“I’m fine,” I reply and take the little white pills she offers me. I

don’t know what they’re for, but I think they’re some kind of

sedative because every time I swallow them I fall in and out of

consciousness. Which is fine. It numbs the pain, and that’s all I’ve

ever wanted.

Ten minutes after the pills go down my throat, drowsiness

takes over and I lie down in the bed. I’m about to fall asleep when

the familiar scent of expensive perfume burns at my nostrils. I keep

my eyes shut. I don’t want to talk to her and pretend everything’s

okay and that my father didn’t stab me. I hate pretending that she

doesn’t know and that she’s worried about me.

“Kayden, are you awake?” she asks in a sedated tone, which

means she’s on something. She pokes my arm with her fingernail

and the gesture is rough and scratches my skin. I shut my eyes

tighter and cross my arms, wishing she would scrape it harder, cut

the skin open and erase everything I’m feeling.

“Kayden Owens.” Her sharp voice is like nails on a

chalkboard. “Listen, I know you don’t want to hear this, but it’s

time to get your shit together. Get up, start eating better, and

prove to the doctors that you’re okay to come home.”

I say nothing and don’t open my eyes. I just listen to my

heart beat. Thump, thump. Thump, thump.

Her breathing accelerates. “Kayden Owens, I will not let you

ruin this family’s reputation. Now fix this mess.” She grabs the

blanket and flings it off me. “Get up, go to therapy, and prove

you’re not a threat to yourself.”

My eyelids gradually open and I turn my head toward her.

“What about dad? Is he still a threat to me?”

She looks like shit, dark circles under her eyes and she’s

wearing a heavy amount of makeup to try and cover it up. She’s

still all done up in a fancy red dress, with jewelry and a fur coat, her elaborate façade to hide the ugly in her life. “Your father did

nothing wrong. He was just upset at what you did.”

“You mean beating the shit out of Caleb,” I clarify as I put my

hands on the bed, push myself up, and lean against the

headboard.

Her eyes turn cold. “Yes, I mean that. Getting into fights is

not acceptable. You’re lucky Caleb’s okay. Although he’s still

deciding if he’s going to press charges. Your dad’s working on

trying to make a bargain with him.”

“What?” It feels like a thousand razor-sharp needles have slid

underneath my skin. “Why?”

“Because we’re not going to let you drag this family’s

reputation down the drain with your pathetic life. We’re going to

keep this as quiet as we can.”

“So you’re bribing him with money,” I utter through clenched

teeth. Fuck. I want to hit something hard, ram my fist into a metal

wall, split open my knuckles, and watch them bleed. I don’t want

my father taking care of this. I don’t want to owe him anything.

He’ll hold it over my head for the rest of my life. Fuck. This whole

situation is so messed up.

“Yes, with money,” she snaps and takes her makeup compact

out of her purse. “Your father’s hard-earned money, which you

should be very grateful for.”

“Let Caleb press charges.” I honestly don’t care anymore.

Almost every part of me has died and what’s still alive is just

waiting until the next incision. “I don’t give a shit. It’d be better than letting dad pay him off.”

She checks her reflection, pursing her lips, and then clicks the

compact shut. “You’re so ungrateful.” She storms toward the door,

her high heels clicking against the dingy linoleum. “You’re the

most frustrating child in the world. Your brothers never gave me

problems like this.”

That’s because they escaped during the storm and were

gone for the tornado. “I’m not a child.” I rotate onto my side and

close my eyes. “I’ve never really been a child.”

The click of her heels stops. She waits, like she expects me to

say something or wants to say something herself, but then the

clicking picks up again and soon she’s out in the hall. I let the

numbness of the pill slink into my body and drag me into the dark.

The last thing I see before I pass out is the most beautiful

blue-eyed, brown-haired girl I’ve ever laid eyes on. The only girl

who’s ever owned my heart and I hold onto the image with every

ounce of strength I have. Otherwise I’d probably lose the will to

breathe.

Callie

“I have a quick question,” I say to Luke. We’re standing in

front of the entrance to a small ice rink, getting ready to go

ice-skating, something we’ve both never done (which we admit to

each other on the car ride over here). It’s not too crowded, but

there are a few couples skating and holding hands and a girl

getting lessons in the center. “What happened in Professor

McGellon’s class?”

Luke shakes his head as he runs his hand over his shortly

shaven brown hair. “Did Seth put you up to that?”

I bend over to tighten the lace on my skate. “He mentioned

on the phone that I should ask you.”

He rolls his eyes as I stand up. “You really want to know?”

I hesitate at the note of warning in his tone, but decide to be

a bit of a daredevil and nod my head. “Yeah, I do. I guess.”

“I got caught doing… something in his class.” He ventures

out onto the rink and dips the toe of the skate down so the blade

cuts the ice. “With a girl.”

Seth and his need to push me out of my comfort zone. I’m

blushing, but I act like it’s just a flush from the frigid temperature, adding a shiver from my body. “By the professor?”

He progresses forward and his knees wobble as he inches

toward the middle of the rink where a girl is spinning in circles with her hands above her head. “No, by Seth.”

I grip onto the wall and edge out onto the ice, deciding it’s

probably best to change the subject before my cheeks ignite. “So

this is what people do to cheer themselves up?” With my hands

out to my side and my palms flat, I try to keep my balance as I

slide my feet across the rink.

Luke has his hands spanned to the side of himself, and his

knees are bent as he skates in a zigzag pattern. “That’s the rumor I

was told,” he says and reaches for the wall when he stumbles.

“By who?” I clutch onto the wall for support as my knees

begin to buckle and remain there briefly to let the poor people

behind me skate by.

He grins as his feet make a circular motion against the ice.

“By this hot chick I hooked up with the other night. She insisted

that we needed to go ice skating.”