LIB

Chapter 1

          The feeling of being stared at was the first thing I noticed when I woke up on the first day of school. I cracked open one eye and saw my yellow Labrador, Tonto, staring at me, his head resting on the side of the bed. I groaned and rolled over carefully, assessing the twinges in my back and deciding that they were bearable.

            As I started to roll out of bed, there was a knock on my door and then my uncle opened it and poked his head in. Tonto bounded over to him, his whole body wriggling. My uncle chuckled and scratched his head. “Hailey, have you seen my cell phone?”

            “Not since last night. Did you lose it again?”

            His brow furrowed. “No, I just… temporarily misplaced it.”

            I grinned at him. “You would temporarily misplace your head if it wasn’t attached.”

            He mock scowled at me. “That’s enough sass out of you young lady.”

            I rolled my eyes. “Did you try calling your cell off of the landline?”

            His eyes lit up. “Hey, that might work! Thanks Hales.” He disappeared from my sight and I laughed as I got out of bed. I didn’t bother telling him that since the house was so big he may not be able to hear it. 

            I made my way to my bathroom, Tonto following along behind me. I turned the shower on hot and let the spray soothe my aches and pains. When I was finished, Tonto was waiting for me with a towel in his mouth. I took it from him and dried myself off, then got dressed and dried my black hair, before leaving the room. My room was on the main level, so that on really bad days I didn’t have to climb any stairs. I made my way to the kitchen and joined my uncle at the table. The housekeeper, Grace, bustled over and put a heaping plate of food in front of me.

            “You don’t expect me to eat all of that, do you?” I asked incredulously.

            “You’re too thin, Hailey. You need to put some meat on your bones. Eat what you can.”

            I shrugged and dug in. I loved Grace’s cooking, so I was able to actually make a fairly large dent in the food. When I couldn’t eat anymore, I pushed my plate back with a groan. “If you keep feeding me like this, Grace, I’ll be fat in no time.”

            She chuckled as she gathered up the plate. “Go on now, you’ll be late to school.”

            I turned to my uncle. “Liam, are you driving me?” He never let me call him uncle, saying that it made him feel old. Since he was only eight years older than me, and only two years older then my brother, I could understand it.

            He focused his gaze on me. “Hmm? Oh, no, you can take one of the cars.”

            My eyebrows shot up. “Really?”

            “Yeah, take whatever one you want, except the Viper, because that’s mine.”

            I tapped my fingers on the table as I debated. “I think I’ll just take the Camaro, if that’s okay?”

            He waved his hand. “Sure, whatever you want. Try not to get any speeding tickets on the way to school.”

            I smiled as I stood up from the table. “No promises,” I said. I went to the cabinet that held Tonto’s treats and grabbed the box. Reaching in for one, my fingers brushed against something cold and hard. “What the?” I muttered as I pulled the foreign object out. I raised an eyebrow as I looked at it, then turned to my uncle. “Hey Liam?”