Never Let Her Go Novel – “Good morning and welcome to Rosie’s diner.” an angelic voice said. “May I take your order?” The boys looked up at me. Their eyes widened. One of them gasped loudly. What’s wrong? Do I have something on my face? Lucy. My Lucy. My baby sister. It is her. The girl smiling back at us has our eyes. She has our hair. She looks like us. It has to be her.
Noah POV My three brothers and I were driving through a small town on our way to Los Angeles. School was finally over, and it was time for summer break. My older brother, Liam, suggested a trip to Los Angeles, and we agreed immediately. My brothers and I always loved to travel and explore. Liam often took us on random vacations, and we would always travel by car. We got to see so much of our country, and that is something we would never have been able to do if we were flying on a plane.
My brothers use our private plane mostly for work or when we travel to Europe, although I am pretty sure that Liam would drive to Europe if it was possible. I looked at Theo. He was staring at his phone with his usual cold glare. He wasn’t always like that. He had changed ever since that awful night 10 years ago. I shook my head, trying to get rid of the thought. I can’t think about it. It will only make me feel terrible. “Ezra.” I called my brother. “Can we stop somewhere? I am hungry.” He looked at me through the rearview mirror and nodded. “Liam.” Ezra called our eldest brother. “Wake up. We are stopping for breakfast.” Liam was currently sleeping on the passenger seat. He was the one driving most of the time, and he was really tired.
Theo and I recently got our driving licenses, so our brothers let us drive, but only for a short period of time. They didn’t want us to get tired and distracted on the road. We should be lucky Liam let us drive at all. He barely lets Ezra drive his precious car. I was surprised when he agreed to let Theo and me drive. Liam mumbled something we couldn’t understand, but he continued sleeping, making himself comfortable. I chuckled, and Ezra rolled his eyes. “There is a diner in about 3 miles.” Theo said, not looking up from his phone. Ezra nodded and looked at me. “Wake him up.” I shook Liam’s shoulder as hard as I could, and he jumped in his seat. “What happened?” he yelled. “We are stopping for breakfast.” Ezra said calmly. Liam turned around to glare at me. “You didn’t need to shake me as hard as you did. You scared me.” “Sorry.” I shrugged.
“Ezra did try to wake you up nicely.” Liam huffed and turned back to look through the passenger window. “Where are we?” he asked. “Somewhere in Colorado.” Ezra said. “We will stop for breakfast. There is a diner in a mile.” Liam nodded and looked back outside. In a few minutes, Ezra parked a car in front of a run-down diner. The sign with the diner’s name was broken in half. The paint was faded and chipped off in some places. It didn’t even look like it was open. “Are you sure this is the right place, Theo?” Liam asked, eyeing the diner suspiciously. “Yes.” Theo said coldly. “Let’s just go inside.” Ezra sighed. “I am hungry, and I am in no mood to search for another place to eat. We are in the middle of nowhere.” I followed my brothers inside. Liam opened the door, and we were welcomed by the smell of bacon, pancakes, and coffee. It smelled delicious.
The interior wasn’t in much better shape. The walls needed a fresh coat of paint, and the chairs and tables really should be replaced. But the smell was amazing. My stomach rumbled loudly. My brothers and I sat in one of the booths. The diner was empty. There were two other guests, and they were both sitting at the counter. My gaze went to the waitress. She was standing at the entrance to the kitchen and reaching for something. I looked back at my brothers. Theo was staring at his phone again. Ezra and Liam were looking through the window. Nobody was in the mood to talk. We needed coffee and food. A few moments later, I heard footsteps coming toward our table. “Good morning and welcome to Rosie’s diner.” an angelic voice said. “May I take your order?” Lucy POV I was leaning on the kitchen counter, talking to Mike while he was preparing pancake batter in case we had customers. “I am so glad that school is over.” Mike sighed. “I couldn’t stand being there any longer.” I chuckled. “It’s not that bad.” Mike looked at me and raised an eyebrow.
