Page 1 of Tell Me Softly

Prologue

Kami

I still remember it like it was yesterday.

I had gotten up at midnight as we agreed.

Even that made me nervous. I’d never been allowed to stay up that late before.

At ten and a half, I was supposed to be counting sheep…

but I wouldn’t that night. I got out my pink flashlight—which I was proud of even if Taylor made fun of it—and stuffed it into my backpack.

I was dressed; I just had to braid my hair.

Braids were the latest fashion among kids my age.

I peeked out the window and smiled as I saw a flashlight blinking in the window on the upper floor of my neighbors’ house. That was the sign.

With a tingle in my stomach, I pulled the knotted rope out from under my bed just as Taylor had showed me and tied it to a table leg.

When I was sure it was secure, I threw it out the window and tried to gather my courage.

Tonight was going to be crazy—we were going to sneak into Mr. Robin’s house and steal all the chocolate he had hidden in the basement.

Mr. Robin was a grouchy old man who owned the local chocolate shop, and he was the stingiest guy I’d ever met.

He would always show us the sweets he brought home, but at most, he’d give us a single rolled wafer cookie.

He was a jerk, and I could tell he hated us.

Us being me and the Di Bianco brothers, Taylor and Thiago.

Taylor was my age and was my companion on all my adventures, and Thiago—well, he used to be, but since he’d turned twelve, he’d decided he was over all this kid stuff , to quote his exact words.

Not that night, though. That night, he’d agreed to come along, and even if he’d act all special and never stop reminding us that he was basically a teenager now, I knew he was as excited as we were.

I climbed out the window, and right as I was halfway down, I heard them both coming close and whispering to me from below.

“Come on, Kami, they’re going to catch us!” Taylor hissed. That made me more nervous.

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” I replied, hurrying but trying not to kill myself in the process. My house was big, and my room was on the second floor, so high up we’d had to tie three pieces of rope together to reach the ground.

“Kam, get a move on!” Thiago was talking this time. Thiago was the only person who could make me cry, who could get under my skin. And he was also the only person who called me Kam.

A part of me had always wanted to show him I was as brave as he and his brother were, that I wasn’t some dumb pampered girl, even if I wore braids and the cutesy dresses my mom bought me.

But it never mattered what I did. No matter how many bugs I caught, how far I spit, how many adventures I went on with them, Thiago always laughed at me and made me feel like a little kid.

And that’s why I hated it when he grabbed me around the waist and lowered me impatiently when I was a foot and a half off the ground.

“You’re not trying to back out, are you, princess?

” he asked with that sly look his brother sometimes had too.

There was a difference, though: when Taylor looked at me, it made me feel calm, like I could do anything.

But when I felt Thiago’s green eyes bearing down, I got nervous, wanting to impress him.

“Don’t call me that. I’ve always hated it,” I responded, pulling away. He stretched out a hand and pulled on one of my pigtails.

“If you’re not a princess, why are you wearing your hair this way?” he said. He untied one of my ribbons. Thank God I had rubber bands in too.

“Give it back!” I said. I was getting angry.

He laughed and put it in his pocket.

“Stop it, T, you’re going to make her cry,” Taylor said, grabbing my hand and tugging me toward him. I squeezed his hand tight, hating the tears that were threatening to flow from my eyes. I followed him, and we all started running.

Thiago got serious, playing the older brother, when we reached the creek that separated our houses from our stingy neighbor’s.

It was narrow, and the day before, we’d set out a board to be able to cross it.

Taylor hated water, he always had ever since he almost drowned, so Thiago crossed first to help us over.

When he reached out to me and I refused his hand, I’m sure I could see his green eyes glimmer with stung pride.

Soon we were at Mr. Robin’s house. It was so exciting. For a ten-year-old girl, it felt like the bravest thing I could do.

Thiago crouched next to the small, shattered window in the back.

We had broken it playing ball, and Mr. Robin had never fixed it.

Looking inside, we saw all the chocolates and candies, their bright-colored wrappers neatly stacked on bookshelves and cabinets around the room.

It was the biggest treasure we’d ever seen.

“Who’s going in first?” Thiago asked, looking at me and trying not to smile.

“You’re the oldest, you should go,” I said, trying to be serious.

“Fine,” he said, smiling at Taylor and then at me. “Anyway, we don’t all need to go down, two people is enough. One person should stay outside, and we’ll pass them the merchandise.”

Merchandise , what a weird word. I would never have thought of it that way. It was candy!

Taylor and I looked at each other, indecisive and scared.

I was shivering, it was dark, and the wind was making the trees shake.

I’d never have admitted it, but I was terrified of Mr. Robin, and that made me want to go inside where Thiago would protect me.

I couldn’t stand the thought of Mr. Robin coming out and catching me alone in his yard. Who knew what he was capable of?

“I’ll go with you,” I said before Taylor could say the same.

“Good. You stay outside then, Tay,” Thiago said.

After removing the screen, Thiago carefully stuck his hand through the hole and unlocked the window. The click echoed throughout the house in the silence.

“Shh!” I said, my eyes like saucers, my stomach in knots. “He might catch us…”

Thiago opened the window and stuck his head inside.

“We’re up really high. I’m going to try to land on this table in here and help you down.”

I nodded, anxious as he slid his legs inside and hopped down.

“Don’t take too long,” Taylor said, his blue eyes shining with fear.

It was my turn. I squeezed my legs through the window, thinking there was no way I’d have done this if it weren’t for Thiago. He had grown up that summer, unlike Taylor and me. Now a head taller than us, he had no trouble helping me in.

When Thiago let me go and we were alone in there together, I felt something strange, a deep connection that you only feel when you’re doing something dangerous. We smiled as we looked around at the shelves full of chocolates, candies, and cakes.

“Come on, Kam,” he said, helping me down. We grabbed blindly, stuffing our backpacks. For any child, this place was heaven: so much sweet stuff, and all of it at our fingertips. When we had everything we could take, we heard a noise.

I turned to Thiago, who looked frightened but also excited.

“He’s awake,” he said.

Another noise.

We zipped our backpacks, thinking it was too late to grab even one more piece of taffy, and rushed over to the window. Thiago threw the backpacks out to Taylor as quickly as he could.

“Run, Tay!” he said, his voice a strained whisper. “We’ll catch up.” Taylor nodded and took off, slinging both backpacks over his shoulders. I needed Thiago to lift me to the window from the table—it was too high for me to climb alone—and I said, “Help me!” wondering why he had a smile on his face.

“I want something in exchange first,” that demon said.

“Fine, you can have my chocolate, but we need to go now!” I was terrified Mr. Robin would catch us.

“I don’t want your chocolate. I want a kiss,” he said. I was shocked.

“Gross! I’d rather die!” I said instinctively.

He turned around and grabbed the window frame.

“Fine, you can stay here,” he said, getting ready to jump.

“Wait!” I said, grabbing his T-shirt and pulling on it so he wouldn’t leave me behind. I don’t know why, but how I felt about kissing him suddenly changed. I was less grossed out than I was curious.

“Well?” he asked.

A thousand ungraspable thoughts were flooding my mind, and I felt dizzy as I pulled him toward me.

Before I knew it, his lips were touching mine.

It was weird and warm and gross, yet I never forgot that moment or the joy in his eyes as he pulled away, smiled, and pushed me out of that dungeon full of candy and cakes.

We ran like crazy, holding hands, until we reached Taylor.

I still remember how excited we were, how happy, as we looked at our treasure.

That night was my first kiss…and our last adventure together.