a deadly storm, an unsolved disappearance, and a small town brimming with secrecy;
an outcast girl, a boy who only knows how to hide, and the world against them;
what could go wrong?
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Morning dawns and Boo wakes to the sound of shouting. Moments pass as she stays suspended in the cozy place between the unconscious and the conscious, until she is rudely forced awake by an ear-piercing crash. In her half-awake state, she throws the covers off and stumbles down the stairs.
Her vision is still covered with a film of sleep as she rushes into the kitchen to see Martha and Lori facing off, yelling full volume and each baring their own strange choice of weapon. Martha holds a beat up spatula while there's a small dinner plate in Lori's grip. On the floor between them is a shattered pile of ceramic; Boo doesn't have to guess to know who caused that.
"Jesus, Mom, it's just until the hurricane's over!" Lori yells.
"No, absolutely not!"
"If he can't stay here we'll have to go to a damn shelter!"
"Then go to a shelter!" Martha says forcefully. "You are free to stay here whenever you want but I will not have that man in my house!"
Boo is torn between shock at being woken up so violently and aggravation at hearing the same tired argument. At least once a week, Lori would try to convince Martha to let her sleazy on-off "boyfriend" move in to the spare bedroom, and at least once a week Martha had to chase both of them off her property because she refused to have Shawn anywhere near the house.
Not for nothing either - if Lori was a deadbeat, Shawn was a deadbeat squared. The man had two baby mommas, three monthly child support checks, and a handful of misdemeanors under his belt. Not to mention he was incapable of holding down a job for more than a few weeks and had been kicked out of nearly every house he crashed in.
"Don't tell me you can't use the money!" Lori yells. "We'll pay rent! We just need a place until the hurricane is over, Mom, are you that heartless!?"
Martha swats the air with her spatula. "If you can't afford bail, what makes you think you can afford rent?"
Lori's shrill voice rattles around in Boo's skull, flicking on all kinds of switches. Having gone unnoticed until now, she springs into action and jumps in front of Martha. Lori barely has time to register what's happened before Boo's hand comes cutting through the air and smacks Lori clean across the face. The sharp sound of skin upon skin punctures the air and a tense silence falls upon the kitchen.
Boo's heartbeat thunders in her ribcage. Her own face is flushed as she glares defiantly up at Lori, who can only gape back while holding her reddened cheek. Boo snatches the plate from Lori's hand and takes a defensive step forward.
"She said no," Boo says firmly. "Leave. And take that creep Shawn with you, or I swear to God I'm calling the cops."
Boo would rather jump off the cliff in Martha's backyard before willingly calling any Jack Creek cop, but Lori doesn't need to know that. The threat of more jail time is enough to ward her off.
