If You're Gone Read Free Page A

where I had expected to see my parents; Mom’s face in a book nestled under the reading lamp, worn out from a long day on her feet at the department store where she worked, while Dad came in and out of sleep in front of the television, still dressed in his business shirt and tie. But, like the foyer, it was dark. It seemed that Brad’s graduation night came with a special privilege-not being nagged about what we did and where we ate and who was there. The usual grilling.
    I felt my way down the hall to my bedroom, letting my fingers drag the chair rail as I took long, light-footed strides. I passed the closed doors that led into my little brother and sister’s rooms. Silence. Ages ten and eight, Graham and Eliza had likely been asleep for hours. Light from the television danced under my parents’ door but there were no sounds of movement inside. It was eerily quiet, a rare instance in the White household.
    Behind my bedroom door, I took a deep breath as I retrieved the oversized t-shirt that Brad had given me weeks ago. Even though I had worn it every night it still smelled like him-sexy with a hint of citrus. His ring felt cool against my chest as I changed.
    I turned off the light and rushed across the cool wood floor, pulling the chain on my bedside lamp as I scurried under the comforter. Once I was nestled beneath the covers I reached for the paperback novel on my nightstand and flipped it open to a dog-eared page, but it was impossible to focus on the words in front of me. I didn’t need to read a fictional boy-meets-girl story when Brad’s goodbye kiss was lingering on my lips. I closed my eyes and tried to imagine him next to me, but just as I began to picture his blue eyes a tree branch snapped outside my window.
    The little hairs on my arm stood up as I remembered the odd silence in the house, the dark rooms showing no signs of life. Crack . There it was again. My toes curled under the covers. I returned the book to my nightstand and waited, holding my breath as I listened. My oversized window faced the backside of an overgrown pine tree in the front of our house. For the past several years my Dad had planned hire professionals to trim the monstrous tree, but for now it remained a thick, bushy giant that towered above my bedroom in our one story home. I usually didn’t mind, it still let in light between its branches and made a nice curtain. But tonight the limbs of the tree seemed to reach around my room like thick fingers in the darkness.
    Crack . Another sound from outside pierced through the silence, interrupting my thoughts.
    “Lillian?” A muffled voice called out my name.
    Had I imagined it? I tossed the blanket from my legs, gnawing on my lower lip as I moved towards the window. Grabbing the bottom of the sill, I gritted my teeth as I thrust upwards to open the pane. A cool breeze hit my face and I backed away, squinting while I peered into the darkness. The sound of the crickets filled my room and echoed off the classic movie posters on the walls.
    “Lillian?” The voice was clearer this time.
    “Hello?” My eyes darted between the tree branches.
    “Boo!” Brad exclaimed as he jumped from the ground. I let out a shrill squeal.
    “Shh! Someone will hear you,” he whispered, placing a finger against his lips.
    “You scared me to death,” I said, an unavoidable smile growing on my face. “What are you doing back here?”
    “I’m sorry. I need to tell you something. It’s important.” He leaned in towards the window and reached for my hand as I knelt on the floor to be on his level.
    “Brad, what is it?”
    “You don’t have to say anything.” His blue eyes caught the light from my bedroom, shining like piercing stars in the darkness. “But I need you to know.”
    My chest became heavy as if all of my breath was leaving my body. This was it. The moment I had been hoping for since his lips first met mine six months earlier.
    “Lillian… I love you.”
    The declaration hung in the