“Catharine, look at these. She’s got some real talent.”
“We should actually get going. I want to get to Ohio before it gets dark. You have a change of clothes for the game, right?” She scans over me with her eyes.
“I’m not going.”
You would think by her reaction I just told her I was going to murder an entire orphanage.
“Your brother is counting on you to be there.”
“I don’t know if you missed the part where Cam and I aren’t exactly talking, but we haven’t spoken in months.”
“Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t support him.”
“Like he supported me?”
“He was just being realistic.”
“No, he was being a douche.”
“He just knew where things would end up, that’s all.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“That it was never going to last between you two. And this is exactly why I think this move back home should be permanent.”
“Catharine, I told you we aren’t doing this today.”
“Jim, she needs to realize that the world will always look at her differently. Treat her differently.”
“But they don’t,” I cut her off. “I always thought they did, but I think I only felt that way because I grew up feeling like an outsider in my own home. Every morning when I woke up, the first thing I’d always notice was this.” I motion to the scar across my face. “Now, every morning when I wake up, my friends are the first thing I think about. The family I’ve made here. The ones who helped me realize that I’m enough.”
“Ember—”
“I don’t want to move home this summer,” I continue. “I was doing it because I wanted Cam to have space. I wanted him to be happy, but what about me? I have a family here, and I’m not ready to let that go.”
forty-four
Ember
Ember?” I shouldn’t be surprised that Brinley’s surprised to see me. Since everything went down, I’ve dodged so many calls and texts from her and completely isolated myself. I haven’t even seen Maia. All I told her was that Declan, and I broke up and have since dodged her calls.
“Hi,” I reply. “Can we talk?”
“I’ve been trying to talk for weeks.” She crosses her arms, her eyes narrowing. Then she smiles and pulls me into her arms. “I’ve missed you.”
I breathe a sigh of relief and allow myself to melt into her, wrapping my arms around her and squeezing her tight.
“Me too.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for. I shouldn’t have assumed you knew.”
“It’s okay,” she continues. “But I do want you to know that the Declanyouknow is the real Declan. And I’m not saying that, so you’ll take him back.” She pulls me into her place, and I sit on her bed.
“My brother hasn’t always had his own head on his shoulders.” I raise an eyebrow, and she laughs. “I just mean, growing up with our dad, he got used to being pushed around, if that makes sense. Now, it doesn’t excuse anything, he hurt you, and he takes full responsibility for that, as he should. It just also caused him to not see Tanner’s motives earlier.”
“Zeke came by my place earlier today.”
