CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 3

The evening dragged on. Mattie didn’t dare call or text Sam; she’d just have to wait it out. You could have cut the tension in the house with a knife; however, according to Mom, no one fights in front of family.

It was 10:00 pm by the time Mom called Erika to the kitchen. It had taken that long for the family to leave and the fighting between Mom and Erika to begin. It had given Mattie enough time to pack her backpack. She was planning on staying at Sam’s for the rest of the night.

“Just where do you think you’re going, Missie?” Mom demanded.

“Bridget’s.” Mattie retorted, “I’d like some sleep and since you’ll be giving Erika a piece of your mind, and she’ll be yelling at you, I doubt I’d get any sleep here. If you need me, call my cell.” Mattie didn’t wait for her mother to ban her from going. She also knew her mother didn’t buy her story.

Mattie bounced down the deck stairs. ‘So this is how Erika feels when she escapes. I should have done this long ago.’ The thick, damp night air was still excessively warm, even for August. She made her way quickly to Sam’s.

Mattie called Sam on her cell phone. “Hi, ya, sexy. I’m on my way over.”

“Mattie?” Sam sounded like he had been asleep already. “Where are you? It’s late.”

“I’m walking over. Just go up and unlock the back door. You can go back to bed sleepy head and I’ll sneak in.”

Sam hung up the phone and grabbed his robe. He scratched his head. ‘This was not like Mattie.’ He had expected her to show up in the morning when she hadn’t called him. Quietly, he snuck up and unlocked the back door. If his parents found out, he knew they would be furious. Before he returned to his room, he grabbed a last middle of the night chocolate chip cookie and a glass of milk.

It took Mattie less time to walk to Sam’s than she had anticipated. “Checkers. Checkers. Good dog. It’s just me, Mattie,” she whispered quietly as she crossed the yard to the back door. She could hear Checker’s toenails dancing on the tile floor. She stooped down and slowly opened the door so the little mutt didn’t escape. “Hi, Checkers.” His tail wagged as she pet him and he licked her face with appreciation. After closing the door, she got him a treat from the jar on the counter.

Mattie carefully made her way through the dark house and past Sam’s parent’s bedroom. As she opened the basement door, it seemed to scream, ‘Someone is here who shouldn’t be here.’ Mattie’s heart pounded in her chest. This was more Erika’s style; Mattie had never purposefully been deceitful.

She stood in Sam’s doorway and listened to the springs squeak as he rolled over and began to snore. “Just my luck. The man of my dreams snores loud enough to rattle windows.”

The glow-in-the-dark band stickers gave Mattie just enough light to navigate through his room. Mattie set her backpack on the desk and put her leather jacket on the chair. Nervously, she pulled off her shoes and socks, her t-shirt, and her cut-off jean shorts. She stood in the dark contemplating whether she should remove her bra and panties as well. She had been adamant about waiting for marriage; she wasn’t sure what she was thinking now.

Her mind made up, she crossed to the bed and carefully lifted the covers and crawled in next to Sam.

WORD COUNT –
CHAPTER 1 = 891
CHAPTER 2 = 1,037
CHAPTER 3 = 597
TOTAL = 2,525