“Maxwell?” His name is a whisper on my lips.
“Surprise!” Leigha says from right behind me.
“Huh?” I twist around in attempt to look at her, but she is too far behind me to see. When I turn forward again, Maxwell has stepped into the house and is waiting at the bottom of the stairs. My eyes roam over him, as if it’s been forever since I’ve seen him. He’s wearing a white dress shirt that’s rumpled and a pair of dark designer jeans.
“Hey.” A tiny smile pulls at the corner of my lips. My mind is fuzzy. Am I dreaming? What is he doing here?
“Hi,” he says, looking just a little nervous.
“Go!” Leigha says from behind.
“Yeah. You’re not strangers,” Zoe adds.
This time, I turn completely around and frown up at them.
“Don’t give us that look,” Zoe says, shooting back her own frown. “Not after everything we did for you.”
“Can we talk?” Maxwell asks, pulling my attention back towards him.
“Uh . . . yeah.” Trembling, I slowly walk down the steps and follow Maxwell out the front door. I shut the door behind me as we walk away from the house and stand under the yard light. On the cement driveway, my bare toes start to get cold, but with Maxwell here, I can hardly think of anything else.
“What are you doing here?” I ask when I finally find my voice.
Maxwell looks at me, his eyes shining in the shadow that stretches across his face. He tilts his head down to look at his feet. “Where are your shoes?”
“Huh?” I glance down at my feet. “Oh, there inside.”
“Do you want to go in?” he asks, glancing at me.
“I’m fine.” I press my lips nervously together.
“You know, you never said goodbye,” Maxwell says softly, looking at me through the dimness of the yard.
“You were busy,” I say simply with the same amount of softness. It’s as if we are being careful not to break the silence of the night.
Maxwell glances down for a brief moment, running his hand through his hair, sighs, then looks up at me without saying anything.
“What?” I ask, feeling his eyes on me.
“Maybe it was a good thing that you didn’t say goodbye.”
“Why?” I feel like I can barely breathe.
“Because I would have never been able to let you go,” he whispers.
“What?” My heart spikes.
“I ended things with Caitlin,” he says quickly, his voice rising just a notch.
My chest squeezes.
“Well . . . Are you going to say something?”
“I–I don’t know what to say,” I say, speechless.
Finally, his hidden smile appears gracefully on his lips. “I missed you, Sara.”
“I missed you, too,” I say before I can stop myself.
He takes a step back then starts for his car. Fear grasps my chest, making me almost cry out for him to stop, but before I can, he opens his car door and grabs something. With whatever it is he grabbed, he closes the door, and comes back to me.
“Here.” He holds out his hand for me.
“What is it?” I carefully reach out and take whatever is in his hands. Cold smoothness fills my hand when he passes the object over to me. Shifting myself to reveal some light, I open my hands, revealing the familiar little elephant figurine from the Salmon Room. “When did you–”
“That night we escaped,” he says a little sheepishly. “Remember when I said I’d be right back?”
“This is what you grabbed?” I stare at the figurine as emotion courses through me. “And you fixed it.”
“Well, as best as I could,” Maxwell says.
“It’s perfect.” I look up at him with emotion in the form of tears in my eyes.
“Sara, I missed you,” he says again, stepping closer. I can smell his cologne, which reminds me of the Hollister store in the mall. Then he cups my hand that is holding the figurine and looks at me, his eyes boring into mine. “I . . . I can’t stop thinking about you.”
“Neither can I,” I whisper truthfully.
Tentatively, his head bobs closer, as if he’s afraid that I will flee, but then he stops, his lips so close to mine.
“Sara?” he whispers mystically, his breath brushing against my lips.
“Yes?” I breathe.
“I want to know . . . Will you go out with me?”
My mind races with emotions and thoughts and words that I should reply back. I open my mouth to reply, but someone else’s voice gets caught up in the night.
“Say yes!”
Maxwell and I both turn our heads to the door, where we find Zoe and Leigha with their heads poking out of the door. Leigha wears a giddy face while Zoe wears anticipation.
“Guys!” I hiss. Even with the soft breeze, my cheeks heat up as a hidden blush crawls across them. “Really?”
“Fine, we’re going.” They swing the door open wider to get their heads through before shutting the door completely.
“Say yes!” Leigha shouts before the door clicks shut.
“I’m sorry,” I say, embarrassed as I turn back to Maxwell, who is wearing a grin.
“It’s fine, but I really think you should listen to your friends’ advice,” he says, looking at me with a smile.
“Oh, you think so?” I reply with the same amount of tease. Bravely, I take a step closer to him.
“Yeah.” His hand slips around my waist, holding me there as he steps even closer. “Can I say something?”
“Of course.”
“Even if it sounds completely cheesy?”
“Yeah.” I nod, my heart fluttering in my chest.
Maxwell looks down, his smile dropping from his face. The brightness in his eyes fades into something else, something serious.
“When I first met you, I never would have imagined that I would have such strong feeling for you. And . . . I never thought I’d start dreaming about you or miss being around you. I . . .” He sighs nervously and quickly glances at his feet then back at me. “I think I’m in love with you, Sara.”
“What?” I gasp. “H–how?”
“It’s just . . . I feel so natural around you, like I’m not afraid to be myself. You know me better than anyone, and I feel . . . I don’t know, different–but in a good way–when I’m around you.” He lets go of me with one hand and rakes it through his hair. “It’s a feeling I’ve never felt with anyone but you before.”
