“And I’m supposed to stay with Kate until then? Wyatt, too?”

He nods his head. “Kate will be waiting for the both of you. She moved upstairs to a bigger apartment. There’s enough room for the three of you, so take everything you need, clear your room out.”

“We’re losing the house?” I ask, in complete shock. This is the only home I’ve ever lived in. My bedroom has been painted the same pale pink color since I was born.

“I can’t afford the rent without a job. When I get back, we’ll move into a new house.”

“Okay,” I whisper. He’s coming back. Maybe he hasn’t given up on this life. It’s the only thing that keeps me moving forward. I’ll stay with my big sister for a little while and then we’ll move into a new house and make new memories. It won’t be so bad.

Though losing the memories in this house is the last piece of mom. Once we leave, it will be like she’s gone forever—for good. When I was low, I would picture her in the kitchen, making her famous brownies, or the time she had to patch a hole in the wall because we were playing baseball in the house on a rainy day, like she told us not to.

It brings tears to my eyes, and I don’t want to cry. I’m tired—just plain tired of my world being ripped away from me.

“Don’t be sad, Kinsley, please. I need you to be strong.”

“I don’t want to move, but I want you to get better. I love you.”

He closes his eyes, absorbing my words like he doesn’t deserve them. But he does—even if I’ve been the parent of the house since mom passed—filling her role the best I can. I don’t think less of him for wanting to get help. He’s made sure I’ve been seeing a counselor all while he’s sat silently, wishing he was anywhere but here—his kids a constant reminder of what he lost.

I walk to his chair, leaning down to hug the man I’ve looked up to all my life. His strength has vanished, his soul’s depleted, and his heart’s been left in pieces. But he’s alive—even if he’s not really living anymore. “I love you, Dad.”

“I love you, Kinny. So much.”

Dad left that morning, and I haven’t heard from him since. I lie, he called once from a pay phone in Chicago. I’ve never heard of a flight from Pennsylvania to Florida via Chicago. I didn’t even know why he was there, but I could tell he was crying, nonetheless.

The moment he told me to clean out my room, and to take everything with me, should have been my first clue that he wasn’t coming back. But I bought his lies about not being able to afford the house, and his plans to go to Florida for counseling. I never once questioned why he had to go nearly a thousand miles away to get his head on straight because if that was what it took to get my father back then I wanted him in the best place possible. I wanted him to have a chance to be happy—even if I had to be sad.

For a long time, I excused the lack of phone calls and letters, chalking it up to the restrictions in therapy. He should be focused on himself, not me. When days turned into weeks, weeks into months, and there was still no word, I knew I’d never get my promises. He ran away from his responsibilities, and he has no intention of ever coming back.

Being known around town as the abandoned teenager hasn’t done my reputation any favors. Most people look at me with pity, Mandi even questioning how I can stand to look at myself in the mirror. I won’t lie and say I’ve never considered ending it—I had some very dark days after my mom passed away, and even more after dad left. Turns out being abandoned hurts just as much as death.

Even Wyatt’s gotten into fights defending me. He’s heard the rumors, threatening anyone who said another word. He can’t win every battle with his fists, and he knows that, but for a long time, it was our only defense—beat them down with fists before they can beat us down with their words.

Now that I’ve lost my personal body guard, my sister and Carson are all I have. It may not be a perfect living arrangement, but at only twenty-three, Kate’s usually fair. All she asks is that I go to school when I’m supposed to, and to work as much as I can when I’m not.

“Hey, earth to Kinsley,” Becca says, as she taps my arm to get my attention.

“Sorry. What’d you say?”

“You were really spaced out there for a few minutes. You’re sure everything’s okay at home?”

“I’m sure.”

“I wish you would come live with me. My parents wouldn’t care, they even said so.”

She yanks on her locker door a few times before banging on the top corner of the metal door. “This stupid thing sticks like the one I had last year. I can’t catch a break.” She gives it one more swift kick with her shoe before it pops opens.

“I can’t stay with you, Becca. You’re all I have. If I’m living with you, it’ll put a strain on our friendship, and we’d end up hating each other. Plus, Kate needs me. She was forced into that bigger apartment because of me, I can’t stick her with the bills and take off, too.” Only my dad gets to do that, apparently.

I stick my head in my own locker, reaching for the stack of books I have piled up on the shelf.

Becca huffs out a frustrated sigh. “You’re a good sister, but I could never hate my best friend. You’re only saying we’d fight because you think you’re a burden.”

“Becca, it is what it is.” We continue talking though the metal, unloading the books we don’t need to take home with us, and swapping them for the ones we need for our homework.

“Fine, but are you at least going to talk to Rhett before you go home?”

“I wasn’t planning on it.” It’s not like we’re suddenly a thing simply because he took a picture of me—and the entire school heard about it.

“I think you should go find him,” she encourages.

“He’s probably already at practice, and I wouldn’t even know what to say if I did find him. You know I suck at this stuff.” I hold the books I need to take home with me in my arms as I grab my bag off the floor. I slam my locker door shut with my foot and gasp.

Rhett’s leaning against the lockers next to mine with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face. There’s no telling how long he’s been standing there, or how much of our conversation he overheard. Judging from his expression, he’s heard enough.

“You don’t want to talk to me?” he questions with a knowing wink.

I cover my face with my free hand, wishing the floor would suck me up and put me out of my misery. But Rhett wraps his hand around my wrist, pulling my hand away from my face. “Don’t cover this up.”

“Why not? I’m a little humiliated if you haven’t noticed.”

“Because I like to look at you, Kinsley.”

I duck my head, trying my best to hide the smile on my face. “I saw you looking at lunch,” I admit.

The smile on his face grows. “I know it’s not nice to stare, but I can’t help it.”

“Oh, shit,” Becca mumbles from behind me. She’s still standing in front of her locker watching our entire exchange. I’m going to get an earful after it ends, that’s for sure.

“Are you heading home?”

“I have practice,” he says.

Of course he does. I knew that, but I’m not thinking clearly. It only gets worse when he slides my backpack off my shoulder, unzipping the zipper, and one by one, tucking the books I’m holding inside the bag. Once the last one is inside, he zips it up and places it back on my shoulder. I don’t think I blinked the entire time. “Thank you. You didn’t have to do that.”

“You’re welcome. What about you? Where are you headed?”

“I have to work.”

“Are you still working at the diner?”

I nod my head. “Yeah, I’m still there. I didn’t realize you knew that.”

“I know more than you think, Kinsley. Especially about you.”

I bite my lip, but I can’t hide my smile this time—and I’m not sure I even want to. “I should probably get going before I’m late.”