“Better start talking, then.”
She glares at me. “Just drive.”
I shake my head. “What is going on with you, Amelia? I’m done with it. Grow up and talk to me like an actual adult.”
“Grow up?” she hisses. “Me? Go fuck yourself.”
“Wow.” I slow-clap. “So amazingly constructive. You know you’ve been acting all shady with me, and you don’t even have the balls to tell me why.”
I watch as her cheeks flush. I know exactly how to push her buttons.
“You want to talk balls?” she yells. “You, of all people? You’re such a selfish dick, Donovan. News flash—I tried to tell you what my deal is, and guess what? You didn’t give a fuck.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“And now all of a sudden, you’re all interested and shit?” She’s shaking with rage. “Un-fucking-believable. You’re three years too late, you asshole.”
Okay. This is spinning out of control now. I have no clue what she’s talking about.
“What’s the matter, Donny? Cat got your tongue?”
“What did I do wrong?”
“Remember your amazing friend Cooper?”
“From high school?”
I had almost forgotten that guy. He was on the basketball team, too.
“Yeah. Him.” She shakes her head. “Remember what I told you backthen? All the times I used to bitch about how he would get all up in my face whenever you brought him home? All those times I flat out told you I didn’t like the guy and I didn’t want to be around him anymore? And you didn’t fucking listen, did you? In fact, you thought it was funny.”
Where is she going with this? What does Cooper have to do with anything? Sure, he teased her. And yeah, I laughed along. But he was my friend—he was just messing around, the way kids do.
“You used to send him to pick me up from school instead of you. You used to make fun of me when he banged on the bathroom door to try to get me to hurry up.”
She takes a deep breath in. I’m still kind of confused here, but a tendril of unease is unwinding down the length of my spine.
“And that’s why you’ve been giving me attitude all these years? Because of some kid stuff?”
“You want to know about the kind of kid stuff Cooper did, while you were busy in your own little world?” She narrows her eyes at me. “He used to call me at night. He sent me shitloads of photos of his dick; he kept changing numbers. And then he used to corner me in the kitchen and breathe down my neck. You always sent him to pick me up from school, and I was terrified. One day, he was supposed to bring me home, and he didn’t. He took me downtown instead. Once I realized we were driving the wrong way, I got so scared. I thought he was going to…” She swallows hard. “And he just dumped me there—he left me in some alleyway. He was laughing. By the time I got home it was pitch-black. You yelled at me.”
My mind is racing. My stomach has turned to Jell-O. I remember it like it was yesterday. Cooper told me Amelia wasn’t there when he went to pick her up. He told me one of her friends said she had wandered off with some guy. I had yelled at her because I was supposed to be looking after her.
“Why didn’t you say something?”
“It went on for months, and you weren’t there to save me.”
“Did he…”
The words won’t come. I clench my jaw.
“Did he rape me?” she spits. “No. He got off on terrorizing me.”
The car feels tiny all of a sudden. I need to get out of here. Right now.
I fling open the door and pace up and down, pure, unfiltered rage flowing through each cell in my body. I love my car, I really do. But I can’t help myself. I kick at the tires before slipping back behind the wheel.
I need to drive. I need to clear my head.
