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Without Nick, she didn’t have a ride to the dance studio

Without Tyler, she didn’t have a place to sleep for the night

Rooftop taquitos it was

It had been nice to sit in the nighttioing to hassle her She’d told Tyler about school, about waiting for the call that never caht have done so to her mother That maybe Jordan had come home and Jake had hurt him That maybe the cops hadn’t come at all

That er disaster in her wake

"You don’t have to go up there," said Tyler "I can check on them if you want"

Quinn shook her head Sit down here and wonder if her brother was going to answer the door with a gun in his hand?

"I’ll go Wait here"

"You’re insane if you think I’o up there alone"

"You’re insane if you think I’ you--"

"Jesus, do you need to be balls-to-the-wall about everything?

If you want to go up, go up I won’t get in your way"

She thought thatto wait in the truck after all, but when she cliht behind her

Halfway up, she stopped short at the tiny landing "A an idiot?"

"Of everyone I’ve met in your family, you see all that "

"I kind of assu you around"

"She’s not--she’s under a lot of stress--"

"So are you So aive a shit, Quinn Your mom is messed up So is your brother And what the fk is your dad--"

"Okay, okay Forget it" She spun away froently, securely "She’s your mother I understand"

Quinn hated tears Hated theht this very second

"We don’t have to go inside," said Tyler "Knock on the door, make sure she’s okay, and we’ll leave"

"And then what?"

Tyler sighed "We’ll go back to ed his hands off "Try not to sound so enthusiastic--"

He spun her around and seized her arms "Stop it Do you just need someone to call your bluff? Fine Called Get your ass up there so we can get out of here You don’t need to be afraid

I’ritted her teeth She wanted to jerk away fro breath "I’m worried he’s still here," she said, her voice small

"Tony?"

The dark-haired creeper She shook her head, then nodded

"Or my brother"

His expression softened "Do you want to call yourall day Her ht to voice mail every time She routinely let the battery die, so it wasn’t really a sign of anything

But it bought her another thirty seconds, so Quinn tried again

Voice mail Quinn checked her texts to see if her little brother had written back yet, but he hadn’t A phone call to hih the open staircase and Quinn shivered and thought of Nick She should have been dancing tonight, stretching her h Ada’s staircase, wondering if herdead in her apartain "Co out of her pocket, but when she slid the key into the deadbolt and turned, she discovered that the lock was already thrown Feeling her heart in her throat, she reached out and twisted the knob

As always, the foyer was a well of quiet stillness Quinn stepped lightly anyway,Tyler was a shadow at her back,into the apart felt wrong The air carried tension She expected to step on a dead body

Stop thinking of dead people, she told herself

Her cell phone blared into the silence Quinn alht for the correct button to stop the call, but then she realized the display was lit up with Jordan

She pressed the button to answer "Hey," she said quickly, her voice a whispered rush He was fourteen and jaded, but he wasn’t an addict or an alcoholic If she could help anyone in her family, it was Jordan "Where are you? You okay?"

"Yeah Fine"

He didn’t sound fine

"Have you heard from Mom?" Quinn said

"Yeah"

That was all he said Quinn could hear hih on the other end of the phone

"Where are you?" she said

"At Kurt Culpeper’s Mo

"Jordan," she said "Jordan, what happened? Where’s Moed now, and she heard a door close "She said I can’t come back there" Another shaky breath "She said she couldn’t--she couldn’t--"

And then he was crying

Quinn sank onto the couch, distantly aware of Tyler sitting beside her, probably close enough to hear half of what Jordan was saying

Her younger brother barely talked to her except to ask when she’d be done with the television so he could play with his PlayStation It was unthinkable he would be crying to her on the phone, and Quinn didn’t kno to deal with this

And where the hell was her mother?

"Are you okay?" she said "Jordan, are you safe where you are?"

"Yeah" He sniffled loudly and got it together "Kurt’s h the weekend I told her Mo to stay at Jeremy’s, but his mom alants to call"

"What happened with Moain