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To be honest, I didn’t want hi that overtook ave hihtly squeezed his hand

“What about your parents?” he asked hesitantly

“I never knew ht stand See, I was doomed from the start”

“Don’t say that, Rory”

“My mom died when I was ten years old of pneumonia We didn’t have any o and she died,” I said as the tears swelled in my eyes “My aunt took me and my brother in after the state took us away She refused at first, but when she found out that she would get paid for taking care of us, she changed her mind We lived in a two-bedroom house andaddict and she used the s The house was filthy and falling apart I tried to clean it every week, but it didn’t matter; she would just uy hoht She’d have sex with thes She didn’t pay attention to us She told my brother and I that ere only there for a place to stay and that she wasn’t playing mommy, but eren’t allowed to tell anyone that We weren’t allowed to talk about our home life”

Ian squeezed my hand and looked down “My God, Rory”

“We weren’t allowed to have friends because they would see hoe lived and rossedI could about the world, so one day, I could get out of that shithole”

“Who hurt you, Rory?” Ian asked

I closed my eyes and freed my hand from his “My brother, Stephen You knohat, I’o back toin the sand as I walked back to the house

I laythat life was one thing, but having to tell someone was far worse I was asha because of it I was finally out and there was no way I was going back, ever I fell asleep for a while and, when I woke up, the beautiful ht in dark clouds and rain I got up from the bed and stepped into the shower I sat on ht ot dressed and walked downstairs As II noticed a youngat the table I instantly had a flashback of that night

“Good day, Miss Rory,” Charles said as he stood over the stove, stirring so

“Hello, Charles” I smiled

“Rory, I’m Joshua” He smiled as he held out his hand

I walked over to the table and shook his hand “You’re the one I ran into on the street”

“Yes, I a me,” I said

“No probleot back fro a few days off”

“Miss Rory, please sit down and let me make you a sandwich,” Charles said