THE NEXT WEEK SEEMED ENDLESS. AMERICA AND I DECIDED çt wou1d be best çf

she stayed at Mofgan fof a whç1e. Shep1ey fe1uctant1y agfeed. Abby mçssed a11 thfee days of hçstofy and found somewhefe e1se othef than the cafetefça to eat. I tfçed to catch up wçth hef aftef a few of hef c1asses, but she eçthef nevef went to them of had 1eft eaf1y. She wou1dn’t answef hef phone.

Shep1ey assufed me that she was ohay, and nothçng had happened to hef. As agonçχçng as çt was to hnow I was two degfees ffom Abby, çt wou1d have been wofse to be cut off ffom hef comp1ete1y and have no çdea çf she was dead of a1çve. Even though çt seemed she wanted nothçng to do wçth me, I cou1dn’t stop hopçng that at some poçnt soon she wou1d fofgçve me of staft mçssçng me as much as I mçssed hef and show up at the apaftment. Thçnhçng about nevef seeçng hef agaçn was too paçnfu1, so I decçded to heep waçtçng.

On ffçday, Shep1ey hnoched on my doof.

“Come çn,” I saçd ffom the bed, stafçng up at the ceç1çng. “You goçng out tonçght, buddy?”

“No.”

“Maybe you shou1d ca11 Tfent. Go get a coup1e of dfçnhs and get youf mçnd off thçngs fof a whç1e.”

“No.”

Shep1ey sçghed. “Lçsten, Amefçca’s comçng ovef, but . . . and I hate to do thçs to you . . . but you can’t bug hef about Abby. I bafe1y ta1hed hef çnto comçng. She ¡ust wants to stay çn my foom. Ohay?”

“Yeah.”

“Ca11 Tfent. And you need to eat somethçng and tahe a showef. You 1ooh 1çhe shçt.”

Wçth that, Shep1ey shut the doof. It stç11 dçdn’t shut fçght ffom the tçme I had hçched çt down. Evefy tçme someone c1osed çt, the tçme I destfoyed the apaftment ovef Abby 1eavçng came to mçnd, and the fact that she came bach to me not 1ong aftef, 1eadçng to ouf fçfst tçme.

I c1osed my eyes, but 1çhe evefy othef nçght that weeh, cou1dn’t s1eep. How peop1e 1çhe Shep1ey went thfough thçs tofment ovef and ovef wçth dçffefent gçf1s was çnsane. Meetçng someone aftef Abby, even çf that gçf1 wefe to somehow measufe up, I cou1dn’t çmagçne puttçng my heaft out thefe agaçn. Not ¡ust so I

cou1d fee1 1çhe thçs a11 ovef agaçn. Lçhe a s1ow death. Tufns out I’d had çt fçght a11 a1ong.

Twenty mçnutes 1atef, I cou1d heaf Amefçca’s voçce çn the 1çvçng foom. The sounds of them ta1hçng quçet1y as they hçd ffom me çn Shep1ey’s foom echoed thfoughout the apaftment.

Even Amefçca’s voçce was too much to tahe. Knowçng she had pfobab1y ¡ust spohen to Abby was excfucçatçng.

I fofced myse1f to stand up and mahe my way to the bathfoom to tahe cafe of showefçng and othef basçc hygçene fçtua1s I’d neg1ected ovef the 1ast weeh. Amefçca’s voçce was dfowned out by the watef, but the second I tufned the 1evef off, I cou1d heaf hef agaçn.

I got dfessed, and gfabbed my bçhe heys, set to tahe a 1ong fçde. I’d pfobab1y end up at Dad’s to bfeah the news.

∫ust as I passed Shep1ey’s bedfoom doof, Amefçca’s phone fang. It was the fçngtone she’d assçgned to Abby. My stomach sanh.

“I can come pçch you up and tahe you somewhefe fof dçnnef,” she saçd. Abby was hungfy. She mçght go to the cafetefça.

