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through the opening, hearing it make a satisfying thump as it dropped onto our yard outside. Taking a deep breath, I started to pull my body through.
    What are you doing?
    I almost hit my head on the top of the window. Planting my feet back on the ground, I turned and saw Trevor, standing in the entrance to the den.
    Trev, please. Just go back to watching television, okay?
    Where are you going?
    I’m going out with Madison, I’ll be back before you know it, I promise.
    He looked confused, as if he were considering whether or not to yell to our parents. You’re grounded, he said, his voice trailing off like he was trying to reconcile it with what he was seeing.
    Please.
    Trevor looked hard at me as I held my breath, wondering if he was going to turn me in. For a ten year old, he had a pretty intense stare.
    Suddenly his face broke into a grin. Will you buy me the World Cup game if I don’t tell?
    Extortion, I thought. But a fifty dollar Playstation game was a pretty small price in this case. I pretended to consider it for a moment. Deal, I told him, exhaling for the first time.
    Trevor nodded, as if we’d just completed a business transaction. See you later, he said, turning and walking out of the room.
    I didn’t wait for him to change his mind. Hoisting my body through the window frame, I landed feet first in the soft grass outside. I picked up the bag and ran down the block, not slowing down until I was out of view of my house. I didn’t look back once as I climbed into the passenger seat of Madison’s car, her face breaking into a smile when I opened the door. I threw my bag into the backseat as she turned the key in the ignition, both of us wanting to get far away from my house, as quickly as we possibly could.

Chapter Five
    The drive to Manhattan felt like it took no time at all -- after not being able to talk on the phone for longer than three minutes all week, Madison and I had a lot of catching up to do.
    I told her about my parents reaction to the accident, including my mother sniffing my breath as if she were some kind of drug-detecting police dog. I had just barely stopped her from calling Matt’s parents and telling them about the entire party.
    Madison, in turn, told me mostly about Jason. Together we dissected his every move at the party, from asking her to take a walk outside after my parents had told her I was grounded, to telling her that all the girls at his college had gained the freshman fifteen from too much beer and dining hall food. Apparently, there wasn’t anyone nearly as cute as her in the whole school.
    He sounds like a winner, I said with only a little edge of sarcasm.
    Yuck, though, Madison responded. I cannot get fat in college if I want to be an actress. For every pound I gain, I’m doing a week of juice fast.
    I tried not to smile. Madison talked about doing juice fasts all the time, but as far as I knew, she’d never actually made it through lunch on one. I stared out the window, thinking about how much I’d missed her this past week.
    We were over the Triborough bridge and headed down the West Side highway before I thought to change into my actual outfit for the concert. Madison and I had selected it together a month before, and I hadn’t worn it once since I’d bought it, patiently saving it for the show.
    It was a black sleeveless dress that ended a few inches above my knees in an asymmetric hem. The dress was cotton with unfinished edges that rolled up a little bit at the neckline, and when I first tried it on, I thought it was the coolest dress I’d ever seen. I’d paired it with black ankle boots with thick, chunky heels, and when I’d tried them on in the mirror the night before, I felt older than just eighteen.
    Madison was wearing jeans with a yellow tube top that looked stunning against her blonde hair. She had on a black studded cuff and tall platform heels that she’d taken off for the drive into the city, but were resting on the floor in front of me.
    I climbed