Crossing the Barrier by Martine Lewis Page A

so much better than him, and she confused him in more ways than one. He didn’t know if she would really care for him to begin with.
    And what would she see in him? Her life looked so perfect, so easy. Why would she burden herself with a guy like him?
    As Malakai got to his jeep, his phone pinged. He retrieved it from his back pocket and looked at it. It was a message from Andrea.
    I’m sorry.
    Malakai decided the best thing to do was to ignore it. As he got in the driver’s seat, he threw his phone on the dashboard.

 
     
    Chapter Eighteen
     
     
    LILY
    All evening while she tried to do her homework, Lily was constantly distracted by Beatrice’s disapproval permeating the house.
    Beatrice was having a function again the following Friday and required Lily to attend. Lily had no interest in being paraded in front of anyone anymore, and for once in her life, she had refused to attend. After all, she was not a girl on display for the highest bidder to marry, and that’s exactly how Beatrice treated her.
    “You ungrateful child,” Beatrice had hissed. “I give you everything you want. I house you. I clothe you. I pay for your activities…”
    “Really, Beatrice?” Lily had asked with a raised eyebrow. “I’m sorry to inform you that I own the house. I pay for my clothes. I paid for band. All you paid was for me to join the dancers, and I want nothing to do with them. And oh, by the way, I paid for my last laptop and my phone. So you don’t really have a hold on me, whether you like it or not.”
    Then Lily had noticed a deep red stain on Beatrice’s white blouse. Fighting a frown, she had looked up; Beatrice’s nose was bleeding.
    “So you know, your nose is bleeding, and you’re making an embarrassment of yourself,” she had added, pointing to the blouse.
    Lily had hit a nerve. Beatrice worked hard to make sure she would never embarrass herself, regardless of whom she was with. Quickly, she had put a finger to her nose and pulled it away, red with blood. She had thrown a murderous glare at Lily before storming out to her room.
    “Don’t worry, Beatrice, your secret is safe with me,” Lily had said flippantly to Beatrice’s retreating back.
    The entire episode had been strange. Lily had never known her mother’s nose to bleed before.
    Without adding a word, Lily had gone to her room, exhausted from her afternoon of band practice and in no mood to have any further discussions.
    Doing homework now was a total waste of time. She couldn’t get Malakai out of her head long enough to read two sentences. Add to that Beatrice’s hostility, and it was impossible for her to concentrate at all.
    And she was getting hungry.
    Lily took her phone and texted Sandra.
    Need to go out. Feel caged. Wanna go eat?
    The response came a moment later.
    Same as usual. You drive. Be out in five.
    Lily smiled and went to her bathroom to see if she was presentable. Once she was satisfied, she grabbed her purse, her phone, and her keys from the dresser, and went down the stairs.
    As Lily walked outside, Sandra was crossing the street. “You’re lucky,” Sandra said, as she got to the passenger door.
    They both got into the car, and Lily started the engine.
    “I was about to sit at the table when you texted. Mom excused me, of course.”
    “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have bothered you.”
    “You didn’t bother us. If you text me last minute like this, it’s because you need me. Mom knows you’re not prone to spontaneity without reasons.”
    “That’s what she said, isn’t it?” Lily asked with an amused smile, backing the car out of the driveway.
    “Yeah, her exact words,” Sandra answered with a grin. “David almost asked to tag along, but I think Mom must have thrown him a glare ‘coz he just opened his mouth and didn’t say anything. It was funny, really. He looked like a fish.”
    “I wish I had a brother like yours,” Lily said, driving down the street.
    “No, you don’t!”
    But what Lily felt from