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His earlier denial sliced my heart in two

"There’s a lot you don’t know abouthis head downcast

"I know Because you never tellon I’m completely in the dark here, Owen"

"Really? You feel that way? Because you don’t tellBeyond you being soh school when you were sixteen--that’s all I got And that’s not enough," he says, his angry words flowing out of him like a da I’h That’s why you told your irlfriend" I wrap my arms aroundI can do to ease the shaking, or the cold, dark ache that’s consuht so heavy I can hardly breathe

"Now you’re just putting words in irlfriend’ Those words ca’ That sentence hurt the most, Owen Can you deny you said them?" I approach hioes stu backward, his expression one of total shock, but it doesn’ttoo irlfriend? And I’ht You don’t have me"

"I had to say it I had to tell her that" His voice is ragged, his expression full of anguish His eyes are dark and full of so much … too much emotion I can hardly stand to look at hiether, she’ll try and talk to you Ruin you Use you She uses everyone It’s what she does best"

"She hatesit hard to breathe "She doesn’t even kn-knowand I will them to stop I refuse to fall apart in front of him He shouldn’t matter so hly and hangs his head "And I don’t think she really knows me either," he mumbles

I stare at him, dumbfounded I wonder if I really know hio, I thought I did "Where’s Fable?"

"Back atour mom out of there" His expression cru My already broken heart threatens to crack deeper and I take a sharp breath, trying to keep everything together "I should’ve told her Mom was back," he says "I’ve kept it from her for months"

"You should’ve told the both of us You should’ve been honest with me, Owen" I turn on my heel and start to walk but he doesn’t chase after me Not that I expected hi, I look at hi in the sa next to a white picket fence and staring at me as if he can’t believe I would leave hi addict, too," I whisper, wrapping my arms arounddeal"

"You smoke pot more than I think you let on" I pause "Is it a probleh We both remain quiet and I want to walk away, but I can’t

I’h Not yet

"You haven’t been honest with me either and you know it" His voice is so cold "You have your secrets Just like I have ht I do have my secrets But he wouldn’t understand Not now If I confessed everything to him about Dad, he’d think what he did for his ood father That I’d have no proble hertheir relationship from Fable, from everyone It wouldn’t be fair

My secret will remain my secret

"You can’t walk away from me like this, Chels," he says "Give ets high all the ti to escape your reality And thatto escape h So what? It’s no big deal, right? I can quit whenever I want I haven’t smoked much this past week"

Only a week I just … I don’t even knohat to think

"You’re not who I thought you were, Owen Maguire Not at all," I say

"Neither are you"

I flinch Those three words lash atto buckle, and I press ether to stiflemy troubles, my problems, the boy I love

Same difference

Owen

"It’s been a week,at et the fk out of bed and start living again"

No Hell, no That sounds like a nightmare I’d rather stay in bed and sleep Or wake up and drink Set Mom is et that Chelsea hatestowardover the half-eolden liquid spilling all over the carpet "Shit"

"He’s gone I kicked hi you on the shit e should be getting you off it I rong about hiht Des is our friend but I’" Wade walks farther intostinks in here"

It does Like beer and weed and sweat and desperation "I need Des"

"You don’t need anything Des can give you, trust me" Wade strides towardin the early afternoon light I hiss like a fking va to disintegrate into a pile of dust the moment sun makes contact with my skin

"Why the hell did you do that, asshole?" I sit up in bed, squintingthe back ofaches I’ve hardly left this rooht Moht I ruined ht instead of sleeping the day away After you put in all that ti did it, you let it all go straight to hell over a girl" Wade says the last ith disgust

"Three girls, really," I say, thuainst the wall Mom, Fable, and Chelsea