The Crimson Key Read Online Free Page B

graduation is coming up, are you excited?” Dad asked.
    Ephraim smiled , humoring him. “Sure.” Ephraim wasn’t happy about leaving me alone in school. He didn’t want to not be with me, and I felt the same.
    Ephraim passed the veggies and smiled at me. He knew this was idle talk and so did I. My parents were leading up to something , I could feel it.
    “Well , I guess now’s as good a time as any to tell you,” my mom started. “We know your summer vacation is coming up and we decided to take you back home for two weeks.” I dropped my fork into my mashed potatoes. I didn’t want to go home. Not now. There may have been a time when that sounded like the best idea ever. However, this was not it.
    “Whose idea was that?” I asked loudly. My dad smiled and waved at me.
    “Mine, honey. Aren’t you excited? A whole two weeks back home visiting Grandma and Grandpa.” I felt like throwing my plate into the sink and stomping upstairs like a spoiled teenager. I was going to be seventeen, didn’t that count for something? Didn’t that mean I could at least pick what I wanted for my birthday? Like new shoes or a day at the beach here? I didn’t ask for much, especially when dad first lost his job. I never whined or complained. I even kept quiet about our move out here. I only complained internally. But now I was going to be going home for two weeks and without Ephraim the whole time. I looked to him and his face didn’t seem disappointed, but his eyes did. I could always see his emotions in his eyes.
    “Brylee , are you not happy?” Mom asked with her serious face. I couldn’t tell them I wasn’t. I couldn’t act unappreciative of the gift they were giving me.
    “No , Mom, I am super stoked.” I gave a little smile and went back to my dinner. My parents talked more about the plans they made for us in Cali. Disneyland, Magic Mountain, and the beach. Yay! Not!
    Nothing sounded better than being with Ephraim and Lyn for the summer. I didn’t know what would happen while I was gone. I was certain I would survive , but not so sure I would want to.
    After we ate , my mom made us do dishes like usual. Ephraim rinsed as I washed; it was our routine. We had it down pat.
    “So not happy about your trip , huh?” he asked as he flung bubbles at me.
    “No , can you tell? I just don’t want to be away from you,” I admitted.
    “Brylee , you can’t worry about that. Go home and visit with your family. It’s been a long time since you have seen them, right?”
    “Yeah , it has.” I hated it when he was right. “I won’t have any fun without you.”
    He rolled his eyes. “Yeah right and I will be having the time of my life here working all summer.”
    He would be working this summer and I would be alone anyway. Maybe this trip wouldn’t be so bad after all. I just wish it wasn’t two whole weeks. I thought maybe that I would try to talk my parents into shortening the trip. I looked around at our kitchen and the work my mom put into it. I wouldn’t miss the house and its inhabitants, that was for sure.
    “Just don’t go meeting some hot guy and leave me for him , okay?” he teased.
    “Ephraim , there is no one else in this whole world I want to be with more than you.” He grabbed me and I almost dropped the dish. He placed me up on the counter and I wrapped my legs around him. My soapy hands ran through his chestnut brown hair. Leaning his head back, he closed his eyes. He liked it when I did that.
    “You’re making me want to carry you upstairs and do bad things ,” he joked. Luckily, my parents were outside drinking their after dinner coffee. “Why don’t you then?”
    He lifted me off the counter and carried me up the stairs while I straddled him. I tried to keep my laughing to a quiet giggle but it was hard. He brought out a side of me I couldn’t keep quiet. He opened the bedroom door with his foot and laid me down on the rug beside my bed.
    “Lay here and be silent,” he ordered. I watched