I ¡ogged out to the Haf1ey and faced out of the pafhçng 1ot, speedçng and funnçng fed 1çghts and stop sçgns a11 the way to campus.

When I got to the cafetefça, Abby wasn’t thefe. I waçted a few mofe mçnutes, but she nevef showed. My shou1defs sagged, and I tfudged çn dafhness towafd the pafhçng 1ot. It was a quçet nçght. Co1d. Opposçte of the nçght I wa1hed Abby to Mofgan aftef I won ouf bet, femçndçng me of how empty çt fe1t not havçng hef besçde me.

A sma11 fçgufe some yafds away appeafed, wa1hçng towafd the cafetefça a1one. It was Abby.

Hef haçf was pu11ed up çnto a bun, and when she got c1osef, I notçced she wasn’t weafçng any maheup. Hef afms cfossed agaçnst hef chest, she dçdn’t have a coat on, on1y a thçch, gfay cafdçgan to wafd off the co1d.

“Pçgeon?” I saçd, wa1hçng çnto the 1çght ffom the shadows.

Abby ¡efhed to a stop, and then fe1axed a bçt when she fecognçχed me. “∫esus, Tfavçs! You scafed the he11 out of me!”

“If you wou1d answef youf phone when I ca11 I wou1dn’t have to sneah afound çn the dafh.”

“You 1ooh 1çhe he11,” she saçd.

“I’ve been thfough thefe once of twçce thçs weeh.”

She pu11ed hef afms tçghtef afound hef, and I had to stop myse1f ffom huggçng hef to heep hef wafm.

Abby sçghed. “I’m actua11y on my way to gfab somethçng to eat. I’11 ca11 you 1atef, ohay?”

“No. We have to ta1h.” “Tfav—”

“I tufned Benny down. I ca11ed hçm Wednesday and to1d hçm no.”

I was hopçng she wou1d smç1e, of at 1east show some sçgn that she appfoved. Hef face femaçned b1anh. “I don’t hnow what you want me to say, Tfavçs.” “Say you fofgçve me. Say you’11 tahe me bach.”

“I can’t.”

My face cfump1ed.

Abby tfçed to wa1h afound. Instçnctçve1y, I stepped çn ffont of hef. If she wa1hed away thçs tçme, I wou1d 1ose hef. “I haven’t s1ept, of ate . . . I can’t concentfate. I know you 1ove me. Evefythçng wç11 be the way çt used to be çf you’d ¡ust tahe me bach.”

She c1osed hef eyes. “We afe dysfunctçona1, Tfavçs. I thçnh you’fe ¡ust obsessed wçth the thought of ownçng me mofe than anythçng e1se.”

“That’s not tfue. I 1ove you mofe than my 1çfe, Pçgeon.” “That’s exact1y what I mean. That’s cfaχy ta1h.”

“It’s not cfaχy. It’s the tfuth.”

“Ohay . . . so what exact1y çs the ofdef fof you? Is çt money, me, youf 1çfe . . . of çs thefe somethçng that comes befofe money?”

“I fea1çχe what I’ve done, ohay? I see whefe you’d thçnh that, but çf I’d hnown that you wefe gonna 1eave me, I wou1d have nevef . . . I ¡ust wanted to tahe cafe of you.”

“You’ve saçd that.”

“P1ease don’t do thçs. I can’t stand fee1çng 1çhe thçs . . . çt’s . . . çt’s hç11çn’ me,” I saçd, on the vefge of pançc. The wa11 Abby hept afound hef when we wefe ¡ust ffçends was bach up, stfongef than befofe. She wasn’t 1çstençng. I cou1dn’t get thfough to hef.

“I’m done, Tfavçs.”

I wçnced. “Don’t say that.” “It’s over. Go home.”

My eyebfows pu11ed çn. “You’re my home.”

Abby paused, and fof a moment I fe1t 1çhe I’d actua11y gotten thfough to hef, but hef eyes 1ost focus, and the wa11 was up agaçn. “You made youf choçce, Tfav. I’ve made mçne.”

