Autumn Drawings
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I walked straight out of the school and went into my car. When I got into my car, I tried to start it, but I was shaking so bad I couldn’t even put the key in the ignition. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I was so mad at other people and myself, and there was no going back. I finally got the car started and sped home. As I was running up the steps of the staircase of my building, I began to grow tired. I could not figure out why I was running, but I couldn’t stop and give myself time to change my mind.
When I got to my apartment that was on the sixth floor, I unlocked my door and ran straight in without stopping even to put my stuff down. I opened my sunroom door, and I stepped onto the ledge of the balcony. I was holding onto the side so tight while looking down. While I was standing up there, the wind against my face made me feel free. I looked down again, and from what I can tell if I let myself go, there would be no way to live after the impact of the fall. Once I faced the feelings I was pushing away, I felt a wave of emotions come over me. All the memories of my childhood that I tried so hard to forget and how alone I felt all my life. I started to lean forward, letting my hand slip. Before I could fall, I felt a hand come over my mouth, and then everything went black.
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About the Book
Seventeen-year-old Xo lives by herself, having filed for emancipation when she was sixteen in order to escape her parents’ drug-controlled lives. A high school junior, she faces constant bullying from her classmates—even from Beth, who is supposedly her friend. She works as a waitress after school to support herself.
Although Xo endures flashbacks to the trauma she experienced at the hands of her parents, she wants to believe she has put her troubled childhood behind her. But when a figure emerges from the shadows and upends her life, she soon discovers that the past is coming back to haunt her in the form of her parents’ dealer and his teenage son, Kit, one of Xo’s classmates. As she struggles with terrible memories, she finds a possible ally in Kit, even if he is one of the ones holding her captive. But only time will tell whether the two of them can escape the violence of their lives and find happiness together.
In this novella, a teenage girl living on her own deals with the consequences of her parents’ poor choices and finds an unlikely source of hope and happiness in her kidnapper’s son.
About the Author
Kelli Huffman is a young writer who seeks to open the eyes of her readers and make them truly think. She currently lives in New Castle, Pennsylvania.