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CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
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Wish CHAPTER THIRTY
My wounds have healed, but I’m still covered in bruises and blood.And yet, I don’t care.Director Yearwood isn’t here yet. I’ve been waiting in her office, ushered here by Dr. Brown who looks anxious.I don’t speak, my head spinning.She offers me tea, but I don’t want to eat or drink. I want to see Beth and make sure she is okay. I want to know what is going on. What am I? What is Beth?What was all that back there?For the first time, there is no fog inside of me, no fuzzy memory. I recall the way my body felt, my teeth elongated, my strength. I remember it all. I would think that I’m dreaming, but my body hurts too bad from being tossed around like a rag doll. “Taylor—”I cut off Dr. Brown, my voice hard, “I want to see the director. She told me she would talk to me.”“I did,” comes a calm voice just as the door to the office opens. I’m on my feet as Director Yearwood approaches me. She grabs my chin gently, raising myface, and studying it. Finally, she murmurs, “
Wish CHAPTER ONE
It’s raining, and the tattered roof of the bus stop does nothing to prevent my hoodie and backpack from getting soaked. I glare in the direction of where I just walked from. A twenty-minute walk in the rain that would have been easier if she had just driven me in her faded Honda. She didn’t even bother to come say goodbye. Clutching the straps of my backpack tighter, I refuse to cry.Why would I want to spend my life in that dirty trailer? No. I don’t want to end up like that flabby woman my dad married as a last resort. I’m not going to be trailer trash like her and just spend my life drinking and gambling.That woman is fifty shades of crazy as it is. I’m still reeling over the fact that she framed me. My hand flexes around the strap of my backpack. I knew she hated me but framing me for attempted murder is a bit of overkill.I know she had wanted to send me to juvie until I’m eighteen next year. I still remember the smug look on her face when she had been sitting in the court
Wish CHAPTER TWO
Dolores’s words are ringing in my head.“James is a coward.”“He would rather leave you …”“… than take you with him.”And then the way she talked about him. Not in the past tense, but the present. It was almost as if— A sharp thought hits me like a ton of bricks and I feel nauseous, bile rising up in my throat as I stagger, my hand gripping the support railing almost blindly.Could it be that Dad isn’t dead?My mind is blank as I find myself a seat, not caring that I am dripping wet right now. A few of the kids give me strange looks, but I ignore them, my heart thundering.Could it be?But even as I think about it, the ridiculousness of the situation dawns on me. If Dad had been alive, he wouldn’t have left me here.No.No, Dolores was just messing with me.But just for a moment, the thought that he might be out there had me so hopeful. The possible opportunity to see him once again—I press the heels of my hands to my eyes, pushing back against the tears which are thr
Wish CHAPTER THREE
I get a lot of snacks for us, and Beth eats ravenously. I had my doubts about the packed, cold sandwiches at the store, but with the way she devours them, they might just be okay.By the time, the other kids return, they look brighter. The bus has picked up more kids along the way, so the numbers have increased. A few of them have found their own buddies. My eyes flick toward the boy who had tried to come on to me. He’s sitting in the back with a bunch of other boys, including the one who had name-called Beth.All of them had seen the incident take place between me and their group mate so they’ve not approached me. Smart.But I do see them eyeing Beth, and I scowl at them, making them quickly look away.Maybe some of us do need this camp.“So, what do you know about this place?” I ask Beth, curiously. “It seemed like some weird juvenile correctional facility when I looked it up.”Beth shrugged. “I don’t know. But I do know that you can only send someone through a referral. You
Wish CHAPTER FOUR
I watch the remaining color drain from his face at my murmured threat, but I also see the spark of stubbornness in his eyes.I don’t know what his problem with me is, but I have a feeling this one is going to make my life very difficult. However, I pull him up, and the wiry-looking man tosses a towel his way, barking, “Dry yourself off and stay away from the railing now!”The boy shoots me a hateful look as he scurries away toward his friends. “That was a nice thing you did there,” an amused voice spoke up. “Minus the death threat.”My head whips to the side, and I see a guy standing by the railings. He has reddish, auburn hair and intelligent, blue eyes. He watches me, those eyes dancing with amusement.“You know he was trying to push you in, right?” He grins.I shrug. “Failed, didn’t he?”The ferry is moving faster now, and we are approaching the island closest to us. “He’ll try again.”“I know.” My replies are terse. I’m not exactly interested in having a heart-to-heart
Wish CHAPTER FIVE
I had assumed we would at least be allowed to rest, but Cheerleader Barbie has other plans.“Alright,” she clapped her hands in an enthusiastic manner, which did not match the expressions on the faces of all her ‘victims’. “Drop your bags in a corner and come here. You will be picking out a color from this bag.” She pointed toward the small, cross-satchel bag resting against her hip. “We have four colors which means four teams. Each team will have four people.”The next ten minutes are filled with shuffling sounds, sighs, and low-voiced complaints, but in the end, the groups are formed. Beth ends up in another group, but Quill is with me. Unfortunately, so is Anderson and another of his friends, Blythe.Anderson is still wet, and his upper lip curls in the appropriate mixture of fear and anger when he realizes we are grouped together.“The challenge is simple,” Cheerleader Barbie announces. “There are four trophies hidden in plain sight within the forest. Your goal is to retrieve t
Wish CHAPTER SIX
The island we are ferried off to is a smaller one. It has a similar structure to the previous island with a forest on the outer edges of the island and cabins and large buildings in the center.As it turns out, there are only a few of us assigned the number zero, and as the counselor explains to us on our way to the island that is supposed to be our new home now, those with the number zero are the delinquents.“Aren’t we all supposed to be delinquents?” I mutter under my breath to Beth who has been clinging on to me ever since she saw me back at the island. She has a nasty-looking bruise on her forehead, but she won’t tell me where she got it from.Cheerleader Barbie overhears my comments and gives me a cool smile. “It means you lot need the most work.”My insides tighten at what clearly sounds like a threat.“Work?” I repeat, slowly. “You wanna explain what that means?”“There are five islands, each island for a specific number. The island you landed on is Level 1. The island yo
Wish CHAPTER SEVEN
The plan is to make a break at midnight when everyone would be asleep.But as the time approaches, now bathed and clean, lying in a clean bed, my eyes feel heavy. I can already hear Beth snoring from the bunk bed under me. I can’t blame her. I’m equally exhausted. However, I know this might be our only chance. Otherwise, who knew what tomorrow would bring?I can feel my eyes slipping shut, and I force them to stay open.My eyes are on the small, faded wall clock. Amidst the sounds of heavy breathing and snores, my own eyes flicker.I must have fallen asleep because when I jerk awake, the small needle is on two.Shit! I slept through midnight!I’m about to wake Beth when something catches my attention. A soft, scraping sound.I recognize the sound almost immediately. It’s the sound of the window being slowly pushed open.I go still.Someone is coming inside. Through the window, no less.Before I can decide between waking Beth or just straight up jumping the intruder, I hea
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