Outside by Nicole Sewell

out of the way, careful to avoid eye contact as I shake his hand. “Alaina,” I mumble.
    “Sorry about the misunderstanding. I thought you were peddling religion.” He laughs and I look up.
    “Not today,” I say, smiling slightly.
    Graham checks his shiny silver watch and turns to Adam. “I’ll be back around four. Are you coming with Christine and me tonight?”
    Adam shakes his head, crossing his arms over his chest.
    He sighs. “Suit yourself.” Turning to me he says, “Nice meeting you, Alaina.”
    Graham’s shoes echo against the glossy wooden floor as he walks away.
    Adam reaches out and takes my bag from my shoulder. “Come on. Do you want something to drink?”
    “Sure,” I say.
    He drops my bag beside the front door and leads me to the kitchen. Adam’s house is different in the daytime without a bunch of people screaming and splashing in the backyard. The quiet is nearly deafening.
    “Where is everyone?” I ask, leaning against the familiar counter in the center of the kitchen.
    “Dad’s going to the office. Some big case just rolled in. And Christine’s, uh…” He trails off, walking toward the refrigerator. “Doing whatever Christine does.”
    “Who’s Christine?”
    “My dad’s wife,” he says. There’s a sharpness in his tone that makes me drop the subject.
    Glancing around the enormous kitchen, I say, “Just the three of you in this giant house?”
    He shrugs and opens the refrigerator door. “Coke, Sprite, water, or sweet tea?” He turns to me, waiting for my answer.
    I hesitate. My mouth remembers the fizzy sweetness of the Coke from the other night, but I’m not sure if it’s a good idea. “Coke, please,” I say, giving in to my watering mouth and the persistent urge to taste it again. I’ll just have one can this time. That should prevent getting another stomachache.
    Adam takes two cans out and closes the door, motioning for me to follow him again.
    My eyes scan the countertops as I leave the kitchen, searching for any remaining bags of candy. I have to figure out how to get some more on my own later.
    We take seats in the living room where Holly and her friends drank and smoked the other night. I choose a spot on the couch that’s far enough away from him that I won’t be violating any proximity rules.
    “Okay, so tell me about your visit with your mom.” He opens a Coke and leans over, handing it to me.
    I take it, careful to avoid touching him at all. “Well, she told me that Shiloh, where I’m from, is closed down. She also told me that I need to be careful of people like you and Beth and Holly. That you’re only kind so you can lead me away from the Lord.”
    He raises his eyebrows, smirking. “She’s on to us.”
    My mouth hangs open. “It’s true?”
    Adam laughs, shaking his head. “Of course not! There is such a thing as good people in the world. And judging by the way your people did you, there aren’t many good people in your cult.”
    Frowning, I set my Coke on the low table in front of us. “How do you know about what my people did to me?” Someone told! Holly maybe, or Serena. Not Jacki. She doesn’t seem like the type to tell someone else’s secrets.
    “It’s been all over the news for weeks,” he says. “A girl, beaten and left to starve in a shed in a cult called Shiloh? Then you come to live with your aunt while all the rest of the cult kids were allowed to stay with their parents? It wasn’t hard to figure out it was you.”
    I stare at my hands and wait for him to ask what I did to deserve the beating I got. Instead he leans forward. “What’s wrong?”
    “Don’t you want to know what I did?” I look up at him.
    He shrugs, opening his can. “Don’t matter, really. Unless you want to tell me.”
    Shaking my head, I look away again. “I don’t.”
    “So what else did your mom say?”
    I reach for my Coke. “Nothing really. We prayed. You know, we’re not supposed to speak unnecessarily.”
    He scrunches his nose. “I