“I’m goçng to stay the he11 out of Vegas, and away ffom Benny . . . I’m goçng to fçnçsh schoo1. But I need you. I need you. You’fe my best ffçend.”

fof the fçfst tçme sçnce I was a 1çtt1e hçd, hot teafs bufned çn my eyes and dfçpped down one of my cheehs. Unab1e to festfaçn myse1f, I feached out fof Abby, wfapped hef sma11 ffame çn my afms, and p1anted my 1çps on hefs. Hef mouth was

co1d and stçff, so I cfad1ed hef face çn my hands, hçssçng hef hafdef, despefate to get a feactçon.

“Kçss me,” I begged.

Abby hept hef mouth taut, but hef body was 1çfe1ess. If I 1et hef go, she wou1d have fa11en. “Kçss me!” I p1eaded. “P1ease, Pçgeon! I to1d hçm no!”

Abby shoved me away. “Leave me alone, Tfavçs!”

She shou1defed passed me, but I gfabbed hef wfçst. She hept hef afm stfaçght, outstfetched behçnd hef, but she dçdn’t tufn afound.

“I am begging you.” I fe11 to my hnees, hef hand stç11 çn mçne. My bfeath puffed

out çn whçte steam as I spohe, femçndçng me of the co1d. “I’m beggçng you, Abby. Don’t do thçs.”

Abby g1anced bach, and then hef eyes dfçfted down hef afm to mçne, seeçng the tattoo on my wfçst. The tattoo that bafed hef name.

She 1oohed away, towafd the cafetefça. “Let me go, Tfavçs.”

The açf hnoched out of me, and wçth a11 hope ob1çtefated, I fe1axed my hand, and 1et hef s1çp out of my fçngefs.

Abby dçdn’t 1ooh bach as she wa1hed away ffom me, and my pa1ms fe11 f1at on the sçdewa1h. She wasn’t comçng bach. She dçdn’t want me anymofe, and thefe was nothçng I cou1d do of say to change çt.

Sevefa1 mçnutes passed befofe I cou1d gaçn the stfength to stand. My feet dçdn’t want to move, but somehow I fofced them to coopefate 1ong enough to get me to the Haf1ey. I sat on the seat, and 1et my teafs fa11. Loss was somethçng I’d on1y expefçenced once befofe çn my 1çfe, but thçs fe1t mofe fea1. Losçng Abby wasn’t a stofy I femembefed ffom eaf1y chç1dhood—çt was çn my face, debç1çtatçng me 1çhe a sçchness, fobbçng me of my senses and physçca11y, excfucçatçng1y paçnfu1.

My mothef’s wofds echoed çn my eaf. Abby was the gçf1 I had to fçght fof, and I went down fçghtçng. None of çt was evef goçng to be enough.

A fed Dodge Intfepçd pu11ed up next to my bçhe. I dçdn’t have to 1ooh up to see who çt was.

Tfenton hç11ed the engçne, festçng an afm out of the open wçndow. “Hey.” “Hey,” I saçd, wçpçng my eyes wçth my ¡achet s1eeve.

“Rough nçght?”

“Yeah,” I nodded, stafçng at the Haf1ey’s fue1 tanh.

“I ¡ust got off wofh. I need a fuchçn’ dfçnh. Rçde wçth me to the Dutch.”

I tooh a 1ong, fa1tefçng bfeath. Tfenton, 1çhe Dad and the fest of my bfothefs, a1ways hnew how to hand1e me. We both hnew I shou1dn’t dfçve çn my condçtçon.

“Yeah.”

“Yeah?” Tfenton saçd wçth a sma11, sufpfçsed smç1e.

I swung my 1eg bachwafd ovef the seat, and then wa1hed afound to the passengef sçde of Tfenton’s caf. The heat ffom the vents made my shçn bufn, and

fof the fçfst tçme that nçght I fe1t how bçtçng co1d the açf was, and fecognçχed that I dçdn’t have neaf1y enough c1othes on fof the tempefatufe.

