Follow Me Home
Publisher: Astraea Press
Release Date: September 16th 2014
Synopsis:
16-year-old Kelsey thinks her new house far away from Tulsa is the perfect place to escape her past—until she meets Jay, the boy who used to live there.
After a series of mysterious break-ins at the house, Kelsey discovers the culprit is Jay, but before she can confront him, Jay inadvertently sets in motion a series of events that leave Kelsey and her family devastated and wind Jay up in juvie.
Desperate to fix things, Kelsey confronts him only to discover Jay’s not the delinquent she expects, but a boy with a past more messed up than hers. Against her better judgment, the two of them form an unlikely friendship she keeps secret from everyone.
Then Jay asks for a favor she didn’t see coming – one that leaves Kelsey torn between her growing loyalty to Jay and throwing away the new future she worked so hard to build.
FOLLOW ME HOME
by Monica Goulet
CHAPTER ONE
For the first
time in almost a year, I feel safe. My sandals slap against the uneven
sidewalk, and I wave back at the old man driving by in a green pick-up truck.
His toothless grin should scare the crap out of me, but something about this
place makes it okay. I’ll even forgive its lack of a real downtown. I went in
search of one of those quaint main streets with specialty coffee shops and
expensive clothing stores, and all I found were a bunch of empty buildings for
lease and a no-name pizza place. So much for small town charm.
I turn the
corner to my house and skid to a halt. The edge of my sandal catches in a
crack, and I lurch forward, scraping my palms against the cement. There’s a leg
dangling out my bedroom window as if it’s not attached to a body. It reminds me
of a cricket I caught when I was eight. I’d accidentally ripped its leg off
trying to make it dance. I shudder and pick myself up, my palms burning.
I glance at the
driveway. Mom and Dad’s cars aren’t there.
The person in
the window struggles to squeeze his way out. Blue jeans and a ratty running
shoe. Painter, maybe? Repair person? But there’s no work van in sight.
The rest of the
body lowers from the window. I suck in a breath and duck behind a parked car
just as he jumps.
Five,
four, three, two, one. I pop my head up just enough to see over the hood.
He’s crouched on
the ground, so I creep up a little higher and let out a breath. He’s tying his shoe? What kind of thief would
stop to tie his shoe, let alone come out empty handed?
Anger rises in
my chest and I clench my fists. What does this guy think he’s doing? I pop up
from behind the car without thinking. “You could have used the door, you know!”
My mouth snaps
shut as soon as the words are out. What am I doing? For all I know this guy
could have a gun or something. I almost duck behind the car again when he looks
up, but he turns away again just as quickly as if I never said a thing. He just
finishes tying his shoe and shakes his head to get the hair out of his eyes.
I finally catch
a glimpse of his face. He’s young – my age maybe. Too young to be someone my
parents hired. He heads toward the street, and I glance up at the open window
again.
Something
doesn’t seem right.
“Hey!” I yell.
“Wait!” Against my better judgment, I start after him, but he still doesn’t
turn around. My hand closes around the cell phone in my pocket. The police. I
should call the police. I fumble with my phone, and it clatters onto the
sidewalk.
The guy looks
back.
Monica Goulet writes and lives in Oshawa, Ontario with her husband. She graduated from Brock University with a Bachelor’s degree in English and Professional Writing.
In her other life, she’s an instructional designer and a mother-to-be who likes ice cream, running, and losing herself in a good story.
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