Total pages in book: 157
Estimated words: 149510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 748(@200wpm)___ 598(@250wpm)___ 498(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 748(@200wpm)___ 598(@250wpm)___ 498(@300wpm)
“Food’s here!” another distant voice echoes in the receiver, and when Jack and Trav glance over their shoulders, it’s apparent it’s on their end.
“This has been a real lovely chat,” Trav says with a wink. “But my new favorite brother Ty just brought a shitload of takeout, and I’m starved. See you fuckers on the flip side.”
He’s doesn’t look back, and Jack follows his lead, only offering his middle finger and a laughing, “Love you assholes.”
Low rolls her eyes and tells us she loves us, and Reece and I end the call shortly after that.
“So…I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but it’s kind of hard, you know?” Ace states, and I glance over my shoulder to find him eating a bag of potato chips on his futon. “Quite the turn of events, huh?”
“Yeah.” I run a hand through my hair and drop my phone on my bed. “A fucking whirlwind.”
“Don’t worry, man, I don’t even expect a thank-you or anything.”
“What?” I furrow my brow, and he shoves a chip into his smiling mouth.
“For calling my dad, who called your—who’d have guessed it—brother to come save your ass. It’s on the house. No charge. In fact, you can consider it a free service, complimentary with your roommateship.”
I don’t bother explaining that I’ve already known Ty is my brother for years. It’d mean having to explain the whole coming-to-Dickson-to-plot-his-downfall thing, and I don’t think that would go over too big.
“I have a hard time believing you were starved for attention when you were a kid, but you sure as fuck act like it.”
He laughs as I reach for my phone when it pings with a new text message.
Julia: Hey, just wanted to update you that I just left her dorm. I stayed all day until she literally made me leave, but she’s not doing that great. Honestly, she’s a mess. Embarrassed. Mortified. Doesn’t want to leave her room. She wouldn’t eat anything when I was there either. I’m worried about her, for sure.
I’m already on my feet, shoving my phone into my pocket and grabbing my keys.
“I’ll be back in a few,” I tell Ace, grabbing my jacket from the hook by the door.
He jumps to his feet, nervous. “Hold up. I thought you told Ty you’d stay in tonight.”
I roll my eyes. “I’m not going to get into any trouble, I promise. But there’s something I have to do.”
He’s reluctant, but he’s also Ace. There’s a reason I like him—he knows when it’s not a good idea to cross a boundary. “All right, dude. But call me if you need something.”
I nod and jet, running down the hall, down the stairs, and out the door, before anyone can spot me.
Thirty minutes later, I’m standing in front of Scottie’s door with a bag of food from her favorite hoagie joint up the street. Every cell inside my body wants to see her, talk to her, but I know she’s not ready for that.
So, I do the second-best thing. I set the food on the floor and knock three times before I jog down the hallway and out of sight.
I stay hidden, but I don’t leave until I see her open the door and take the food inside her room.
Her eyes look sadder than I’ve ever seen, and her body is sunken and hollow. I wish I had the power to turn back time—to change the course of her fate.
But if I did, I would have changed mine and my family’s a long time ago.
This is no Aladdin, and I’m no genie. Only time will heal this wound. But there’s nothing to stop me from granting secret wishes while we wait.
Monday December 16th
Scottie
There is nothing like a New York City winter wind. Between the giant skyscrapers and the concrete pavement, it’s as if each frigid gust has the power to freeze your bones. I pull my black puffer coat tighter around my body as I speed walk from the Logan Center to Delaney and burrow into its warmth.
It’s only a little after six, but the sky is already dark, and the moon has set up shop for the evening.
Tonight’s cheerleading practice went over by an hour, and it took every ounce of strength I had inside my body to plaster a smile on my face and show up. My focus was shit and Coach Jordan bitched at me quite a few times when I kept screwing up my scorpions, but I showed up, and for right now, that’s all I can ask of myself.
Coach Jordan did pull me aside to ask if I was okay, but she doesn’t need to know the gory, my-alcoholic-mom-had-sex-with-a-student details. Everyone on my squad knows—even the girls who weren’t at the Delta Omega party—and that’s more than enough trauma for me.
I lost count of how many hushed conversations stopped the instant I was within hearing distance at practice or how many times I caught Kayla giving someone a quiet vibing.