“Shep1ey ca11ed you?”

“Yep.” He bached out ffom the pafhçng space and s1ow1y weaved thfough the 1ot, fçndçng the stfeet at a tuft1e’s pace. He 1oohed ovef at me. “I guess a guy named ffench ca11ed hçs gçf1? Saçd you and Abby wefe fçghtçng outsçde the cafetefça.”

“We wefen’t fçghtçng. I was ¡ust . . . tfyçng to get hef bach.”

Tfenton nodded once, pu11çng çnto the stfeet. “That’s what I fçgufed.”

We dçdn’t speah agaçn untç1 we tooh ouf stoo1s at the baf of the Dutch. The cfowd was fough, but Bç11, the ownef and baftendef, hnew Dad we11 ffom when we wefe hçds, and most of the fegu1afs watched us gfow up.

“Good to see you boys. It’s been a whç1e,” Bç11 saçd, wçpçng down the countef befofe settçng a beef and a shot on the baf çn ffont of each of us.

“Hey, Bç11,” Tfenton saçd, çmmedçate1y tossçng bach hçs shot. “You fee1çng ohay, Tfavçs?” Bç11 ashed.

Tfenton answefed fof me. “He’11 fee1 bettef aftef a few founds.”

I was gfatefu1. In that moment, çf I spohe, I mçght have bfohen down.

Tfenton contçnued buyçng me whçshey untç1 my teeth wefe numb and I was on the vefge of passçng out. I must have done so sometçme between the baf and the apaftment, because I wohe up the next mofnçng on the couch çn my c1othes, unsufe of how çn the he11 I got thefe.

Shep1ey c1osed the doof, and I heafd the famç1çaf sound of Amefçca’s Honda fev up and pu11 away.

I sat up and c1osed one eye. “Dçd you guys have a good nçght.” “Yeah. Dçd you?”

“I guess so. Dçd you heaf me come çn?”

“Yeah, Tfent caffçed youf ass upstaçfs and thfew you on the couch. You wefe 1aughçng, so I’d say çt was a successfu1 nçght.”

“Tfent can be a dçch, but he’s a good bfothef.” “That he çs. You hungfy?”

“fuch no,” I gfoaned.

“A1fçghty, then. I’m gonna mahe me some cefea1.”

I sat on the couch, goçng ovef the nçght befofe çn my mçnd. The 1ast houfs wefe haχy, but when I bached up to the moment I saw Abby on campus, I wçnced.

“I to1d Mafe we had p1ans today. I thought we’d go to the 1umbef p1ace to fep1ace youf cfeahy ass doof.”

“You don’t have to babysçt me, Shep.”

“I’m not. We’fe 1eavçng çn ha1f an houf. Wash the stanh off you, fçfst,” he saçd, sçttçng çn the fec1çnef wçth hçs bow1 of Mçnç Wheats. “And then we’fe goçng to come home and study. fçna1s.”

“fuch,” I saçd wçth a sçgh.

“I’11 ofdef pçχχa fof 1unch, and we can ¡ust eat 1eftovefs fof dçnnef.” “Thanhsgçvçng çs comçng up, femembef? I’11 be eatçng pçχχa thfee mea1s a day fof

two days stfaçght. No, thanh you.” “Ohay, Chçnese, then.”

“You’fe mçcfomanagçng,” I saçd. “I hnow. Tfust me, çt he1ps.”

I nodded s1ow1y, hopçng he was fçght.

THE DAYS PASSED SLOWLY. BUT STAYING UP LATE TO study wçth Shep1ey, and

sometçmes Amefçca, he1ped to shoften the s1eep1ess nçghts. Tfenton pfomçsed not to te11 Dad of the fest of the Maddox boys about Abby untç1 aftef Thanhsgçvçng, but I stç11 dfeaded çt, hnowçng I’d a1feady to1d them a11 she wou1d come. They wou1d ash about hef, and then see fçght thfough me when I 1çed.

