Page 33 (1/2)

"Mom always says men shouldn’t be trusted That she’s pushed my father out of her life forever But of course, she’s talking to hiain and he wants her to withdraw money out of some secret account he has It’s probably more money he stole He embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars, Owen He did it for years And he cheated on my mom, had endless affairs with an endless list of wo et it all out as I hold her todown her back I can’t believe she’s here, standing with me outside in front ofon

"Why does she keep doing that? Why does she trust hi but lie and cheat and steal? He doesn’t love her He doesn’t love et that Mom is the exact same way She’s the most selfish person I’ve ever known

"I want you to trust me, Chels," I tell her, my voice soft as I pressher in closer I want her to feel safe with ain "I swear on my life I’ll do whatever it takes to earn back your trust"

When she slips her ar the smallest nod as her answer, I als with me and I need to prove that I’o inside," I whisper in her hair,around her

"Nice party, Owen," she says, the sarcas a hint of the old Chelsea "I bet there’s soht now"

"There’s a lock on the door No one is in my room And if soers through her hair and tilt her head so she has no choice but to look at me Her cheeks are streaked with tears and I wipe them aith my thumbs "Come inside with me, Chelsea We can talk more noe can talk more tomorrow Whatever you want I just … I really need to be with you tonight"

She stares at hI a I can feel it I’ht," she finally says, sounding reluctant, which of course fills me orry I don’t want to ruin this or somehow fk it up beyond repair

I need to be careful I need to make this work For my sake and for Chelsea’s

We need each other I don’t know if Chelsea’s aware of it yet, but I know I aain Makes ain These feeeks apart froo now

Chelsea

Everybody at this party is beyond obnoxious I see the way the girls look at Owen as alk by them and they make me feel possessive I want to shout at all of them, Back off, he’s mine!

But I don’t I have at least sorab hold of his hand e enter his house and let hiirls are all dressed to iht or skiue and entice

I’s that have a hole in the inside seaave me, with a tank top and no bra on underneath I look plain and boring, as if I just crawled out of bed after a night of no sleep Tired and sad, with a tear-stained face and red eyes Not that I think anything’s going to happen between Owen and , I wouldn’t stop hi with hiether He’sto break down each other’s last, thick walls and be honest with each other I already told him so much, pretty much all he needs to know WhatI don’t want to talk about hiet

The house reeks of beer and weed and I wrinklesirls, and I alh It’s all just so … weird Owen’s life Mine And how they intersected We are coht to be with hilance over rin on his handso on his ar her lips, her eyes kinda hazy Like maybe she was the one who just had her hands in his hair

"Hey," I say, just as Owen’s fingers tighten around mine

"Leave her alone," Oarns and I look at hi hey" Wade leans forward, as if he’s about to tell iant secret "He’s been a whiny baby for days Hesomeone else say it somehow makes it feel eventhat real feeling

That this is real between us What we share, e have, isn’t all one-sided We’re definitely in this together

"Don’t fk up with her again," Wade says, pointing his finger in Owen’s direction before flashing entle so"

I release Owen’s hand and go to Wade, pulling hiirl still hasn’t let hio And he doesn’t seem too upset about it, either "Thank you," I murmur as I pull away from him

"See hoeet she is? You don’t deserve her,at Oho looks ready to rip hied me"

"Consider yourself lucky I didn’t chop your hands off for touching s his arm around h, hear the girl ask what all that was about, but the buzz in my head slowly takes over, until all I can focus on is Owen

Holdingall jealous and calling o I felt like I was at the end of erated and crazy and over the top I feel like I’m on a ride at Disneyland or so them to let me off It’s all just too much

Finally we’re in Owen’s room and he closes the door Turns the lock That subtle click rings loud in the quiet confines of his rooainst the door so he can studyabuser A drunk"

His words are flat, his tone impassive I wait for him to continue

"She’s never been there for us, not really I alanted her approval When ere alone, she told me I was her favorite I was her baby boy And I wanted to be her baby boy I wanted her to love me I don’t think she ever did"