Will’s discomfort is coming out of his ears at this point, but he answers quickly. “The whole school year.”
Everything, all at once, immediately clicks into place.
Will Grant—Zoe’s moody, quiet, discontent twin brother. Who had just moved almost a thousand miles from home, who had been forced to leave his girlfriend and all his friends behind, only to discover it had all been for the sake of his father having a closer proximity to his mistress. No wonder he was sullen back then.
My hand flutters to my mouth. “Oh, Will.”
His face is pained now, open and raw. “I caught them together almost immediately. It was at Centennial Park. I was running—training so I could try out for the football team—and my dad and his mistress were there with the puppy… kissing and stuff, on a blanket.” I can see the memory flash past his eyes. He blinks hard.
“Your dad asked you to keep his secret when you confronted him about it?”
Will’s eyes flick to mine. “How do you know I confronted him?”
I shrug. “I just do. You wouldn’t have let that go unsaid.”
“Lot of good it did me.” He shakes his head. “I was just a kid, and I’d always idolized my father. He convinced me…” Will blinks again, stretching out his neck. “He convinced me it was normal. Common. It wasn’t that big of a deal. He also said if I told my mom, I’d be ruining our family, that nothing would ever be the same again.”
A look of disgust crosses his face. He won’t meet my eyes now.
“You kept his secret all year?” I ask.
Will nods, his focus elsewhere. “It was like this physical wedge between me and my family. I was withdrawn. Even you could tell that. I knew it wasn’t normal, no matter how convincing my father tried to be. He started spoiling me as if my secret keeping was worth a reward. Flights home to Austin so I could see Amber and my friends. Titans tickets that autumn. A new bike for Christmas. But I was drowning, and it only got worse as time went on. I couldn’t look my mother in the eye without feeling like I was on the brink of a meltdown. But I couldn’t tell her the truth either, too scared of my father’s threat that I’d break our family apart. She knew something was wrong with me, but she thought it was the move, the transition. I couldn’t talk to Zoe about it, either. She hated me. I didn’t get why at the time—I chalked it up to hormones, I remember—” Will laughs softly. “But now I know it wasbecauseof Amber that Zoe was so distant. I didn’t even have the mental capacity to see the damage I’d done to that friendship.”
“Amber wasn’t a true friend, the way Zoe told it,” I say.
He finally looks at me. “Maybe that’s why you confused me so much. You and Zoe didn’t want me around like Amber had. I first thought it was because you knew you were a bad influence on Zoe, but actually, you two had more fun on your own.”
“Wait. You thought I was a bad influence?” I ask.
“Oh, the worst. I had absolutely no basis for that opinion other than you were beautiful and rich. I gave it up pretty quickly.”
“You did not.”
“I did, Josephine. But by that point, it wasyouwho thoughtIwas the bad influence. A mood-ruiner, I think you once called me.” He arches an eyebrow, and I flinch.
“Well, if I’d known what you were going through—”
Will shrugs. “I shouldn’t be pitied for keeping a cheater’s secret.”
I’m not entirely sure that’s true, especially given the emotional manipulation Will’s father put him through, but I don’t press the point. “So, what happened? Did you tell your family, or did they find out?”
“I told them. Well, I told Zoe first, and together, we told my mom.”
“When?”
He rubs a thumb over his lip. “A few days after you and I kissed. Funny enough, that was a catalyst to get me and Zoe talking again.”
“Well, at least there’s one bright spot,” I say.
Will studies me. “I was relieved, I won’t deny it. Relieved to have the secret off my chest. Relieved Zoe and I were on the same team again.”
And even though I’m genuinely happy our kiss had a roundabout effect of shrinking Zoe and Will’s estrangement, this means she didn’t have a friend when she got the news that her father had a mistress, that her family was about to get torn apart. And just on the cusp of her going to one college, Will going to another. Their whole family separating, a four-person unit split into singles.
Camila was right.
Zoe needed a friend, and I hadn’t fought hard enough. I needed a friend, and she hadn’t fought hard enough either. We were both too stubborn and embarrassed and insecure to be there for each other when it mattered most. When each of our families was splintering.
“I changed my mind,” I say to Will. “Idowant you to give Zoe a message.”
