there?
My mom shouldn’t be home already. She was working a double. I tensed as my doorknob jiggled.
In a panic, I swept my room looking for some sort of weapon to defend myself. When I came up empty, I leapt off my bed and hid in my closet, cursing myself as I realized I’d just become the victim in every horror movie I’d ever watched.
I held my breath as my door creaked open. I heard the intruder take a few tentative steps into my room and then the crackle of radio static broke the silence. “Halo, this is T-Rex. Princess is not in the tower. I repeat, Princess is not in the tower.”
“She has to be,” said a voice on the other end of the radio.
I immediately flung my closet door open, glaring at my nosy neighbor. “Robby! What do you think you’re doing?”
He jumped when he saw me then quickly spoke into a walkie-talkie. “Uh oh! Mission compromised!”
He tossed the walkie-talkie at me and darted from my room. I tried catching it but missed. It sailed past me and landed somewhere in my closet, but I opted to leave it and chase after Robby instead. By the time I made it to the hall, Robby was already hightailing it down the stairs.
“For the last time, Robby, you’re not allowed in my room!” I yelled, as he thundered toward the first floor.
“Sorry, but it was important,” he yelled back.
I leaned over the railing scowling at him as he looked up at me from the landing. “What’s important?”
“Just listen, okay?”
“To what?” But Robby was already darting out my front door.
I heard his front door bang shut and rolled my eyes. I did not have the patience for his pranks today. Sighing I turned to head back to my bedroom, but the crackle of radio static stopped me in my tracks.
That’s when I remembered the stupid walkie-talkie he’d thrown at me. Well, he wasn’t getting it back, that was for sure. Gritting my teeth, I stomped back to my bedroom, going straight to my closet to find it. I was going to turn it off and hide it from him. It would serve him right for scaring me half to death by sneaking into my room.
I flicked the light on in my closet, cringing at the mess. I really needed to be better organized. How was I supposed to find a walkie-talkie in this disaster? There were piles of clothes and shoes everywhere. It was like searching for a needle in a haystack. But I knew if I didn’t at least look for it, I’d probably be listening to Robby and his little friends pretending to be secret agents all night.
Luckily, the sound of radio static that suddenly filled my closet gave me a clue where to start searching. I followed the sound to the back corner, reaching around in a pile of my shoes. But before I could find the walkie-talkie, the sound of Wyatt’s voice crackled through it, spearing my heart.
“Layne, I don’t know if you’re listening to this, but I really hope you are.”
My heartbeat picked up speed and so did my search as I frantically tore my closet apart looking for the walkie-talkie. I needed to find it and turn it off now! I couldn’t listen to Wyatt’s remorseful voice a moment longer. It was tearing at my ruined heart.
I knew if I had to listen to him apologize that I’d forgive him and take him back. That’s why I’d been avoiding him. I knew one look in those gorgeous green eyes, and I’d be sunk. And as much as I’d wanted to drown in those deep pools of emerald green, I refused to let myself.
Wyatt had hurt me. And I deserved better.
His voice crackled through my closet again. “I might have screwed everything up between us and I know you probably won’t give me another chance. I don’t blame you. But I won’t screw this up. I won’t let you down when it comes to your music. It means too much. You mean too much to me, Layne. So anyway, even if you never speak to me again, I just wanted to do this one last thing for you.” He exhaled wearily. “I may have ruined my dreams, but I can still make yours come true.”
I dug through my closet in a frenzy. Where the heck was that stupid walkie-talkie? I was shaking as I tried to hold back the tears. Finally, my trembling hands closed around something