Chapter 2
Chapter 2: The Boy at the Door
Before I could answer, the front door opened downstairs.
Steven.
Kayla’s boyfriend.
He called up the stairs like he always did, cheerful and polite, asking if the corsage should stay in the fridge.
We had trusted him.
We had given him our spare-key code. We had let him eat at our kitchen table, take family pictures with us, and call me Mrs. Adams in a voice so respectful it fooled every adult in the room.
He appeared in the bathroom doorway and stopped.
For half a second, his face went blank.
Then he put on concern like a mask.
“Baby,” he said, stepping toward Kayla. “Don’t cry. We can fix this. A wig, maybe. You’ll still be beautiful tonight.”
Kayla folded into him.
Reese stood behind me, clutching the pink recorder.
“I cut it so she couldn’t go with you,” she said.
Steven gave a small laugh.
“Kids say weird things.”
Reese did not blink.
“You hurt her,” she whispered. “I saw the marks.”
May you like
The bathroom went silent.
Kayla stopped crying.
