Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 135522 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135522 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
I was on the edge of my seat, staring at Cole.
And I knew it instantly: he had seen Anthony’s wound.
He was not okay.
“TJ …” I said under my breath, watching Cole. “He’s … He’s …”
“What?” murmured TJ back, distracted.
Frankie carried on blithely with the auction, Cole hooked to his arm, face pale and slick with sweat, his eyes unfocussed.
“Cole isn’t right,” I said. “He’s about to faint.”
TJ found that strange and almost laughed. “Huh? What do you mean faint? Why?”
Spotlights snapped on, shining on the two final men left in the bidding war.
I only now realized one of them was Mae’s brother.
Not only was Cole on the verge of fainting onstage with no one noticing except for a completely helpless me who couldn’t do anything about it, but my own nightmare was playing out before my eyes.
It was Cole’s turn to be rescued.
He needed to be taken off of that stage.
He needed to be distracted from the nightmare that was quite likely playing out before his own eyes—a nightmare he didn’t understand, a nightmare born the day he came to my rescue, the first time, when we were just kids playing in his backyard.
What could I possibly do from down here?
How was I going to help Cole?
“$800 going once …!” called Frankie.
I felt my stomach drop. I pried my phone out of my pocket and thumbed through my apps. I opened my savings account. My phone lagged—loading, loading, loading …
“$800 going twice …!” rang out Frankie’s voice over the mic.
All around me, his voice boomed like drums.
Going twice … going twice … going twice …
The number flashed before my eyes.
How much would I need to keep for bills? How much could I afford to part with? How can I possibly quantify how much Cole is worth against my own life savings?
I performed a quick calculation.
Fingers of fear squeezed my throat shut as I parted my lips.
I choked, my voice failing me.
No. I wasn’t going to let fear rule me another second. I rose to my feet, startling TJ. Then I stood atop my chair as a gasp issued from my mother behind me, who muttered my name.
And then I proved to be stronger than the fear that squeezed at my throat as the words finally rang out: “$1,367, give or take!”
Seats all around me creaked as people turned to face me.
Surprised gasps.
Questioning murmurs.
Confusion.
Then there was a third spotlight—and it struck me like a big white lightning bolt, causing my face to twist and grimace against it, for a second making me look as if I just ate a lemon whole.
I think that about brings us up to present time.
Me, standing on a chair.
With a spotlight glaring on me like the sun at high noon and rendering me blind.
And a ton of faces and eyes and bodies turned toward me in various states of jaw dropping, wrinkled foreheads, and confusion.
It’s like my audition all over again.
A desperate attempt at being brave, defying my fear.
On the tiniest stage imaginable: the seat of a chair.
Except there’s no friendly face of Tamika in the audience in front of me like there was at the audition, nor the theatre teacher Ms. Joy. Just a bunch of strangers. And a lot of faces that read quite clearly “who the hell are you?” and “what are you doing invading the true love that is clearing happening with Cole and this really hot guy with a sister whose name we don’t know yet is Mae?”
But my attention is on none of them.
It’s on Cole, who only now zeroes his eyes onto me.
Seeing me.
Becoming aware that I’m here.
Then I watch a smile of relief spread over his face.
It’s more than I deserve, but it makes my heart burst.
I’ve succeeded, I think to myself, amazed at the power I just proved that I have. I’ve saved Cole from his own nightmare.
The next thing I know, Frankie makes a performance out of my bid. “Sounds like we’ve got ourselves a new contender! $1,367!” He gives the audience a funny look, bringing them in. “A bit of an odd number, but we’ll roll with it, right?”
“Uh, no we won’t,” argues Mae’s gorgeous brother. Is it weird that I call him that? I mean, I still don’t know his name, and it fits him annoyingly well. “That’s not even a correct bid.”
I gaze at him from across the pavilion. “Why not?”
He doesn’t acknowledge me in the least, facing Frankie. “This bozo shows up out of nowhere, puts in a bogus bid just to disrupt the auction, and we’re going to just ‘roll with it’?”
“I can assure you, it’s not bogus,” I speak up. “It’s my savings. All of it.” I peer down at my phone. “Well … most of it.”
Indeed, I valued Cole at higher than any of my material needs.
Such as a vehicle to get around town.