“Do you need a hand?” Evan asks, appearing above me.
This kid is starting to look a little too much like Ryan: always appearing just when you don’t want him to.
“I’ve got it. Thanks.”
I pull myself back to my feet with no trouble, as he stands there facing me, his hands on his hips.
“Don’t let her go again. Or, I swear to you, I’ll make a move,” he says, his face serious, evoking a strange mixture of hilarity and blind jealousy in my stomach.
I watch Casey go back over to the others, wiping the sweat from her forehead with her arm and taming her hair back into its unruly ponytail. She takes her position back in the centre, her legs bent and her hands on her knees.
I see her there, with me. With my family. I see her claiming back everything I took from her. I see her, taking her rightful place in the world.
Like fuck am I ever letting her go again, Evan.
She’s already mine. And now, I’m starting to believe that she always has been.
35
Casey
Istep out of my apartment, trying not to make any noise. I quietly pull the door shut behind me, tiptoeing down the driveway, where I can see my dad sitting comfortably on the sofa next to Mrs Reynolds. I swear, I’m going to give that woman a medal soon.
After their first date, they seem to have got over the initial awkwardness – so much so that, like tonight, she’s perfectly comfortable to come round for dinner and watch a DVD. She’s been an angel in distracting my dad’s attention away from me, and the huge mistake I’m about to make.
I quickly sneak down the driveway just in time to see Nick’s car pulling up. I run towards the passenger side and throw the door open, jumping inside and sliding down as far as I can into the seat.
“Drive! Go!” I cry, raising my voice.
Nick flicks on the ignition and reverses out into the road.
“Nice to see nothing’s changed,” he comments sarcastically.
“Funny!”
“Are you scared of being seen with me?”
“I’m just trying to save your life.”
“I know how to look after myself.”
I sit back up and look at him.
“And I think you should tell him.”
“Tell him…what?”
“That you’re going out with me.”
“Really? We’re going out?”
“What did you think this was?”
“I don’t see why we have to put a label on it so soon,” I say, staring out the window.
Nick sighs next to me. “You don’t think this should move forwards, do you? You don’t believe in it.”
“In what?”