“Maybe when you are a brainiac.” “I am not a brainiac.” I smiled. “I just like learning new stuff.” I have a good reason to. My living situation is not the best. I’m living with my stepfather, Jack, who can be a little bit mean from time to time. My mom died when I was 10 years old, and my stepfather was kind enough to take me in. I don’t have any other family, so I should be grateful to him. I could have ended up on the streets or in foster care, moving from one home to another. Some of those homes could be even worse than the home I have with Jack. Jack loves to drink. I saw him taking drugs a couple of times, but I don’t think he does it often. When he gets drunk, he can get abusive. But there are times when he gets drunk and falls asleep.
So I can’t really say he hits me every time he drinks. It could be worse. I could be living with a person who would hit me all the time. Jack’s friends are a different story. They hit me every time they come to the house. I try my best to avoid them. When they come to the house, I make sure I am extra quiet. I usually take one of my favorite books and read it in my closet. I am really small for my age, so I fit inside a closet easily. I don’t know if that is genetics or poor nutrition. I don’t know what happened to my dad. My mom said he didn’t want me. She said he threw us out of the house when I was two years old. My mom said she didn’t have any other children, so I don’t even have siblings. I used to wish I did. I wished so much that I had four imaginary brothers. I’ve named them Bubba, Bear, Grumpy, and Smiley. I really don’t know how I came up with those names, but those four were always by my side until I was about 6 years old. When they left, I begged my mom to bring them back, but she said that she couldn’t. She said that they were imaginary. Later on, I found out that kids sometimes do have imaginary friends. It just so happens I had four. Maybe I imagined them because I was lonely.
My mom worked a lot, and when she didn’t, she was drunk. She didn’t really spend that much time with me. I sometimes miss my imaginary brothers. They were the best. Bear gave the best hugs. Grumpy was always by my side, and he would never let go of me. Smiley made me laugh all the time, and Bubba was so caring. I wish they were real. “Lucy!” I heard my name being called. I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at Mike. He was waving his hand in front of my face. “What?” I asked, grabbing his hand and stopping him. “I asked if you wanted a pancake.” Mike said as he continued cooking. “Where did you go just now?” “Just thinking.” I shrugged. I pulled on the sleeve of the black shirt I was wearing, pushing it down. There is a nasty bruise on my arm. Jack grabbed me pretty hard the other day, and the bruise is really ugly. I have to be careful and not let anyone see. Nobody knows about the abuse, and nobody will ever know. I will leave for college soon, and I will leave all of this behind me. I will miss Mike, though. He has become my best friend.
His dream is to become a famous chef. I think he will make it. His cooking is amazing. Our diner is old and needs a complete make-over, but the food Mike makes is amazing. People come here all the time to try Mike’s cooking. Everything he makes is delicious. “Lucy?” I heard my name again. I looked up at Mike. He had a worried look on his face. “Are you okay?” he asked, stepping closer to me. “I’ve been calling you again.” “I am sorry.” I smiled. “I’m just distracted. Everything is okay.” Mike opened his mouth to speak, but we were interrupted when the door opened. I peeked from the kitchen and saw four men enter the diner. They were looking around with suspicion. Most of the people who come in here for the first time do. “We have new customers.” I told him. “They look suspicious.” “They always do.” Mike chuckled. I stepped out of the kitchen and saw them take a seat at one of our booths. I turned back around to grab a pen and my little notebook so I could take their order. As I was walking over to them, I couldn’t help but think they looked familiar.
They kind of looked like my imaginary friends. I shook my head. They were imaginary. I am being ridiculous. I am sure they seem familiar because they are boys. There are four of them, and I was just thinking about my imaginary brothers, so I am still under the influence of my thoughts. I walked over to the table with a smile on my face. One of the boys was looking at his phone. Two older ones were staring through the window, and the fourth boy was looking around the diner. “Good morning and welcome to Rosie’s diner.” I said. “May I take your order?” The boys looked up at me. Their eyes widened. One of them gasped loudly. What’s wrong? Do I have something on my face? Noah POV I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t feel my body. I couldn’t move my eyes away from her. The only thing I could hear was my blood pumping in my veins. It is her. It has to be her. The girl smiling back at us has our eyes. She has our hair. She looks like us. It’s her. It has to be her.
