Chapters (48)
- TITLE PAGE
- COPYRIGHT
- CONTENTS
- PROLOGUE
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
“Can we talk about Mom?” I asked. I’d wanted to talk about her yesterday, but he’d spent the entire ride going over what I was supposed to say to any of the questions that I got from people about Mom. It wasn’t that difficult—basically, say nothing—but he was so worried that I’d slip up and say something I wasn’t supposed to. Thankfully, we didn’t have to worry about the media, because they weren’t allowed on school grounds.
He nodded, as eager to talk about it as me. It’d been almost three weeks since the knock on our door that changed everything, and we’d barely gotten to talk about things alone. There had always been somebody else in the room or someone nearby who might overhear. At least we’d be able to talk about things on our drives in the morning.
“What are the plans for her when she moves out?” I asked.
“Did she say she’s moving out? When did she say that?”
“Dad, chill. No, Mom hasn’t said anything to me about moving out, but I figured she must’ve talked to you about it.”
He shook his head. “She hasn’t said anything to me. Do you think she wants to move out?”
I shrugged. “I have no idea. I told you we haven’t talked about it.”
“Do you think she’s thinking about it?”
“Dad, come on. Listen to me. That’s not the reason I’m bringing it up.” He could be so frustrating when he got fixated on one thing, and it was so annoying. “At some point, Mom is going to have to move out, and when she does I was thinking that I would go with her.”
His face paled, and he gripped the wheel. “I don’t know about that, kiddo. We would have to really think about it.”
“But that’s just it—I have thought about it.” He knew me better than that. I didn’t do anything without thinking about it, usually too much. That had always been my problem. “I only have two years before college, and I want to spend as much time as I can getting to know Mom and Shiloh before then.” He wanted to object, but he knew I was right. College would be here in no time, and my heart had been set on Georgia Tech since I was in sixth grade, and, even if I didn’t get in, I was committed to going to college somewhere out of state. Living with them would allow me to get to know them in a way that I wouldn’t be able to do otherwise.
We rounded the corner past a Michaels craft store, and the school came into view.
“What does your mom think about it?” he asked.
“I haven’t said anything to her about it yet. I wanted to see what you thought about it first.”