“I don’t believe you,” she whispered, twisting so that my hands fell away, useless. “And I also don’t believe that you didn’t feel anything for him. Do you want to know what I think?” She raised her gaze, looking me straight in the eye even though there were tears clinging to her lashes and her hands were trembling. “I think the problem isn’t really that you don’t believe in love. It’s that you don’t believe that you deserve it.”

Her words felt like a punch to the gut, and I took a stumbling step back like there truly had been an impact, all the air knocked out of my lungs.

“I have to go pack my things,” I said, barely hearing myself speak as I turned on my heel and let my legs carry me into the hallway. “I’ll get on the first train tomorrow.”

The door fell shut behind me before she could respond.

22

Evelyn

Seth departed early the next morning. He had cleared his room while it was still dark outside and now stood in the front yard with his suitcases in hand, the picture identical to when we had first arrived, except his eyes had been brighter then and instead of rain, his coat was now sprinkled with snow. We had been scared to set foot out of the front door at first, but there were no reporters in sight anymore, all of them scared away after Mrs. Whitworth had called the police last night.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked. “Maybe if you wait a day or two he will talk to you, maybe—”

“I’m sure,” he said. His voice sounded hoarse, like he had spent a period of time screaming at the top of his lungs. He didn’t seem as angry as he had last night when he had come to my room; instead, he seemed defeated, which was somehow even worse. Running a shaky hand through his hair, he raised his eyes to one of the windows. Jasper’s face was indecipherable as he stared down at us, ignoring Noelle, who was still trying to convince him to go downstairs and at least say good-bye.

Gulping, Seth looked down at his feet again. “He made it clear that he doesn’t want anything to do with me. I don’t think anything I say could change that.”

I feared that if I opened my mouth, the tears I was fighting to hold back would spill, so I only nodded.

Seth seemed to notice and took a step closer to me. “Hey. It’s all right, Eve. I wanted to go home from the beginning. I told you I didn’t think I fit in at a posh private school like this.”

“That’s a lie,” I whispered. My voice broke on the last word and with it the dam that had been holding my tears at bay. They were hot on my cheeks in the winter air; I didn’t bother to wipe them away. “You will always fit in here.”