Her smile turned into a look of confusion. Her eyes darted between the four of us. I didn’t look at my brothers, but I am sure that all of us had the same expression on our faces. Shock. “Is everything okay?” I heard her ask us. Theo POV Lucy. My Lucy. My baby sister. It’s her. Oh, my God, it is her! It has to be her. It’s not a lie this time. Nobody is trying to trick us this time. Nobody is trying to get to us for our money. This time is real. This time it’s her. I know it. I can feel it. I can feel that missing part of my heart and soul coming back to me. Nobody is ever going to take her away. I won’t let them. I will kill them. I couldn’t even look at my brothers. I couldn’t even look at Noah. But I know they are thinking the same thing. It is her. It is our Lucy. I clenched my fists, and I was about to stand up and grab her when somebody stopped me. Liam. He grabbed my hand, stopping me from getting up. My head snapped toward him, and I gave him a murderous look. What is he doing? She is mine. He is not stopping me. Ezra POV I watched Liam shake his head at Theo. I was sure that Theo wanted to stand up and grab her. If looks could kill, Liam would be six feet under right now. Theo looked pissed.
He always does, but this was different. I looked back at Lucy. She was staring at Liam and Theo with a frightened and confused look on her face. I cleared my throat, trying to get rid of the huge lump. We have to say something. We are scaring the poor girl, and that is not the best first impression. “Hello.” I said with a small smile. “I am sorry. My brothers are hungry, and it makes them a bit cranky. You look like someone we know, and it took us by surprise.” Theo’s eyes snapped at me. I shook my head at him. What does he want? Tell her that she is our sister in the middle of a diner and take her away with us? Well, knowing Theo and the bond he had with her, that is exactly what he wants to do and will do if we don’t stop him. “It’s okay.” she said and smiled. Her dimples showed and my heart skipped a beat. She still has them. “Do you know what you want to eat, or do you want to see our menus?” she asked. “Although, I have to recommend our pancakes. Our chef, Mike, makes the best pancakes in the world.” She smiled and looked behind her shoulder. I followed her gaze and saw a tall boy around her age standing at the entrance to the kitchen, looking at us suspiciously.
He was wearing an apron, and there was a little bit of flour in his hair. “Pancakes it is.” I looked back at my sister and smiled. “Can we also get scrambled eggs, bacon, and coffee, please?” “Sure.” she said as she wrote down our order in her little notebook. “Anything else?” I shook my head. I didn’t know if my brothers wanted something else, but they were too stunned to speak, so they will have to eat what they get. She turned back around and walked away from the table. It took everything in me not to grab her and never let go. As soon as she left, Noah started trembling. I grabbed his hand and he looked up at me with tears in his eyes. Liam POV I watched my little Sunshine walk away from our table. My heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest. My left hand was wrapped around Theo’s arm in a tight grip. He was the first one of us who would jump at her and never let go. I can’t believe we found her. We have been searching for 10 years. Our father never gave up. Before he died, I promised him I would find her. I just can’t believe I did. Our family almost fell apart when our mother took her away from us. Noah was broken. He wouldn’t talk or do anything.
He spent his days in her room. Eventually, he learned to hide his pain behind his smile, and he became the one who would always cheer us up. Theo was always a grumpy child, but after Lucy was taken, he became cold. The only one who could reach him was Noah. The fear they both had of losing each other was sometimes hard to watch. They would scream and cry if we separated them. They don’t scream and cry anymore, but they still have a hard time being away from each other. Ezra was always kind and nurturing, but after Lucy left, he made it his job and priority to take care of our younger siblings and sometimes even me. Me? I became closed off. People who don’t know me call me ruthless. I guess that is what I am to the people outside my family. But my siblings are everything to me. I promised them I would make us complete again, and I just did. We found her. We found our Sunshine. Lucy POV I walked back to the kitchen with a confused expression on my face.
