I decided that in week three, and nothing that has happened — the laptop, the library, the man whose cologne was still in her room when I walked in — has touched that decision. Those things made me angry. They didn't make me uncertain.
Uncertainty has never been my problem.
She can cry. She can run. She can transfer to any university on the West Coast, and I will follow her to every single one.
She doesn't get to end this.
Nobody ends this but me.
"I love you, Adela," I say.
She looks at me.
"That's why I'm doing this."
"Doing what?"
I reach into my pocket to grab a small white pill in my palm. I hold it out toward her. "Open your mouth. It's just to relieve your nerves."
"No."
I look at her. "Adela."
"Whatever you want to do to me," she says, "I want to be aware. Not high."
I look at her for a long moment.
Then I put the pill away.
"Suit yourself." I hold her gaze. "Say the word, and I'll give it to you."
She doesn't respond.
"What are you doing to me?" she asks.
I reach into the back seat.
I hold up the blindfold.
She stares at it.
"It's a surprise," I say.
And I reach over.
Chapter 48: Adela
Heholdsuptheblindfold, and I look at it.
I could say no.
I said no to the pill, and he listened. So I know the option exists. I know it's available to me right now if I wanted to refuse.
I look at the blindfold.
I don't say no.
He reaches over, slides it over my eyes, and ties it at the back. The world goes dark for the most part. I focus on my own breathing, and I hear his. Mine fades into the background, and what's left is just him.
