||COMPLETE||
Amber Blake is having dreams, and they just might be the key to saving her best friend, Mark.
Unfortunately, she's too preoccupied pretending to hate the boy next door, Carter Hayes. Secretly hoping to rekindle what once was, Amber atte...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Saturday
"I don't need anyone."
Mark flipped over to the left to check his alarm clock for the hundredth time that night. Still too early.
"Please don't do this."
He tossed back over to his right, pulling the covers up to block out the sound of Amber's voice in his head. Squeezing his eyes shut, he tried to drown out details of yesterday, but he knew there was only one thing that helped him do that, the same thing calling from his bag across the room.
Back on his left, he checked the clock again:
5:15am.
"Just leave, Amber."
The memory of the car door slamming in her face jolted him out of bed and onto his feet. Moving deftly around the bedroom, he tugged on the first pair of shoes he could find, shouldered his bag, then opened the door to head downstairs.
"It isn't seven."
Mark wasn't surprised by the sound of Ronnie's voice; anything outside their normal routine raised red flags for his brother. It was too dark to make out Ronnie's face, but his silhouette loomed in the twin bed next to Mark's, still as a statue.
"Can't sleep. Just gonna take a drive. I'll be back soon."
Mark waited the allotted five seconds to see if Ronnie would respond; if he had asked a question, there wouldn't be a wait at all.
It took Ronnie three seconds. "Promise?"
"Promise. Look," Mark pointed out his phone on the dresser, "Won't even take my cell so you have a guarantee. You'll barely notice I'm gone."
The five seconds passed and Ronnie said nothing, so Mark gave him a final nod and closed their door behind him. Briefly glancing at the twins' room at the end of the hall, he bounded down the stairs and past the den, ignoring the agonized moaning from the couch.
I don't need anyone. And now, he had no one. Carter was still out of his life, and now he'd sent Amber right along with him. All he had left were three kids who needed too much and the agonized moaning from the couch.
