9781422288221

C HAPTER 1

12

hearts thumped with apprehension as they contemplated which laws they had broken. As she made her way toward the kitchen, eighteen-year-old Krista thought about the college acceptance letter she had stuffed deep in the garbage. It was from Kansas State University, the college in her hometown. That’s where her parents wanted her to go—to save money they said. Krista was sure their real reason was to keep her close to home. She had her heart set on Berkeley—the West Coast, beach-bound California. Heading for the kitchen table, Krista drew her shoulders back and strengthened her resolve. It did not matter if they found the letter, she told herself. She was not go- ing to Kansas State. While Krista strategized for the expected fight, fifteen-year-old Phillip approached the family conference contemplating his own fate. The past few weekends he’d told his parents he was going to the movies with his friends, but he spent the evenings making out in his girlfriend’s car instead. Everyone thought he was the luckiest guy in school because his girlfriend was sixteen and could drive. He wouldn’t feel lucky for long, however, if his parents found out what he was actually doing on Saturday nights. Fear and guilt twisted in twelve-year-old Jonathan’s chest as well. Last night, two of his friends had come over to play video games in the basement. Taking the beer had been his friends’ idea, but Jonathan had gone along with it. He thought they should only take one and split it, but his friends told him to stop being a baby and take three, one for each of them. Three missing beers would be a lot easier for his parents to notice than one, but what was he going to say to his friends? So he snuck the three cans from the fridge and concealed his grimace as he slugged down the awful-tasting liquid. Later, Jonathan stowed the empty cans in the recycling bin. Looking at his parents’ drawn faces, he thought maybe the extra cans had been detected after all. Blame it on Phillip , he told himself as he dragged his feet toward the table, on Phillip first and then on Krista .