"And you." His eyes go to mine. "I keep having nightmares where he's attacking you."
"Your dad? He doesn't even know me."
"In my dreams he does. He hurts you to get back at me."
"For what? You didn't do anything."
"For taking Jake from him. And for saving my mom."
"You didn't take your brother. Your mom left you with him. And what do you mean you saved your mom? What did you do?"
"I got her to the hospital."
"What are you saying? That your dad tried to...kill her?"
"I don't want to talk about it," he says, looking down at his hand in mine. "Tell me about your day."
I want to know more about what happened to his mom but I don't want to upset him by asking. Just bringing her up has him agitated.
"There's not much to say," I tell him. "I had a test in physics. I think I did well but I didn't study much so maybe I didn't do as well as I thought. I'll find out tomorrow."
"Brook, I don't want you falling behind at school because of me. You don't have to be here all night."
"Iwantto be here. I miss you. And I don't want you being here alone. Oh—Danny wanted me to tell you the guys are coming here after practice. The whole team, including your coach."
"Why?" Dean says like he's annoyed, but I see a hint of a smile creeping up his face. "So they can tell me how shitty I look?"
"Because they miss you, and they care about you. They were all here Monday night too. And there were other people from school. The waiting area was packed and spilling out into the hall."
"I wasn't even awake on Monday."
"I know, but they still wanted to be here. You're lucky to have friends like that. People who actually show up. My friends from back home would send flowers or cards but they wouldn't show up."
"Why? They don't like hospitals?"
"They wouldn't want to take the time to come here. It's easier to just send flowers."
"They sound like shitty friends. You still talking to them?"
"Not really. I talk to Jane but not very often." I pause, wondering if I should tell him. I might as well. It's been on my mind all day and I just need to say it. "My dad called the other night."
"Yeah? What about?"
"He said he's decided to pay for school."
"That's great, but didn't you already tell me that?"
"I was talking about college."
"Isn't that what we're talking about?"
I look down, not sure I want to tell him this. I thought I did but now I'm wishing I'd waited. He has enough on his mind. He doesn't need to worry about this too. Then again, there's nothing to worry about. I'm not going back.
"Brook, what is it? What's going on?"
"My dad offered to pay for me to go back to my old school." I look up at Dean. "Actually, he didn't just offer. He already paid for it."
Dean turns his head and looks out the window. "So when are you going?"
