Kill Switch by Penelope Douglas

The house was quiet and dark, but I could always smell the
hydrangeas his mother kept on the foyer table in various
colors. Sometimes they were blue, sometimes white. Today,
they were purple and always made the house look happy as
soon as you entered.
Out of everyone’s houses, I liked Will’s the most. It was
newer, more spacious with room to walk and breathe, and it
was bright with high ceilings. He had two older brothers who
left home a few years ago, off making the world a better place.
Will was the youngest. And the most trouble for his parents.
I took him up to his room, plopped him down on the bed,
and saw him yawn and pull his comforter over his body. He
looked like a burrito, and it was the first time all night I
actually felt a smile I wore.
Will and I were cut from the same cloth, both always
diving too deep for our own good, he with alcohol and drugs
and me with the pain I needed to inflict.
Rain started to patter his window, and I looked up at it, the
drops streaming down the glass like being in a fountain and
watching the falls spill from the bowl above.
Winter.
That was the only place I wanted to be right now. She was
alone in that house, the fountain spilled outside, and she
wanted me there.
GGrabbing a pair of clean jeans and a T-shirt from Will’s
closet, I strolled into his bathroom and showered, washing my
hair and body to get Rika off. To get the cigarettes off.
To just get every shitty thing I did tonight off.
After I was clean, I dressed and left, taking Winter’s key,
my wallet, and my phone, and quickly jumped back into
Michael’s car and headed for her house. It was almost two. I
would have a few hours with her, at least, until I ran the risk of
her father coming home.
But when I arrived, I saw the gates were open. Did he
come home early?