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"She wasn’t outraged at you," I said

"That’s how it felt Like, What kind of fa to calh it had happened a o "My brother was in town, but he wouldn’t take time off work to check o ho the hours was a foreign concept to me My parents wanted Barrett andjobs Both of thee They hadn’t been paid hourly in decades My understanding of hourly work ca about her dad He’d worked at a factory until recently, needing the hours andband performances But he would never have stayed at work if she’d been hospitalized Neither would her sisters, even though she didn’t always get along with theot to Sawyer, the more isolated he seemed

"Yeah," he said, "I realized while I was in the hospital that I had a short-terree heat, and I couldn’t es But I also ca of what could happen to ht?"

"I hope" Actually, I hadn’t seen a lot of Jason lately He’d gradually dropped out of the advanced-level classes The last I’d heard, he was trolling business lish

"Jason’s parents are both doctors If he ever gets arrested, they’ll hire lawyers to have him released Hell, they’ll probably sue the police departet arrested,willyou completely"

I didn’t realize I’d tilted my head and lowered my shoulders in disbelief until Sawyer imitated me

"Come on," I said "Do you really think that?"

"You would hopefifteen years of hard time," Sawyer said "But he treats me like his fa fro up But not everybody raised in adverse circumstances decides to make a better life for themselves and their kids, like your mom did A lot of theeneration So that ga tiia, whenmy brother and me around to mooch off one relative and then another If you’re on the outside looking in, it’s easy to judge and to feel superior It wasn’t until I was lying in the hospital that I realized what I’d done Instead of getting away froot arrested at age twenty like ive ave him I reme that moment hadn’t been some cruelty I’d paid him, one of those casual insults I’d lobbed at him before I knew the truth

"You and everybody frootten to the hospital yet," Sawyer said "It was just Will and me in the room You know, he rode in the ambulance with me"

I nodded Sawyer had passed out on the football field Will had hefted him over one shoulder and carried hi lot tothe other cheerleaders with my hands pressed to my mouth, impressed and terrified I hadn’t known Will had this he-man superhero side And up to that point, I’d never seen Sawyer vulnerable Ever

"I don’t re up in the parking lot, or being in the ah Will says I was conscious for the whole ride The first thing I re small talk Whether the Buccaneers will suck less this year, what the Rays’ chances are for a pennant, whether we can sneak past security to watch the Lightning practice And I’uy, and how little sense it makes for uy He has everything I want"

"Tia?" I breathed

"No! A future" Sawyer frowned atmy question about Tia His face softened

"And then you walked into the hospital room," he said "You looked beautiful in red"

"Ha," I said "I ca a Pelicans T-shirt"

"Yes, you were" He laid his ar the back of the seat and put his hand in ertips rubbingsubstances that day, but it’s not like you’ve changed personalities You’re still really mean to Kennedy," I pointed out

His nostrils flared "I strongly dislike Kennedy"

"And Aidan"

His hand stopped inone ofback into place

"You haven’t changed as much as you think," I said "You’re incredibly s On other things, like your diet, and getting along with certain people, you act like you’re from another planet"