Page 1 of Entangled

PROLOGUE

WILLOW, AGE 10

“Should they kiss?”I ask my best friend, Chloe, as I brush my barbie’s hair while she roots through the box filled with clothes and dolls that we brought out to her front yard. The warm sun heats my freckled shoulders. Her dad, Mr. Reid, mowed the lawn this morning, so now it smells of freshly cut grass that sticks to my knees. Chloe holds up a tuxedo and proceeds to change her Ken doll’s clothes. “I think they should get married. Look in the box for a wedding dress.”

I’ve always coveted Chloe’s extensive Barbie collection. Mr. Reid spoils her. My mom doesn’t want to buy me nice things.

I change my Barbie’s clothes, and we hold them up next to each other. Chloe’s mischievous eyes find mine as she says in her deepest voice, “I now pronounce you husband and wife.” We smash Barbie and Ken’s mouths together while making kissy noises.

Chloe breaks into giggles first, and I soon follow.

“Look what I got for my birthday,” Dylan calls out to us from the sidewalk, where he stands with a skateboard in his hands. Chloe is up on her feet first. She has always liked Dylan. I don’t; he’s annoying with his big smile and blue eyes. My Barbie and Chloe’s Ken lie abandoned on the grass when I join them.

“My dad got it for me for my eleventh birthday,” Dylan boasts.

“I don’t know how you dare use it. I would break a leg.”

“It’s easy. Want me to teach you?”

Chloe’s high pigtails sway as she quickly shakes her head. I step forward. “I’d like to try.”

“Okay, yeah, sure.” Dylan places it down on the ground, and I tentatively put my foot on it. It feels unstable.

“Keep your toes pointed forward and push off with the other foot, then do this.” Dylan demonstrates how to step on.

How difficult can it be? I follow his instructions, but it’s a lot harder than I anticipated. I quickly lose my balance and fall to the ground as I roll down the street.

“Oh, shit.” Dylan runs up to me and crouches down. “Are you okay?”

My knee is bleeding, and the sting has me wincing. Dylan goes to help me up, but Mr. Reid cuts across the grass with Chloe close on his heels. “What happened?”

“Willow fell off the skateboard.”

Mr. Reid crouches down in front of me and inspects my wound with gentle fingers. I’ve always been jealous of Chloe for having a dad who cares. I’ve never met mine. I don’t even know who he is.

“Let’s get you cleaned up inside.” He helps me to my feet, and Chloe smiles at me as I hobble past her. She doesn’t follow. Not now that Dylan is here and ready to show her his tricks.

When I join Mr. Reid in the kitchen, he grabs me by my hips and lifts me up on the counter. My feet dangle in the air while I watch him dig in the cupboard for band-aids.

“You should have worn kneepads.”

“I didn’t know.”

“It’s okay,” he says, gently lifting my leg beneath my knee and resting my sandalled foot on his stomach. He cleans the wound and applies a pink band-aid with white unicorns. I stare at him the entire time, wondering if this is what it’s like to have a dad. Or a parent who cares. My mom never cleans my wounds. She tells me to go away, to make less noise.

“There, good as new.” Mr. Reid helps me down. “Be careful out there.”

“Thank you.”

I join Chloe and Dylan outside in the warm afternoon sun. Dylan rides down the street and then back. “Check this out.” He does a flip, and Chloe claps her hands together excitedly.

“That was so cool!”

Dylan beams, kicking the board up into his hand. “Yeah?”

My eyes roll while Chloe nods eagerly. She’s become obsessed with boys this summer, especially Dylan. He goes to the same school as us and is a year older. I don’t understand what’s so interesting about boys. They’re annoying, always interrupting us when Barbie is about to get her happily ever after with Ken. And they steal your best friend. I especially don’t understand what is so fascinating about Dylan. He’s the most annoying boy of all. He’s tall for his age, his hair is a constant mess, and he always has streaks of mud somewhere. If not on his cheek, then on his tanned arms.

I sit back down on the grass and pick up my Barbie. The wedding dress is stupid, so I tear it off her and select another one while Chloe continues gushing over Dylan and his stupid skateboard.

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