Who are those boys? Why do they look so familiar? Why did they react like that when they saw me? Mike was waiting for me in the kitchen with his arms crossed over his chest. “What was that?” he asked as soon as I entered the kitchen. “Who are they? Do you know them?” I shook my head. “No. But they say I look like someone they know.” “Probably a relative.” Mike said. “You look like them.” I furrowed my eyebrows. “What do you mean?” “You have the same hair.” Mike shrugged. “And eyes. I could see their green eyes from way over here.” “Maybe.” I sighed as I poured the coffee into four mugs. “Get baking. I will bring them their coffee.” “Okay.” Mike nodded. “Call me if you are feeling uncomfortable. They gave me a weird vibe.” I smiled at Mike and walked out of the kitchen. The boys were leaning toward one another and whispering. I didn’t want to accidently overhear their conversation, so I purposely put a little more weight into my steps.
They heard me coming and looked up at me. “Here is your coffee.” I said with a small smile as I placed the tray down on the table. “Can I get you anything else? Water? Orange juice?” “It’s okay, miss.” the guy that spoke to me earlier said. “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but how old are you? You seem a little bit young to be working.” I picked the tray back up and looked at him with a small smile. I don’t blame him for asking. I don’t really look 16. “I am 16, Sir.” I said politely. “I am a bit short. I guess I have genetics to thank for that.” I am pretty sure that it is not genetics’ fault. My mom was tall. My poor nutrition and abuse led to me being short. But they don’t need to know that. Nobody needs to know that. The guy to my right clenched his fists, and the guy next to him grabbed his arm again. I gulped nervously. What is wrong with him? “I heard your friend calling you by your name.” the guy continued talking to me, and I looked back up at him.
“Your name is Lucy, right?” “Yes, Sir.” I said with a small smile. “Please, call me Ezra.” he said, smiling back at me. His name sounded familiar. Do I know anyone named Ezra? Mike and I finished serving them, and I gave them a small smile. “Enjoy.” I said. “If you need anything, please feel free to call me.” Mike took my hand in his, pulling me away from the table. Ezra gave me a small smile and the rest of the boys looked at my hand in Mike’s. Their jaws clenched and they looked pissed. What is wrong? I wish I could ask them. Mike pulled me back to the kitchen. I could feel their eyes on me the whole time. “I will finish serving them.” Mike said as soon as we walked inside the kitchen. “I don’t trust them. They are looking at you weirdly.” “It’s okay, Mike.” I smiled. “I’m sure they are just sleepy and hungry.” I noticed their weird glances too, but I didn’t like the way they looked at Mike. If they are dangerous, and I somehow think that they are not, I believe that Mike is in more danger than I am. “Lucy…” Mike began speaking, but he was interrupted when the doors to the diner opened.
I looked outside and groaned. Jack. Why is he here at this hour? He should be at home passed out. I can see that he is hungover. “Lucy!” I heard him calling me. “Is that Jack?” Mike asked me as he turned around to finish making a fresh batch of pancakes. “Yes.” I sighed. “Are you okay?” Mike asked me. He doesn’t know about the abuse, but it doesn’t really take a smart man to know that Jack is not a pleasant person. Mike doesn’t like him, and I can’t really blame him. “Lucy Smith!” Jack called again. I left the kitchen quickly. I didn’t want him to make a scene. It wouldn’t be the first time. “Yes, dad?” I said as soon as I walked over to the counter where he was sitting. When we are out, I have to call him “dad”. At home, he is “Sir”. “Coffee.” he said, glaring at me. “Now.” I nodded, grabbed a mug, and poured him some coffee. I placed it before him, and he continued glaring at me. “Why are you here?” he asked me quietly. “Since when do you work in the morning?” “School is over, dad.” I said. “I took the morning shift as well to earn some more money.” Jack smirked. I guess he will just take it for himself. Like he always does. “You didn’t think to inform your father?” he asked.