Page 19 (1/1)

She hadn’t actually expected to hear fro had turned into a daily thing--day and night They’d even e for texts: subjects like the one she still had questions about

"I’m still surprised Sal let you take his car to come see me Grace told me about how adamant Sal was that you shouldn’t be trusted"

She kneas a sore subject for hi about his past indiscretions, as he referred to the to tell her But he had to because he preferred she’d hear it fros he’d told her didn’t see caught tagging was bad, but he explained it, and while she agreed he’dthere in the first place, he’d had the good sense not participate He told her about a few fights he’d been in recently, and how his brother had been caught shop lifting, and that his mom blamed hiuys he hung out with had, and Vincent had brought theIt’s the restaurant’s car, but I did have tomyself"

He hid the resentment pretty well behind that sexy ser deep in his eyes There had to bepretty personal?"

He nodded, but his ss you’d gotten in trouble for: the tagging, the fights, all that" She shrugged "As bad as those things are, I can’t help but think those are pretty typical for a teenager Okay,back to your parents and all don’t sees about you" She tilted her head hoping he wouldn’t take it the wrong way "Are you sure you’re not leaving anything out?"

His jaw locked, and she knew she’d touched a nerve There was ht As much as she liked Vincent and somehow she just felt like she could trust him, she needed to be sure She owed it to herself and to Grace toinvolved even just as friends with soerous

Rose turned to look up at hilanced away "There isI’ve ever done It’s in the past I’ve learned ht now"

Rose peered at him His last cos who go to a tough-love boot caht path Sos Surely Vincent couldn’t be that bad Alht?"

He jerked his head to meet her eyes wide open "No, I didn’t ht in that sense I just"I know that’s not what you ht Kids get sent to boot cahtened out"

"Yeah," Vincent frowned, "I’ve seen it"

"Soed, re the episode where one kid had tried to burn his own parents’ house dohile they slept in it and the other kid as caught bringing a knife to school he planned on using against one of his teachers He said he wasn’t really going to do it, but he’d been in so much trouble already, they sent him on the shoay

"I can’t say I was ain as Rose’s heart plummeted "I wanna know"

"Why?" He turned back to her now the sparkle in his eyes replaced by so ed completely She hated that she’d looked forward to this for so long, and now that et involved with someone that messed up His looks alone screamed bad boy He had a tattoo at only sixteen; he carried hiirls at her school would be all over him, and the boys wouldn’t dare mess with hi weed once upon a tih to stop All that, but he couldn’t possibly be a bad boy who’d plan to knife a teacher or blow up his parents’ house Yet, here he was co himself to them

She stared at him, hopeful that he could convince her somehow that he wasn’t that bad He didn’t look like any of those kids on TV--didn’t talk like the myself involved in You said it yourself in your e people could be perilous no et involved"

Tired of looking up at hi on the table next to hi this closeun to feel just o

"Little by little I’ve shut a lot of people out ofbut trouble No ot busted, they never learned Even so that are out now because they still don’t even knohat the outco in trouble for other crap They don’t learn I don’t need that shit in my life I have my brother to think about For so I do he wants to be part of" He stared at his feet "Do we really have to talk about this, Rose? I’s I’ve done I’d rather that not be the first real iet of me"