Being grounded stank. Hope snuggled with her stuffed dragon in bed, her lip out. She hadn’t gotten to play with her friends or watch television for a whole day so far. It wasn’t fair. The sky cried big tears for her. Yeah. That’d teach them. The sky was on her side and would rain until she wasn’t sad anymore.
A tapping at her window made her sit up. It was dark outside.
She looked at her door, but it stayed closed. Holding her dragon close, she slipped out of bed and padded to the window.
Pax was on the other side, his nose flattened against the glass. She gasped and struggled with the heavy pane, shoving it up. “Paxton Phoenix,” she whispered. “What are you doing?”
“Move back.” Water dripped off his too-long hair and onto his shoulders.
She kept her stuffed animal away from the rain and stumbled back.
Paxton’s chubby hands grabbed the sill, and he jumped inside, landing really quiet. When had he learned to be so quiet? Without saying anything, he pulled the window shut with one hand. “I wanted to check on you.” Her butterfly nightlight was on and made the bruise on his face stand out.
She rushed forward and hugged him. “I missed you.”
He patted her back and leaned away to look at her face. “You’re okay, right? They were mad. Your dad was super mad.”
“No.” Her lip trembled. “I’m not okay.”
Pax straightened. “What did he do?”
She paused. “Huh?”
“What did your dad do?” Paxton’s silvery blue eyes glowed in the darkness.
She sniffed. “He grounded me. No television or toys.” It was terrible.
Pax’s shoulders went back down. “That’s all?”
That’s all? It was awful. “Yes.” She sniffed again and handed over the dragon. The green guy was Pax’s favorite, and since his daddy didn’t let him play with stuffed animals, he played with them at Hope’s. “Are you in trouble?”
“Um, yeah. Grounded. But I snuck out.” He looked down at his wet shoes on the rug. “My dad is on patrol and won’t be back until tomorrow afternoon.”
She blinked. “Who’s staying with you?”
“Nobody. I’m eight,” he said, his shoulders kinda hunched.
Her mama didn’t know he stayed alone. Hope shivered. “Wanna stay here until morning?”
He nodded, not looking at her eyes.
She went to her closet and pulled her daddy’s shirt off the floor. She’d worn it to sleep in a few nights ago. “Here. Put your clothes on the chair to dry,” she whispered, turning back around and looking at her bed.
When he’d changed, they jumped in the bed, giggling. Pax still held the dragon, so Hope picked up the teddy bear Uncle Logan had given her last week. Pax held her hand and snuggled into his pillow. “Hope? If you go and see Drake, try to take me with you, okay?”
“Okay,” she whispered, her eyelids closing. She had known they’d like each other if they ever met. Things were working out just how she wanted. “Night, Pax.”
“Night, Hope.” He went to sleep right away.
She listened to his even breathing and wondered if he should stay with her all the time. He didn’t seem to like his daddy and tried to come to her house a lot. Pax could be her brother. That’d be fun. She snuggled with her bear, keeping Pax’s hand in hers. It was time to see if she could bring him into the dreamworld.
She had to kinda fall asleep first, so she let herself drift.
Then she walked on a light pink sand that was warm on her feet. A deep blue ocean rolled in pretty waves, and on the other side was a forest with green trees. A bird flew above her, its bright purple wings gliding on the barely there wind.
She kept walking, enjoying the warmth. She heard Drake before she saw him.
He walked out of the trees, this time wearing black jeans and a red T-shirt.
Good. He was there. She closed her eyes and drew on the idea of Paxton as hard as she could. Then she opened her eyes. Nope. He wasn’t in the dreamworld. Darn it.
Drake moved nearer, kicking off his tennis shoes and socks to walk on the sand. “How much trouble are you in?” he asked, reaching her.
She winced. “Grounded. You?”
He nodded. “Really grounded. I got lectured for hours too. You?”
“Yes.” Danger, Kurjans, enemies, and a bunch of other stuff. “I told them you wouldn’t hurt me.”