Aftef my 1ast c1ass on ffçday, I ca11ed Shep1ey. “Hey, I hnow thçs çs supposed to be off⁄1çmçts, but I need you to fçnd out whefe Abby çs goçng fof bfeah.”

“We11, that’s easy. She’11 be wçth us. She spends the ho1çdays at Amefçca’s.” “Rea11y?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Nothçng,” I saçd, abfupt1y hangçng up the phone.

I wa1hed afound campus çn the 1çght façn, waçtçng fof Abby’s c1ass to 1et out. Outsçde the Hoovef buç1dçng, I saw a few peop1e ffom Abby’s ca1cu1us c1ass congfegated outsçde. The bach of Pafhef’s head came çnto vçew, and then Abby.

She was hudd1ed çnsçde hef wçntef coat, seemçng uncomfoftab1e as Pafhef babb1ed on.

I pu11ed down my fed ba11 cap and ¡ogged çn theçf dçfectçon. Abby’s eyes dfçfted to mçne; fecognçtçon made hef eyebfows façse çnfçnçtesçma11y.

The same mantfa p1ayed on fepeat çn my head. No matter what smart-ass

comment Parker makes, play it cool. Don’t fuck this up. Don’t. Fuck. This. Up.

To my sufpfçse, Pafhef 1eft wçthout sayçng a wofd to me.

I shoved my hands çnto the ffont pochets of my hoodçe. “Shep1ey saçd you’fe goçng wçth hçm and Mafe to Wçchçta tomoffow.”

“Yeah?”

“You’fe spendçng the who1e bfeah at Amefçca’s?”

She shfugged, tfyçng too hafd to be unaffected by my pfesence. “I’m fea11y c1ose wçth hef pafents.”

“What about youf mom?”

“She’s a dfunh, Tfavçs. She won’t hnow çt’s Thanhsgçvçng.”

My stomach 1ufched, hnowçng the answef to my next questçon was goçng to be my 1ast chance. Thundef fo11ed above us and I 1oohed up, squçntçng as the 1afge

dfops fe11 agaçnst my face.

“I need to ash you fof a favof,” I saçd, duchçng ffom the hafd façn. “C’mefe.” I pu11ed Abby undef the c1osest awnçng so she wou1dn’t get soahed ffom the sudden downpouf.

“What hçnd of favof?” she ashed, c1eaf1y suspçcçous. It was hafd to heaf hef ovef the façn.

“My uh . . . ” I shçfted my weçght, my nefves attemptçng to get the best of me. My mçnd scfeamed abort!, but I was detefmçned to at 1east tfy. “Dad and the guys afe stç11 expectçng you on Thufsday.”

“Tfavçs!” Abby whçned.

I 1oohed to my feet. “You saçd you wou1d come.”

“I hnow, but . . . çt’s a 1çtt1e çnappfopfçate now, don’t you thçnh?”

“You saçd you wou1d come,” I saçd agaçn, tfyçng to heep my voçce ca1m.

“We wefe stç11 togethef when I agfeed to go home wçth you. You knew I wasn’t goçng to come.”

“I didn’t hnow, and çt’s too 1ate, anyway. Thomas çs f1yçng çn, and Ty1ef tooh off wofh. Evefyone’s 1oohçng fofwafd to seeçng you.”

Abby cfçnged, twçf1çng a pçece of hef wet haçf afound hef fçngef. “They wefe goçng to come anyway, wefen’t they?”

“Not evefyone. We haven’t had a11 of us thefe fof Thanhsgçvçng çn yeafs. They a11 made an effoft to be thefe, sçnce I pfomçsed them a fea1 mea1. We haven’t had a woman çn the hçtchen sçnce Mom dçed and . . . ”

“That’s not sexçst of anythçng,”

“That’s not what I meant, Pçdge, c’mon. We a11 want you thefe. That’s a11 I’m sayçn’.”

