“I am. Dr. Grant is gonna handle it. I’ll tell my parents later, but if I tell them now, it’s over. I can’t go back to the way things were. I can’t go back to not having you as a friend.” The tears came in a rush. “The house, the garden, the way my parents have been feeling . . . ​it all makes me feel like I’m where I’m supposed to be. I need to stay. Please, Karter. I need you to understand.”

A low groan echoed somewhere in the dark, and a tapping sound drew my attention to the passenger-side window. Some of the smaller trees along the road had leaned over as far as their trunks would allow. Their branches elongated, scraping against my window like fingernails. I glanced back to see if Dr. Grant had noticed, but she was staring into her lap, her face illuminated by the light from her cell phone. I touched the glass and took a steadying breath. The trees righted themselves.

Karter looked at me, his jaw set. “You gotta promise me you’ll let me know what that lady—Dr. Grant—finds out, because I’m worried. I don’t want anything to happen to you. I don’t want you to leave either. In case you couldn’t tell, I don’t have a lot of friends. I didn’t think it was a big deal till I met you and realized how much I needed one.”

I reached over and squeezed his hand. “I promise I’ll keep you in the loop.”

Karter squeezed my hand back, then drove me home.

CHAPTER 22

CHAPTER 22

Dr. Grant followed us to the end of my driveway. Karter dropped me off and watched me go inside. I locked the door and quickly walked past the front room where Mo and Mom were playing an aggressive game of Uno, hoping they wouldn’t ask me about our evening.

“Skip. Draw Four. Skip you again. Reverse back to me and BAM! Wild card! The color is blue.”

“You can’t play all those cards in one turn,” Mom said as I slid past them. She waved in my direction but kept her gaze on Mo.

Mo smirked. “House rules say I can.”

“House rules say you’re a cheater.”

“Never!” Mo said laughing. “You just mad. It’s okay to lose sometimes, babe. I still love you.”

I went to my room and changed into a pair of sweats, threw a bonnet on, and laid across my bed. I tried my best to section off what had happened at the theater from everything else that was going on. The secrets were piling up, and they were starting to feel heavy.