I sense an opening. He’s still pissed, but he’s listening. I grab his hand and lead him in the opposite direction, toward the school, and away from Ryan and the impending fight.

Aiden lets me guide him to the school, but his attention is still locked on Ryan’s car until he pulls out of the parking lot and speeds away into the distance, unaware of just how close he came to swallowing all his teeth.

13

Aiden was tense for the rest of the day. It was obvious to everyone who crossed his path. I know he’s upset and it means a lot because I know he cares about me, but I’m glad that situation didn’t escalate to a point where Aiden got expelled because of me. Aiden’s smart; he can get scholarships without a problem, and I can’t screw that up for him by letting him start a fight over me. His future is more important.

We didn’t get to talk about it all day, so when he drives me home after school, I tell him the whole story, about Ryan grabbing Kaitlyn and everything.

He doesn’t really say much, except to swear under his breath.

He mumbles something about hoping Ryan doesn’t turn out like his father, a statement that punches me right in the gut. It’s easy to forget that Aiden had to live with Ryan’s abusive dad as a kid.

Aiden drops me off and promises to be back soon to go to the interview he has scheduled today to talk about his father. I grab something to eat and get changed while Aiden picks up his brothers and takes them to Mason’s house, where Aiden tells me Natalia happily dotes on them, pestering them to fill their plates with her homemade tamales. He comes back to get me a bit later, with a tamale that I eat with a guilty conscience, and soon we’re at the news station.

We haven’t heard from Kessler since his birthday card threat, but Aiden hasn’t let that stop him. If news stations request interviews from him, he’s happy to give them. The more people who learn about what a shitty person Kessler is, the better.

Once inside, they whisk Aiden away to the interview, and I stand off to the side behind the cameras while the news team sets Aiden up with a mic and gets him into position. He looks at ease, confident as always, like he knows exactly what he needs to say and isn’t afraid to say it.

I take a seat in a chair off to the side and unlock Aiden’s phone. I don’t snoop through it—I don’t need to. If anyone was hiding things in this relationship, it was me. But not anymore.

I open S-Live Time as they prep Aiden for the interview, start their sound checks, and do all that other stuff they need to prepare. It’s a local station, but people from the whole state tune into this show. Scrolling through S-Live Time, I laugh at the stupid pictures and videos. It would be so cool to just be able to have social media. To post pictures with my friends and not worry about giving my location away to a murderer. I could theoretically have an anonymous account, but then I’d just get sad looking at everyone posting while I couldn’t share selfies or pictures of my friends.