That’s the last thing I want to do. I don’t know him that well, but he’s Myles’s friend. Myles trusts him so I begrudgingly follow him into the kitchen.
Mrs. Meyers looks up from the dishes with a rag in her hand. “Is everything okay?”
“I was wondering if I could steal Emma away for a couple hours?”
Her smile falls, replaced with concern. She sets the rag down and turns to us.
This is a bad idea. There’s no way she’ll agree to this.
“Did you ask your dad?” she asks, looking at me.
I shake my head. “You know he’ll say no.”
Sam drapes his arm around my shoulders and gives me a squeeze as I tense up under his touch. “This girl needs to get some fresh air. Just look at her. She hasn’t seen the sun in days. Do you see how eerily pale she is?”
Thanks, Sam.
“I don’t know,” Mrs. Meyers says. “Jon is worried.”
Sam gives me another unwanted side hug. “I’ll keep an eye on her, and I swear I’ll have her back before you know it.”
“I really want to get out for a little bit,” I say, eyes watering again. “Please.Everything here reminds me of Mallory.”
I can see the wheels turning in her mind at the mention of my sister. Mrs. Meyers sighs. “Jon is going to kill me.”
“Is that a yes?” Sam asks.
“Only for a little bit,” she says, looking at the clock on the stove. “I want her home by two.”
I stand there in disbelief and wonder if bawling in front of her is part of the reason she changed her mind so quickly.
“Yeah, no problem,” Sam says. “I’ll have her back before then.”
She gives him a pointed look. “I don’t want to see a single scratch on her.” Then her gaze shifts to me. “I’m trusting you. Don’t do anything reckless. Your poor father has been through enough.”
I jump forward and wrap my arms around her. “Thank you.”
“Don’t make me regret this.”
If only she knew where we were headed.
30
EMMA
I sit in front of a glass panel, waiting for Myles. The room has chairs separated by dividers, and there’s one other person in here. It’s an older lady. Even though I can’t see her, I can hear the tremble in her voice.
My heart sinks as I imagine Myles’s mom visiting him like this all because of me. Does she cry every time she talks to him too?
On the other side of the glass, Myles appears with a guard beside him. His hair is short and he wears a bright orange prison uniform. He has glasses instead of the contacts he wore all throughout high school.
I cover my mouth, throat tight and eyes stinging.
This is how I wanted him. I wanted him to suffer after what he did—what I thought he did—to Mallory. He suffered because of me.
His lips part when he catches sight of me, and he does the unthinkable. He smiles. His lips turn up slightly in the corner.
My heart pinches and I want nothing more than to breakthis glass and tear him away from the guard. I want to shout to the world that he’s innocent. I was wrong all along.
