Fortunately for Ellie, he’d been in the car with a senior named Christy. Christy had walked away with only minor injuries comparatively - even drunk, she’d put on her seat belt. On the cheerleading squad, Christy had been thrilled with the media attention. She’d told reporters she was Lawrence’s girlfriend - and she did a good job of being his girlfriend until she left for college, doing her best to take care of him. Rumors went around the school, students whispering about Lawrence cheating on Ellie, or claiming Ellie had broken up with him at the party and Christy had been there to comfort him...

Ellie hadn’t cared what lies people were spreading, she’d been terrified someone might find out the truth, and she just wanted them all to leave her alone. She’d retreated back into her shell, pulling away from everyone but Meg, and during college she and Meg had drifted apart too. She’d focused on school and her art and that was it.

So karma had taken care of him. At first she’d been relieved. There wasn’t any possibility of him every hurting anyone else. She didn’t have to speak up. Face more doubts, nastiness from people, and possibly no consequences for him, especially in the wake of his accident? No thanks.

And yet, sometimes she wished she had... just for herself. Other times she was glad she hadn’t. It just kind of depended on the day.

“Ellie, you know you don’t have to share every detail with him,” Dr. Amy said gently. Yeah, she did know that. She hadn’t really shared any details last night. After getting a good cry and lots of hugs, the other women had all let the conversation move on to Angel’s self-defense class and the good it was doing. Something Ellie could attest to. She’d been relieved they’d realized she didn’t want to talk any more about it after her initial admission.

“Right...”

But could she really tell him the truth without telling him the whole truth? Even if it wasn’t information necessary for him to have, it felt like she was being dishonest. It felt like hiding.

9

Club contract signings were always done in Patrick’s office, since it was his club and he was kind of a control freak. That way he knew the boundaries of the various contracts and always had a copy on hand at the club, as well, even though any participants had their own copies. Personal relationship contracts weren’t handled through him obviously, but Michael thought he was making the right choice by agreeing to a club contract with Ellie rather than trying to push for a personal one.

She was obviously already nervous just doing this.