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THE FIVE SENSES HEARING The alarm’s keypad tries to announce my escape by emitting a loud BEEP each time I press a number. I can only hope that the sound is too unexpected and my mom’s room too far away from the door for her to hear it. The door unseals with a sigh. I’m Outside. The world is so quiet it roars. TOUCH The front-door handle is metal-cool and smooth, almost slippery. It’s easy to let go of it, and I do. SIGHT It’s 4 A.M. and too dark for detail. My eyes take in only the general shape of things, fuzzy silhouettes against the night sky. Large tree, smaller tree, steps, garden, stone path leading to a gate with a picket fence on either side. Gate, gate, gate. SMELL I’m in Olly’s garden. The air is full, ripe with scent—flowers, earth, my expanding fear. I store it away in my lungs. I toss pebbles at his window, willing him to come out. TASTE Olly’s in front of me, stunned. I don’t say anything. I press my lips to his. At first he’s frozen, uncertain and unyielding, but then he’s not. All at once, he pulls me tight against him. One of his hands is in my hair and the other one is gripping my waist. He tastes just like I remember.
OTHER WORLDS WE COME TO our senses. Well, Olly comes to his. He pulls away, grips my shoulders with both hands. “What are you doing out here? Are you all right? Is something wrong? Is your mom OK?” I’m all bravado. “I’m fine. She’s fine. I’m running away.” The light from his room above casts just enough light so I can see confusion across the planes of his face. “I don’t understand,” he says. I take a deep breath, but freeze midway. The night air is cold and moist and heavy and completely unlike any air I’ve ever breathed. I try to unbreathe it, to expel it from my lungs. My lips tingle and I’m light-headed. Is that just fear, or is it something else? “Maddy, Maddy,” he whispers against my ear. “What have you done?” I can’t answer. My throat is blocked like I’ve swallowed a stone. “Try not to breathe,” he says, and starts guiding me back to my house. I let him pull me for a second, maybe two, but then I stop moving. “What is it? Can you walk? Do you need me to carry you?” I shake my head and pull my hand from his. I take a sip of night air. “I said I’m running away.” He makes a sound like a growl. “What are you talking about? Do you have a death wish?” “Opposite,” I say. “Will you help me?” “With what?” “I don’t have a car. I don’t know how to drive. I don’t know anything about the world.” He makes another sound halfway between a growl and a laugh. I wish I could see his eyes in the dark. Something slams. A door? I grab his hands and pull us both flat against the side of his house. “What was that?” “Jesus. A door. From my house.” I press myself flatter against the wall, trying to disappear. I peek over to the path leading from my house, fully expecting to see my mother coming down it. But she’s not there. I close my eyes. “Take me to the roof.”
- Page 85 and 86: There are too many inputs to the fo
- Page 87 and 88: SECRETS MY CONSTANT IMING with Olly
- Page 89 and 90: NUMEROLOGY NUMBER OF: minutes it to
- Page 91 and 92: OLLY SAYS HE’S NOT ON the wall wh
- Page 93: Olly finds himself getting angry, t
- Page 96 and 97: going to go back to school soon. He
- Page 98 and 99: UPSIDE DOWN NORMAL PEOPLE PACE when
- Page 100 and 101: my finger in the palm of his hand.
- Page 102 and 103: FRIENDSHIP Later, 8:16 P.M. Olly: y
- Page 107 and 108: LIFE AND DEATH OLLY’S NOT ON the
- Page 110 and 111: HONESTLY Later, 8:03 P.M. Olly: no
- Page 112 and 113: preparing for a bout. He’s trying
- Page 114 and 115: THE THIRD MADDY I’M ALMOST ASLEEP
- Page 116 and 117: “That’s enough now,” my mom s
- Page 118 and 119: MIRROR IMAGE I PULL THE curtains as
- Page 120 and 121: MORE THAN THIS MY MOM WORDLESSLY kn
- Page 122 and 123: NURSE EVIL MY NEW NURSE is an unsmi
- Page 124 and 125: I stare at the note, remembering th
- Page 126 and 127: HIGHER EDUCATION WITH OLLY BACK in
- Page 128 and 129: ALOHA MEANS HELLO AND GOOD -BYE, PA
- Page 130 and 131: LATER, 9:08 P.M. OLLY’S ALREADY W
- Page 132 and 133: THE GLASS WALL A WEEK LATER, someth
- Page 134 and 135: HALF LIFE IT’S A STRANGE thing to
- Page 138 and 139: “Maddy—” “I’ll explain ev
- Page 141 and 142: At first I’m not sure what I’m
- Page 143 and 144: HAPPY ALREADY “MADS, BE SERIOUS.
