Masquerade of Lies (22 page)

“Drop the knife!” called out one of the police officers. “Nice and slow.” Mark put down the knife in a cautious manner and raised his arms above his head. The police officer dashed towards him and put handcuffs on his wrists. Mark’s face twisted into an evil grin before the police officer hauled him away. The paramedics scurried towards me. My stomach felt sticky and hot against my hands. One of the paramedics packed clean dressing around my stab wound. They strapped me to the backboard and scooped me up. On the way to the ambulance I heard the shrill of my mom’s voice calling out to me. Sirens rang in my ears. Then everything went black.

Ten months later

I opened my eyes and stretched my arms, then got out of bed and jumped in the shower. As I was getting dressed I paused and stared at my stomach in the mirror. I caressed the scar left behind from the night that will forever haunt me. Afterwards, I went downstairs, and met my mother in the kitchen.

“Good morning, sweetheart. I made some pancakes and eggs,” she said.

“Smells good, Mom.”

“Eat up, then I’ll drive you to school.”

“Okay.”

We got in the car and put on our seatbelts. My mother then reversed out of the driveway and veered out in the street. As I glared out the window, I thought about everything that had happened over the past year. Josh and I decided to take a break from each other. Mark was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Brooke Tillier; he confessed to the police that he killed her because she was pregnant and he didn’t want the baby.

The D.A.’s office dismissed the charges against Scott and he was released from prison. He ended up killing himself. His mom found him dead in his room. He’d put a bullet in his head; I guess he meant what he said in his letter to Brooke.

I still talked to Stephanie once in a while. She decided to go to counselling to help deal with the fact that her father had left her and her mom. She still wrote for the school newspaper.

Chad McCowen ended up dumping Claire for another girl; I guess karma’s a bitch.

Even though Marisa and I didn’t talk as much as we used to, we were still there for each other.

My mom and Hank were still together, trying the long distance thing.

My dad called me every once in a while. I still didn’t see him as much as I’d like to, but at least he was trying.

I didn’t get to finish my senior year because of everything that had happened. I ended up missing too many classes to graduate; it was just too much for me to deal with. I couldn’t go back to Willowdale High, so I begged my mother to let me change schools again. We ended up moving to Hannon, California, which was about three hours away from Willowdale.

We pulled up to
Sir Carver High School
.

“Do you want me to go in with you?” my mom asked.

“No, I’ll be okay,” I said.

She smiled at me. “Okay, have a good first day. I’ll be here to pick you up after school.”

“Okay.”

I took off my seatbelt and grabbed my back pack, then got out of the car and closed the door. I waved to my mother as she drove away, then strolled up the walkway and entered the school. The hall was flooded with students. Suddenly, the bell rang, and everybody scurried to their classes. With my class schedule in hand, I found myself wandering around the school, looking for my first period class. Soon, I collided with a guy in the hall. He was tall, with short spiky brown hair and almond-shaped eyes. His skin was lightly tanned, and his arms looked strong in his blue crew top shirt...talk about déjà vu.

“You look lost. Do you need help finding your class?” he asked.

“Uh…no, thanks. I can find it by myself.”

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I want to thank my husband, Brent Hinbest, for all of his support. I couldn’t have finished writing this book without him. I want to thank my awesome beta reader, Amerie Jennings, for taking the time to read my manuscript and provide all of her honest feedback. I want to thank my sister, Jennifer Andrew, my niece, Rhiannon Andrew, and my cousin, Patricia Graneau, for all of their suggestions.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Wendy Hinbest is the author of the children’s Frizzy Tizzy series. She has written articles for Inspiring News about children and heart health. Visit her at
www.hinbestbooks.com

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