excerpt
For several seconds they stood glaring at each other. Rachael felt
hot tears stinging her eyes, and she blinked to clear them. Suddenly
the fight went out of her and she wilted. “Just go away, Lyssa. Don’t
bug me. I’ve been grounded and I’m not even supposed to talk to you.”
The older girl’s face broke into a mocking smile. “Ah ha, the
so-called parents have been laying the law down, have they? You actually
going to listen to them?”
Rachael bristled. “They are my parents and I’m proud of them, so
shut up and get lost.” Before Lyssa could react, Rachael took off at a
run, her book bag bouncing on her shoulder, her fair curls flying out
behind her in the breeze. She didn’t stop until she reached the road
that led to the farm and safety.
Turning into the farm lane, Rachael slowed down to catch her
breath and think about the things Lyssa said. Her cousin was right,
she did have a good time at the dance on Saturday night, and it had
been a heady experience to have a boy like Kevin pay attention to
her. He was cute, after all, with curly shoulder length hair as red as
a prairie sunset. Freckles sprinkled across the bridge of his straight
nose made him look younger than the twenty-two years he claimed
to be. But when she allowed herself to think of his kisses in the front
seat of his Oldsmobile, she got hot with embarrassment. It was the
first time she had been kissed by a boy, but she would never tell Lyssa
that. Her cousin probably guessed though.
As Rachael came within sight of the house, she spotted the trail
that led from their farm to the Buckley farm a half mile away. Making
a quick decision, she veered off to the right. She didn’t want to go
home yet, anyway. She was still smarting from the reprimand she had
received from her dad yesterday, especially the part about having to
write a letter of apology to the youth group. It was embarrassing; why
couldn’t Dad have just told them she was sick or something?
C’mon, dummy, you know he’d never lie, not even for you.
Walking until she came to the stream that formed the border
between the two properties, she stopped beside the crude wooden…
Libros Libertad 