Chapter 17

(Bakersville Elementary, 2002)

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Emily was woken up by the sound of a soft knock at the window. She had gotten used to it by now, and she had become a light sleeper as a result. She needed to hear Gabriel coming in, otherwise, he would sleep outside in the cold. This had been their routine for the past few months. Ever since the day Gabriel showed up at Emily’s door, she had been allowing him to sneak into her room when her parent’s fighting got worse.

Their parents didn’t know that he had been sneaking out, and she hoped they wouldn’t because it seemed that the fighting was getting so bad that he couldn’t sleep. She got out of bed and opened the window for him. It was dangerous, because her room was not on the ground floor of the house, and he had to do some serious climbing to get there.

He climbed into the room. She had already set out some snacks for him in case he had not eaten, and his sleeping bag for when he was ready to sleep. He had been crying, she could tell. She hugged