Chapter 2

"All right, it's time for us to go bathe."

"Time's up."

I fought down the panic and let go of the door, ducking out of sight.

The whole group came out of the KTV room in good spirits.

I hesitated, then followed close behind anyway.

We reached Letitia's place, and after the friends horsed around for a while, they left.

Once they were gone, Simon scooped Letitia up and carried her into the bathroom.

The huge tub had already been filled with water.

Scattered with rose petals, and some perfume meant for setting a mood.

The kind of scent that goes to work on you the moment you breathe it in.

"You little vixen, you really know how to play!"

Simon flicked Letitia on the nose.

Then Letitia laughed and darted away across the wide bathroom. "Come catch me! Every time you do, I take off a piece."

The door hadn't latched properly. My hand shook on the handle, and my throat felt like someone was squeezing it shut, my breath coming wrong.

Through the crack, I froze.

Simon pinned Letitia down, and one piece of clothing after another went flying.

And then they started doing what couldn't be put into words.

The tears spilled over at once, and that scent of theirs drifted out through the crack too.

It nearly made me throw up on the spot, and all I could do was flee.

I stepped out the door into deep night.

I didn't know which way to go, didn't even know where I'd ended up.

Then a motorcycle roared behind me.

It was coming straight at me, fast. Whoever it was, they meant harm, so I picked up my pace and hurried away.

"Hahaha, block that out-of-town girl!"

"Letty said to teach her a lesson if we saw her, so she'll never dare set foot in Camelback Hollow again."

I couldn't outrun a motorcycle. In the end it slammed into me.

I hit the grass, and pain shot through my thigh.

They didn't leave. They kept jeering at me in dialect.

The moment they weren't watching, I bolted.

They were in no rush to chase, as if they wanted me to get a little farther first before they ran their prey down.

My face went white, and I grabbed my phone and called Simon. He was from Camelback Hollow, after all.

But the call rang and rang and never connected.

When the motorcycle knocked me down a second time, I heard my rib crack.

Just as I was giving up, the call went through.

"Penny? Why are you calling at a time like this?"

"Simon, someone hit me with a motorcycle on purpose—"

"Sy, we've got ten minutes left in the bath. Don't tell me you want to break the rule and start over!"

My cry for help was cut off by Letitia's voice pitching a few notes higher, and Simon wavered.

"Simon, come find me first. Those people are from your Camelback Hollow. I never provoked them. Unless it's the locals—"

"Penny, the people in our village are very kind to outsiders. You mustn't go smearing Camelback Hollow's name."

"Don't worry! They're just having a little fun with you."

"Here's what we'll do. Put me on speaker and let me talk to them."

I quickly hit the speaker button, and Simon switched into the local dialect to talk to the man.

"Clay Clayton, it's got to be you, right!"

"Heh heh, yeah, it's me!"

"Here's the thing, I'm in the bath with your Letty right now, doing things I can't say out loud!"

"You get me, right?"

Clay caught on instantly and answered with a snicker. "Heh heh, I get it, you're rolling around with Letty right now, huh!?"

"Yeah!" "So stall for me. We've got about ten minutes left."

"Heh heh, you got it!"

"Have a good time with my Letty!!"

I froze on the spot like I'd been struck by lightning.

Simon assumed I couldn't understand the dialect. What he never knew was that before I turned ten I'd lived in Camelback Hollow, so of course I understood every word.