Aspen gave her mother a wan smile. Miriam was Stephan’s real daughter, and he spoiled her and would do anything for her. He treated Aspen like an intruder, but Miriam could do nothing wrong.
Her mom pressed something small and cold into her hand. “Here, it’s a kinetic flashlight. Shake it, it charges automatically. Switch it on if you’re scared. I hope the bulb won’t fuse, but it doesn’t use batteries so you shouldn’t be able to break it,” she teased.
Reaching out for the plastic flashlight, Aspen gave her mother a grateful smile. For as long as she could remember, whenever she touched something electronic, it exploded or fused, and the flashlight was just what she needed now. She slid the small device neatly under her pillow.
“Thank you, Mom. And thanks for waking me. I think you’d better go back to bed before Stephan gets too mad.”
Her mother rolled her eyes and sighed. “I know. Good night, sweetie. I love you.”
Quickly, her mom placed a kiss on her forehead and rose from the bed. She switched off the light and pushed the door slightly ajar behind her as she left.
Aspen ducked her head under the quilt, then grabbed the blue flashlight and clicked on the power button, grateful for the faint glow. She held on to it and watched her breath move tiny dust particles past the bulb. The flashlight was still clutched firmly in her hand as she fell asleep.
Chapter 2
Meeting Dylan
Aspen knocked on the bathroom door.
“Miriam, I’m going to be late. The bus is almost here and I need to wash my face.”
“Wait, I’m not done yet!” her stepsister screamed at her.
With a sigh, she walked back to her room and pulled on a pair of jeans and a sleeveless cotton top. The quilt was drawn neatly over the bed a few seconds later, and she folded her pajamas into the chest of drawers. After slipping her feet into a pair of sneakers, she ran a brush through her silver-blond hair and pulled it in its usual ponytail high on her head. There was no mirror in the room, so she couldn’t see how she looked in the pale blue top she’d chosen to wear.
The sound of a toilet flushing signaled Miriam’s departure from the bathroom. Aspen rushed in to wash her face and brush her teeth, then grabbed her backpack and ran downstairs.
“Morning, sweetie.”
Her mom smiled as she entered the kitchen. Norma looked a lot like her daughter—with a petite body and slim face—but her blond hair was pixie-short whereas Aspen wore hers long. Her mom’s eyes were cornflower blue, much more vivid than the silver-blue eyes Aspen had inherited from her father, but they both had the same wide, bow-shaped mouths.
“I don’t have time to eat, Mom,” she lied. Because of her nightmare the previous night, she felt sluggish and didn’t want to have breakfast.
Her mother frowned and pressed a brown paper bag into her hand. “Here, take this with you, it’s a bagel. It should tide you over till you get home.” Norma then gave her a hug before she rushed out the kitchen door.
Once Aspen was outside, she slowed as she struggled with the straps of her backpack, but paused when her stepfather’s bike roared behind her.
Stephan rolled his huge motorcycle out of the garage, and she stopped on the sidewalk in front of their house to watch him in silence. He looked intimidating with a black full-faced helmet and leather jacket. Miriam stood waiting for him near the garage door under the shade of a huge oak tree, her auburn curls tucked under a helmet of her own.
Her stepfather flipped the throttle and revved the bike loudly, and Aspen stepped back in fright. After swinging her leg over the motorbike seat, Miriam tightened the helmet strap around her chin. The black leather jacket she wore had been a present from her dad, and she wore it together with designer jeans and high heels.
Aspen rubbed her hands subconsciously along the seams of the faded jeans she’d bought at a thrift shop the previous year. Her mother couldn’t afford new clothes, and Aspen would never consider asking Stephan for money. So she’d worked during her summer vacation and had bought a few pairs of jeans with the extra cash.
As soon as she’d adjusted her backpack, Miriam wrapped her arms around her father’s waist. She turned back to smirk at Aspen as the big bike pulled off the curb in a roar of exhaust fumes.
The two rode away and Aspen watched them pass a line of vehicles parked along the tree-lined road. Her neighborhood had many two-story wooden houses that were sandwiched tightly next to one another. A few had flags flying from their front porches, lending a splash of bright colors along the street.
The pneumatic wheeze of the school bus alerted her as it rounded the corner, and she waited patiently for it to come to a halt next to her.
Mamma Megs was the bus driver, and she gave Aspen a big, toothy grin. “C’mon, sugah, you ain’t gonna get to school if ya don’t climb on up.” Her smooth dark arms gripped the large steering wheel, and she rested her elbows on ample thighs.