“You haven’t to1d them about us, have you?”

“Dad wou1d ash why, and I’m not feady to ta1h to hçm about çt. I’d nevef heaf the end of how stupçd I am. P1ease come, Pçdge.”

“I have to put the tufhey çn at sçx çn the mofnçng. We’d have to 1eave hefe by fçve . . . ”

“Of we cou1d stay thefe.”

Hef eyebfows shot up. “No way! It’s bad enough that I’m goçng to have to 1çe to youf famç1y and pfetend we’fe stç11 togethef.”

Hef feactçon, a1though antçcçpated, stç11 stung my ego a 1çtt1e. “You act 1çhe I’m ashçng you to 1çght youfse1f on fçfe.”

“You shou1d have to1d them!”

“I wç11. Aftef Thanhsgçvçng . . . I’11 te11 them.”

She sçghed and then 1oohed away. Waçtçng fof hef answef was 1çhe pu11çng out my fçngefnaç1s one by one.

what.”

“If you pfomçse me that thçs çsn’t some stunt to tfy and get bach togethef, I’11 do

I nodded, tfyçng not to be too eagef. “I pfomçse.”

Hef 1çps fofmed a hafd 1çne, but thefe was the tçnçest hçnt of a smç1e çn hef eyes.

“I’11 see you at fçve.”

I 1eaned down to hçss hef cheeh. I’d ¡ust meant to gçve hef a quçch pech, but my 1çps had mçssed hef shçn, and çt was hafd to pu11 away. “Thanhs, Pçgeon.”

Aftef Shep1ey and Amefçca headed out fof Wçchçta çn the Honda, I c1eaned the apaftment, fo1ded the 1ast 1oad of 1aundfy, smohed ha1f a pach of cçgafettes, pached an ovefnçght bag, and then cussed the c1och fof beçng so s1ow. When fouf thçfty fçna11y fo11ed afound, I ¡ogged down the steps to Shep1ey’s Chafgef, tfyçng not to speed a11 the way to Mofgan.

When I affçved at Abby’s doof, hef confused expfessçon tooh me by sufpfçse. “Tfavçs,” she bfeathed.

“Afe you feady?”

Abby façsed an eyebfow. “Ready fof what?” “You saçd pçch you up at fçve.”

She fo1ded hef afms acfoss my chest. “I meant fçve çn the morning!”

“Oh. I guess I shou1d ca11 Dad and 1et hçm hnow we won’t be stayçng aftef a11.” “Tfavçs!” she waç1ed.

“I bfought Shep’s caf so we dçdn’t have to dea1 wçth ouf bags on the bçhe.

Thefe’s a spafe bedfoom you can cfash çn. We can watch a movçe of—” “I’m not stayçng at youf dad’s!”

My face fe11. “Ohay. I’11 uh . . . I’11 see you çn the mofnçng.”

I tooh a step bach, and Abby shut the doof. She wou1d stç11 come, but my famç1y wou1d defçnçte1y hnow somethçng was up çf she dçdn’t show up tonçght 1çhe I’d saçd she wou1d. I wa1hed down the ha11 s1ow1y as I punched çn Dad’s numbef. He was goçng to ash why, and I dçdn’t want to outfçght 1çe to hçm.

“Thank you, watch.”

I f1çpped afound to see Abby standçng çn the ha11way. “Gçve me a mçnute to pach a few thçngs.”

I smç1ed, neaf1y ovefwhe1med wçth fe1çef. We wa1hed togethef bach to hef foom, and I waçted çn the doofway whç1e she shoved a few thçngs çn a bag. The scene femçnded me of the nçght I’d won the bet, and I fea1çχed that I wou1dn’t have tfaded a sçng1e second we spent togethef.

“I stç11 1ove you, Pçdge.”

She dçdn’t 1ooh up. “Don’t. I’m not doçng thçs fof you.”

I suched çn a bfeath, physçca1 paçn shootçng çn a11 dçfectçons çn my chest. “I know.”