“Well, I didn’t, which is why I tried to tell them once—about a month after Grams’s fall. But they sat me down and started asking if I really thought I could be happy in Alpine Peaks.” Whoa—it was like the exact conversations they had with me. “That’s when I knew it wasn’t worth it. And I didn’t want to risk any more drama.” I knew what he meant. Grams had been furious with our parents for moving us yet again, and they were only getting things back to how they were. “Grams needs to focus on getting better, not on me.” He squirmed. “I had to tell her to keep my visits secret from Mom and Dad, since they were stressed about my ‘commitments’… I know, I know…” He shook his head. “Not cool.”

“TBH, I’m mainly impressed you managed to pull it off.” Getting one past Grams was not easy. “But you could have told me?”

Nick rubbed his face. “I swear, in my dysfunctional little way, I was trying to make things easier for you—not worse…”

And I believed him. That’s what had been so hard to understand about the whole thing—I had always thought we looked out for each other, but now it made sense.

“So is that when you ‘joined the basketball team’?” I did full air quotes.

Nick shook his head, bemused. “Wow, you really do know it all…”

“Only just.” When Logan had replied earlier, he’d been as confused as me—apparently he and Nick weren’t even on the team together, they just practiced. That’s when I’d realized I really had no idea just how deep Nick had gotten into whatever he was covering up. “But if you’d told me, I might have been able to help? In my own dysfunctional little way.”

But this time, he didn’t smile back. “Seriously, Elle? I didn’t want to drag you into it.” His voice dropped. “You had enough of your own stuff going on. Y’know…” He waited, like he was trying to figure out what to say. “With what happened.”

“You mean back in Nashton?” He nodded slowly—he was the only person who knew how hard the trolling had hit me.

He cleared his throat and stretched back in his car seat. “Look, there’s something I haven’t told you.” He looked out the window and took a deep breath. But nothing came out.

But he’d been honest with me, so it was time for me to repay the favor. Tell him why I’d really been so upset, what had really happened—and what I thought could be happening all over again.

“Nick, there’s something I need to say too.”

He laughed through his nose. “No, Elle, this one is serious.”