaving our old home. I just remember living with Mary and being sad about Dad
dying. Then Rosie was born and Mary loved her. Mom killed herself and we were
alone. And then Rosie died and I was alone.
    Lying here thinking about it, I sense somehow that by being
here, I am less alone. It is a sudden feeling and entirely linked to this
house. Like when I met Bastion. The moment he climbed onto my roof and sat in
my window, I felt less alone. It was a feeling I had never had. Not even when
Lune became my friend or Sarah or Maggie. It was different with Bastion, from
the moment our eyes met really. It was like I knew him, and somehow he saw me
beyond the curse from the start. I miss him. I guess a week is long enough to
make feelings for a person because I still genuinely have them. In fact, I am haunted by the incomplete feeling I have from not
saying goodbye.
    As I’m wondering where he is and if he’s thinking about me
too, I have the faintest sensation like the air just left the room.
    Bastion leaves my brain and I look around the room. I don’t
remember why I fell asleep, why I am here, or why I have not left yet. My
common sense has returned with the night’s sleep.   It takes a second for the events to
catch up in my mind. It's then that I realize I am in a strange home, with
strange people, and no one I know has a clue as to where I am. I have no
explanation as to why I was so reckless and stayed. The memory of it is even a
little foggy.
    But no matter how at home I feel, I need to find my friends
and tell them I’m okay. I need to leave, now.
    I get up and glance out at the town below. I wonder if they
are scared or concerned that I am gone. I can barely make out the stores. I
can't see any cars or people though. It is as if the town has shut down for the
day.
    I sigh, knowing no one but Brandon even knows I am gone. He
didn’t even seem worked up by the fact I was getting into a stranger’s car.
Oddly enough, neither did I. The smug look on Mary’s face,
and the dead look in Mrs. Hamilton’s eyes, haunt me. Looking down on the
town, it is easy to