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with me.
B ut something deep down let her know he did want something from
her.
    “Now, I don’t have all day,” her mom yelled
back up the stairs.
    Julie laughed as she rushed down the stairs,
wondering if her dad had finished the attic off for her to have a
bedroom, or to give her mom a good excuse to get her screaming out.
It really didn’t matter to her either way. Being upstairs, alone,
kept them out of her business. Not to totally sound like a brat,
she really loved her parents and had a close relationship with
them. Well, as close as an eighteen-year-old would have. Deep down,
Julie had always been jealous of her mom. Ellen Emison was
everything Julie wasn’t: beautiful, charming, and charismatic.
Their similarities were almost a slap in Julie’s face. They both
had blond, curly hair, deep green eyes, were about the same height
and, even with the age difference, weight. Yes, Julie looked like
her mom, but lacked all the best qualities. Julie felt duller and
less appealing than Ellen.
    Julie inwardly laughed at herself. Even after
the endless prodding to get up, Julie found her mom getting ready.
After all, how could you possibly do yard work not fully made up?
Maybe she and her mom were not as much alike as she thought.
    “Where’s Dad?” Julie asked, leaning onto the
frame around the bathroom door.
    “Working,” Ellen answered. “As always.”
    That was a sore subject with Julie. She was
tired of her poor parents working two or three jobs and still never
knowing where their next meal was coming from.
    “I’ll meet you outside.” Julie rolled her
eyes before turning her back on her mom.
    Sprawled out in the front yard, Julie
listened to the crickets and the rustling of leaves. It was in that
tranquil state that she saw Trucker’s car being driven by her
house. It was a red sports car with dark tinted windows. She had
seen it numerous times, but now knew whom it belonged to. I
wonder why he is coming by here. I wonder if he noticed me. She
couldn’t let her mind go there. She wanted a life free of drama, if
that was possible. Her fingers started fidgeting with a hole in her
old shirt. Get over it. I’m sure me laying out in the front yard
did nothing for him.
    She wandered aimlessly to the shed to gather
the garden tools and headed to the front flowerbed. Ellen was
meticulous when it came to the house. She had drilled it into
Julie’s head; take pride in your home whether it’s a mansion or a
shack. Julie knelt down and started to pull weeds. Her thoughts
drifted to Trucker, and she couldn’t help but wonder what he was
doing driving by her house. Hearing someone walk up behind her, she
leaped up and was relieved to see her mom.
    They had spent countless days together in the
past, so Julie was confused as to why they both were on edge.
Usually, Ellen was full of laughs and Julie would make one snarky
remark after another at each of Ellen’s corny jokes. However, on
that day there was a raw energy around them. A feeling of depravity
swirled in the air.
    Ellen threw down her shovel. “I’ve had
enough. I’m going in.”
    “Why?” Julie asked, wondering if Ellen could
sense the sensation of evil encircling them.
    “I keep feeling like someone is watching
us.”
    Julie glanced around at the woods on the
backside of the house. It startled her to think she was being
watched.
    “Come in, baby,” her mom yelled from the
front door. Julie started to get up when she looked back at the
woods and saw a large figure walking in the trees. Surrounded by a
sudden loneliness, she jumped up and went in, leaving the garden
tools scattered over the yard.
    Before getting into bed that night, Julie
checked her Space-book page and discovered a couple of private
messages.

    Guess who I ran into today. TRUCKER!!!!!! He
was off and short tempered but still heavenly. :-) He said to tell
you hi!! Tori

    OMG!! Tori and I ran into Trucker today. He
seemed into you. He couldn’t stop asking about you!! Tori is in
love, as