- Page 145 and 146: I reach over and take his hand. “
- Page 147 and 148: eyes. “I must’ve missed a lot o
- Page 149 and 150: TTYL
- Page 151 and 152: THE CAROUSEL “I’VE DECIDED BAGG
- Page 153 and 154: MADELINE’S DICTIONARY prom•ise
- Page 155 and 156: And, too, the world is in me.
- Page 157 and 158: REWARD IF FOUND OUR HOTEL SITS righ
- Page 159 and 160: three meals and two snacks exactly
- Page 161 and 162: eathed the same filtered air for so
- Page 163 and 164: GUIDE TO HAWAIIAN REEF FISH
- Page 165 and 166: I’m sure I don’t want him to. *
- Page 167 and 168: ZACH BACK AT THE hotel, Olly calls
- Page 169 and 170: Do you have my daughter? Is she OK?
- Page 171 and 172: THE MURPHY BED IT’S LATE AFTERNOO
- Page 173 and 174: ALL THE WORDS I COME AWAKE slowly,
- Page 175 and 176: MADELINE’S DICTIONARY in•fi•n
- Page 177 and 178: THIS TIME OLLY SMILES. HE will not
- Page 179 and 180: “Do you believe it?” he asks.
- Page 181 and 182: THE END SOMEONE HAS PUT me in a hot
- Page 183 and 184: My. Heart. Stops.
- Page 185 and 186: RELEASED, PART ONE
OTHER WORLDS<br />
WE COME TO our senses.<br />
Well, Olly comes to his. He pulls away, grips my shoulders with both hands. “What are<br />
you doing out here? Are you all right? Is something wrong? Is your mom OK?”<br />
I’m all bravado. “I’m fine. She’s fine. I’m running away.”<br />
The light from his room above casts just enough light so I can see confusion across the<br />
planes of his face.<br />
“I don’t understand,” he says.<br />
I take a deep breath, but freeze midway.<br />
The night air is cold and moist and heavy and completely unlike any air I’ve ever<br />
breathed.<br />
I try to unbreathe it, to expel it from my lungs. My lips tingle and I’m light-headed. Is<br />
that just fear, or is it something else?<br />
“Maddy, Maddy,” he whispers against my ear. “What have you done?”<br />
I can’t answer. My throat is blocked like I’ve swallowed a stone.<br />
“Try not to breathe,” he says, and starts guiding me back to my house.<br />
I let him pull me for a second, maybe two, but then I stop moving.<br />
“What is it? Can you walk? Do you need me to carry you?”<br />
I shake my head and pull my hand from his.<br />
I take a sip of night air. “I said I’m running away.”<br />
He makes a sound like a growl. “What are you talking about? Do you have a death<br />
wish?”<br />
“Opposite,” I say. “Will you help me?”<br />
“With what?”<br />
“I don’t have a car. I don’t know how to drive. I don’t know anything about the world.”<br />
He makes another sound halfway between a growl and a laugh. I wish I could see his<br />
eyes in the dark.<br />
Something slams. A door? I grab his hands and pull us both flat against the side of his<br />
house. “What was that?”<br />
“Jesus. A door. From my house.”<br />
I press myself flatter against the wall, trying to disappear. I peek over to the path<br />
leading from my house, fully expecting to see my mother coming down it. But she’s not<br />
there.<br />
I close my eyes. “Take me to the roof.”
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