Page 25 (2/2)

I adjust the faucet and look her in the eyes "Take a shower, Layken! Take a damn shower!" I release my hold and back away from her When I shut the bathrooet out Sure enough, she tries

"Let les the knob

"Layken, I’ you out of the bathrooet in the shoash your hair, and calm down"

I continue to hold the doorknob until I hear the shower curtain close a et out again, I put rab her some extra clothes

"Is she okay?" Julia asks as soon as she opens the door She motions behind her to let me know Kel and Caulder can hear our conversation

"A little too okay," I whisper "She’s acting strange Did you guys talk today?"

Julia nods, but doesn’t elaborate It’s obvious she doesn’t want to risk being overheard by Kel "She’s in the shower I ca the subject

Julia nods and steps aside, then walks toward the kitchen "You can grab soht," she says "I’ dishes" She returns to the sink and I hesitate, a little unco into Lake’s bedroom

I walk down the hallway and slowly open her door When I do, it’s not what I expect I don’t know if I thought it would be a typical teenager’s bedroom, but I’m pleasantly surprised that there aren’t posters on the walls and black lights on the ceiling It’s surprisingly hteen-year-old I walk to her dresser and pull the top drawer open, re a tank top When I open the next drawer to look for pants, I’m uilty, knowing that she has no idea I’rab a pair and shut the drawer, but I begin scrolling through all of the contents, i what they would look like on her

Darab a pair on top and slam the drawer shut, then search until I find some pajama bottoms When I shut the last drawer, the tank top falls out of my hands and lands on the floor I bend over to pick it up and a barrette catches my eye It looks like a child’s hair barrette I pick it up and hold it betweenso old

"She used to think it was ic," Julia says from the doorway I whip my head around, startled by her voice

"This?" I say, holding up the barrette

Julia nods, then walks into the bedrooirl her dad walked in right after she had cut a huge chunk of her bangs off She was crying, scared I would be mad at her, so he brushed some hair over and snapped the clip in place He told her it wasas she kept that clip in her hair, I wouldn’t notice"

I laugh, trying to iuess you noticed?"

Julia laughs "Oh, it was so obvious Horribly obvious She cut a three-inch strip right out of the front of her hair Her dad called to warnIt was so hard It took her hair row back out and she looked ridiculous But I couldn’t say anything because every single day she woke up, the first thing she did was put that clip in her hair so I wouldn’t know"

"Wow," I say "She was strong-willed even then, huh?"

Julia smiles "You have no idea I’ve never met a person with a more indomitable will in my life"

I bend down and put the clip back where I found it, then turn back to Julia She’s looking down at her hands, picking at her nails She looks just like Lake right now, but soht now, Will She doesn’t understand where I’ from She wants Kel, but I don’t know if I can do that to her"

I don’t even know if it’sher advice, but she see it I just know I’ve been in Lake’s shoes, and nothing could have stopped ht

I tuck Lake’s clothes underneath my arm and head to the door, then turn back toward Julia "Maybe you should try to understand where she’s co she’ll have left The only thing And right now, she feels like you’re trying to take that away fro to take him away from her I just want her to be happy"

Happy?

"Julia," I say "Her father just died You’re about to die She’s eighteen and she’s facing a lifeti you can do willripped out from under her and she has absolutely no control over it The least you could do is let her have a little bit of say-so over the only thing she’ll have left Because I can tell you frooing Your taking Kel away from her because you think it’ll i you could do to either of them"