Page 1 of Echoes of You

PROLOGUE

MADDIE

PAST

The numbersand letters on the textbook page swam. I blinked, trying to right the twisting of the slanted scrawl. Algebra was confusing enough; I didn’t need my blurred vision adding to it.

I reached for my Coke as I glanced at the clock. One thirty-three. The neon glow of each number taunted me. I’d told myself I’d get to bed earlier this week. That I’d finally manage at least six hours of sleep each night.

A laugh bubbled up, but it was the hysterical kind. Getting six hours would be a dream. Between my after-school job, volunteering at the humane society, homework, and nightmares, I was lucky if I pieced together four.

I leaned back in my chair, trying to loosen the muscles that had tightened over the course of the past few hours. It didn’t help much.

Heavy footsteps sounded in the hallway. On instinct, my body braced. I closed my eyes, breathing deeply.It’s not him. He’s gone. He can’t hurt you anymore.

The door to my bedroom flew open, crashing into the wall. If the door had been made of anything but the cheapest possible material, it likely would’ve put a hole in the drywall.

My mom’s form filled the space as she leaned against the doorframe for balance. Her face was an unhealthy red color, which was nature’s way of warning me of things to come. I saw a spill of some sort down the front of her low-cut halter top—beer or, more likely, something harder.

The scent of stale alcohol wafted into my room, and my fingers itched to light the candle sitting on my desk. To spritz some of the room spray resting on my nightstand. Anything to clear awaythatsmell.

I fought the shudder that ran through me and met my mother’s stare. I didn’t bother saying anything, I just waited. My only hope was biding my time and trying to decipher exactly what kind of drunken mood she was in.

My mom leaned forward, her lip curling in a sneer. “What’re you doing?”

Her words bunched together, sounding like one instead of an entire sentence as she pushed her bleached-blond hair out of her face.

I swallowed, staying completely still as if that would somehow protect me. As if my mom were a grizzly and I needed to play possum. “I’m just finishing up my homework.”

“You think your grades are gonna save you? That you’ll get out of here?” Mom scoffed.

That familiar ache flared to life in my chest. The deep longing for…more. For parents that cared about me. For a true family. For someone who loved me. For escape.

I didn’t give my mom a single word. It wouldn’t matter whether I defended myself or played down my actions. She would still find a reason to hate me.

Her eyes narrowed on me. “You think you’re better than me?”

“No.” Because her blood ran through my veins. Her blood andhis.

“Yes, you do. Ever since you started hanging out with that Hartley boy, you think you’re fancy like they are. But you’re not. You’re trash. Nothing. The only reason they pay you any mind is because they pity you.”

Pain lanced my chest.Lies. Lies. Lies.I chanted the word over and over. I wouldn’t let her in. I wouldn’t let her twist my mind.

“You’re nothing!” Spittle flew from my mother’s mouth. “You’re worse than nothing. You ruin everything!”

A broken sob flew from her throat, and she collapsed in on herself. My throat tightened, but I pushed back from my desk and rose. “Come on, let’s get you to bed.”

I reached out to take her arm, but she ripped it from my grasp. “Don’t touch me! You took him from me,” she wailed.

I hadn’t done anything. I’d hidden every bruise and cracked rib. But he’d gone too far. And the police had stepped in.

I’d never felt more relief than I did when I’d lain in that hospital bed. When the chief told me that my father was going away and that I would be safe.

Mom’s hysteria picked up a notch, forcing me back to the present. “Let me help you. Please.”

“I hate you,” she hissed.

“I know.” I took her arm again, guiding her into the hall of our doublewide and toward her room. The weight of those words was burned into me. The knowledge of her hate. Of living with it every single day.

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