I swallow a lump of mixed emotion. I don’t know if I should be nervous or excited or . . . Butterflies swoop around my stomach.
“Sara, say something.” I can tell by his voice that he is growing nervous with each second I don’t say anything.
“I love you, too.” It isn’t the words I formed in my head. I had this whole conversation on how it is impossible to fall in love with someone in eleven days, and that you can’t fall in love with someone you barely know, but for some reason, none of that comes out.
“Really?” He sounds slightly surprised.
I press my lips together and nod. Then, without thinking, I fling my arms around his neck, pull his head down to mine, and press my lips against his. Around my hips, Maxwell’s grip tightens, and he lifts me off the ground, spinning me around.
After a few spins, he presses his lips tighter against mine, then pulls away, showing off his hidden smile that has tiptoed across his face.
“Way to go you two!” Leigha calls out.
“Get a room!” Zoe shouts.
Twisting our necks around, we look up towards my bedroom window where Leigha and Zoe hang their heads out with smiles on their faces.
“Really, you two?” I laugh, keeping my arms around Maxwell’s neck.
“We love you, too, Sara!” Leigha yells, laughing.
I shake my head and turn back to Maxwell, who is still smiling, but it isn’t his hidden smile anymore. It’s a broader smile that shows off his pearly white teeth. Anyhow, it still makes my heart melt. He looks back at me and s
woops his head back down to me, pressing his lips against mine. With my smile crushing onto his lips, I hug him closer, knowing I never want to let him go again.
Epilogue
The Next Day
“I can’t believe your mom actually let you come with us,” Zoe says as she daintily sips on her big pink straw from her strawberry-banana smoothie. She looks at Leigha who is dipping her McNuggets into her honey mustard.
“Maybe she figured I needed to spend more time with my besties.” Leigha takes a bite of her food.
“Please don’t call us that,” Zoe says, frowning.
I chuckle as I lift my turkey sub to my mouth and take a giant bite.
“So where’s your boy toy?” Zoe asks, raising one of her shaped eyebrows.
“Zoe.” I give her a look. “Don’t call him that. You make me sound like a whore.”
“Sorry.” Zoe shrugs and sips her smoothie.
“Sorry it took so long,” Maxwell apologizes as he pulls up a chair beside me. He places his Subway bag down on the table as he settles in his chair. “It took them forever to heat up the sandwich.”
“We were just talking about you,” Zoe says with a small, dangerous smile.
“Oh yeah?” Maxwell smiles slightly as he unwraps his sandwich.
“Was it worthwhile to wait forever to get your sub heated?” I tease.
“Yep.” He bobs his head as he chews. With a small smile, he looks at me from the corner of his eyes.
I smile and take another bite from my sub. I chew the bite when the need to go to the bathroom pops into my head. Placing my sandwich down, I get up from my seat. “Can you watch my sandwich and stuff?” I ask Zoe and Leigha. Using my foot, I push the pile of shopping bags under the table and push my small, mint green purse towards Leigha.
“Where are you going?” Leigha asks, taking my purse.
“The bathroom?” I frown at her as I walk away from our table, weave my way through the crowd, and head to the edge of the food court where the bathrooms are.
Inside, there are a few other people, but most of the stalls are open. I pick one in the middle, lock the door, and go. I’m just about done going when a shadow slips under my door a second before a folded piece of paper slides under the stall door and stops close to my feet. I finish going and flush before I reach down and pick it up. On the first fold, there’s one word.
Sara.
My body freezes. What is this? Slowly, I unfold the rest of the paper and read what’s inside:
They thought they were safe. After all, they did escape the room in the abandoned warehouse, and she and Leander were together. But they couldn’t see the darkness–the evil–that lurked close by.
My hands tremble so much that I can’t read the words anymore. I close my eyes in attempt to control my fearful heart. The Author (that’s what the police had called our abductor) is near, and the story has only just begun.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would love to say I had done Through the Glass by myself, but that would be a lie, and I don’t like to lie. I have to say thank you to my mom, Stephanie Dewhurst, who encouraged me to continue writing when I thought it was all a big waste of time. Without her encouraging me to continue, this book may have never came alive.
Also, I would like to thank my little cousin, Rebecca Rose Pockat, for being my main inspiration for Lynne. If it wasn’t for all the times I struggled with her while babysitting, Lynne’s character might not have come alive like it did.
I’m thankful for Alicia Rades and her patience and guidance. Seriously, I owe you big time!
Thanks to my family and friends for believing in me and encouraging me.
I want to thank everyone who has helped me through this: Mom, Alicia, Aunt Debbie, Aunt Laura, Ms. Lemmenes, and Mary. Thank you guys for the time it took you to help me through this.
I want to give a shout-out to Desiree Deorto for the terrific cover design. It’s everything I imagined and more. Thank you.
Also, a shout-out to my former English teacher, Brittany Lemmenes, for being totally awesome and for giving the little push towards my dream. If not for her, this book would never have happened.
And to all the readers that took a chance on this book; thank you sooooooo much! If not for you, this book would be nothing. So thank you from the bottom of my heart. I’ll cherish you all forever.
About the Author
Kira Moericke has–and is–growing up in Middle-Of-Nowhere, Wisconsin, trying to finish her senior year of high school, look at colleges, and work hard while trying not to go crazy. Writing is something she fell in love with a few years back along with the love of reading. She is hoping to go to college for something that has to do with writing and wants to move east, wanting to move to the Middle-Of-Somewhere with her adorable Siamese-Snowshoe cat, Phoenix.
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