Page 1 of Hide and Sneak
CHAPTER 1
LILA
Friday eveningsat Happy Haven Trailer Park are always chaotic and usually fun since everyone is eager to start the weekend. This one is no different. It looks like half the neighborhood is outside when I turn onto my street after a long day at work.
Amos’s little rattletrap of a car is parked in front of my trailer while a pickup truck that’s piled with furniture and boxes sits in my driveway. I’m shocked he has that much stuff. Last time, my brother moved with a ratty mattress and a few trash bags.
This place could easily win a nosiest neighborhood award if such a thing existed, so I’m not surprised to see plenty of neighbors staring at my driveway, curious about who’s moving in. I park in the driveway next door—my friend, Holly, won’t mind—and stop to talk to her sister, who sits on her porch with two other teenage girls.
“What are you all up to?” I ask.
“Watching the show,” Fern says with a grin. “You didn’t say your brother was so hot.”
“Eww, never say that again.”
The girls giggle and Fern fans herself. “Sorry, I know I’d be grossed out if someone was thirsting over my brother, but you can’t blame us. The muscles and the tattoos…”
“I love dark wavy hair. I can’t believe that guy is going to live right next door to you. We need a slumber party,” her friend says.
Holly, Fern’s older sister and guardian, steps out onto the porch as I’m setting them straight. “First of all, my brother doesn’t have tattoos or muscles, so I’m sure he has a friend helping him move in. Secondly, he is twenty-six so don’t even think about it.”
“Unless you want me to chain you to the porch,” Holly teases.
“Mini!” a voice calls out and all heads turn in tandem to see the friend in question bound down my front steps.
“Mini?” Fern giggles, glancing at me.
“Who is that?” Holly asks, running a hand over her hair and straightening her back.
“A bad influence,” I mumble, heading into the yard as Amos joins him.
“There’s my favorite sister!” Amos announces, lifting me off my feet in a hug and spinning me around.
“I’m your only sister.” Amos beams at me after placing me back on my feet. He may drive me crazy but it’s good to see him again. He’s one of those people that pops in and out of my life, usually when he needs something.
“I can’t even get a hello, Mini?”
I look into deep brown eyes sparkling with mischief. “Hello, and don’t call me that.” Sutton Yates grins at me, unperturbed. It’s been a few years since I’ve seen him which isn’t long enough. I should’ve guessed he’d be the one helping Amos move. They’ve been best friends since freshman year of high school.
“Are you twins?” Fern asks me, nodding at my brother. It draws Sutton’s attention to the fact there’s a porch full ofteenage girls gawking at him. Holly isn’t exactly being discreet either, but she seems to be focused on my brother.
It’s far from the first time we’ve been asked that question. With our matching white blond hair and light blue eyes, it’s understandable.
“No, he’s older,” I reply.
“And taller,” Amos teases, ruffling my hair until I swat at him.
Sutton runs his gaze over me with a smirk. “That’s not exactly a hard accomplishment.”
Here we go. I put up with it all through high school. My five feet nothing height is what earned me the nickname Mini, from my brother and his friends. Amos isn’t all that tall for a guy—just shy of that six-foot goal they all seem to have—but Sutton towers over me by a good fifteen inches.
My phone rings with a call from my mom. I’m sure she’s calling to make sure Amos showed up and got moved in. Ignoring it for now, I introduce my brother.
“Amos, this is my friend, Holly, her sister, Fern, and her friends. Holly, this is Amos. He’ll be staying with me for a while. If he gets on your nerves or gives you any shit, just let me know and I’ll lock him in a closet.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Holly chuckles, flipping her hair back. Oh no. She’s flirting. I need to warn her later.
“And who are you?” Fern asks Sutton, stepping forward.
