“Jaden called looking for you. Didn’t seem too happy that you weren’t home after you told him you would be. He’s on his way over now.”

My heart sank.

Jaden’s coming here? Ralph told him I wasn’t home. Crap.

Breathe. Just breathe.

I’d barely gotten to my bedroom when the doorbell rang. Turning, I went back to the stairs. I could see Ralph and Jaden talking in the foyer below. Ralph laughed at something Jaden said and clapped him on the back. I sighed, forcing my feet to go down the stairs. My heart beat in my ears, the blood whooshing behind them. My hands were slick with sweat and slipped on the bannister.

“Hey,” I said to Jaden, smiling.

He didn’t speak to me. Instead, he looked at Ralph and said, “I know Willow’s curfew is eleven, but do you think we could take a drive? I’ll have her back by midnight.”

“Sure, Jaden, that’s fine,” Ralph said, clapping Jaden on the back again like they were long-lost buddies. Ick.

Jaden gripped my upper arm and guided me out to his car. He didn’t say a word. We’d driven through my subdivision before he pulled into a convenience store parking lot, jammed his Mustang into park, and turned to glare at me.

“Where were you?”

“Out,” I said, raising my chin.

“With?”

“A friend. What difference does it make?”

“I know you weren’t with Jenna like you told your mom and Ralph,” Jaden said quietly. It was almost scarier than if he were yelling at me. “Karen saw you.”

“Should have known your spy was out on patrol.”

He turned toward me so fast I flinched against the car door. “Check the attitude, Willow,” he said, pointing a finger in my face. “Who were you out with?”

“A friend.”

“What friend?” He nearly spat the word friend.

“None of your freakin’ business, Jaden,” I yelled. “You go off and party with Sarah and God only knows who else whenever you want. I think I’m entitled to visit with a friend if I want to.”

“You aren’t entitled to anything—”

“Take me home.”

“We aren’t done.”

“I am. Either take me home or I’ll walk.” I narrowed my eyes at him. When he didn’t start driving, I said, “Now.”

“You’re making this harder than it has to be,” he warned. “You do not want to push me. I don’t want to be the bad guy, but I will be if you don’t play by the rules.”

“No, you’re making things harder, Jaden. You and your rules are full of shit. Things are going to change. I’m not putting up with your possessive bullshit anymore. Get over yourself. I’m going to start doing what I want, when I want to do it, without getting permission from you… and you’re going to keep your mouth shut about what you know. If you don’t like it, then maybe we should break up now and get it over with.”

“I won’t keep my mouth shut. I’ll tell everyone.” Leaning toward me, he whispered, “Everyone.” He planted a quick kiss on the end of my nose. “And you and I both know who people will believe.”

“Well, here’s the deal.” I smoothed out my shirt and adjusted my belt before I looked at him. “You’ve known what happened for… hmm, how long? Weeks? No, longer than that. Months? No, even longer.” I shook my head and tsked. “Gee, I don’t think the police are going to like it when they find out you had this information and didn’t come forward.”

Jaden’s face turned red, and a vein bulged in his neck. It was definitely the wrong thing to say. And he made sure I knew it.

Jamming the car into drive, he squealed out of the parking lot. He didn’t say another word to me on the drive back to my house. When he pulled into my driveway, he looked at me and finally broke the silence. “You seem to have it all figured out. But if you were so sure it would be that easy, you would have done something before now. To me. To Ralph. But you haven’t. So I call BS on your little threat, Willow. Now get the hell out of my car.” I’d barely got out and shut the door when he gunned the engine, peeled out of the drive, and sped down the street.

“Ass,” I muttered, running my hands over my tear-stained face.

Breathe. Just breathe. You’re strong. Breathe.

Monday morning and the shit was about to hit the proverbial fan. I looked at my face in the mirror, still foggy from my shower. I could see the purple splotch even through the condensation.

Makeup isn’t gonna cover that. What’s my story? I took an elbow while swimming. Yeah, that’ll work.

I blew my hair dry straight, angling it toward my face. Maybe if it fell forward, it’d help hide what makeup couldn’t. Not likely.

I put on my makeup, trying to use concealer around my eye to hide as much of the bruising as I could. It was a lost cause, and, besides, no amount of makeup could cover the swelling.

I grabbed a pair of black yoga pants and the new T-shirt I had made when Jenna and I were at the mall that said, Mondays should be illegal. Once dressed, I grabbed my things and left for school.

Jenna had texted repeatedly since Friday night. I sent her one text telling her things were okay, and I’d tell her more Monday. Other than that one text, I hadn’t talked to anyone since Friday. Sitting in my car in the student parking lot, I pulled out my phone. I knew I needed to warn them before they saw me, especially Brody.

I felt sick. I hated lying to them. I hated how weak it made me look… how weak I was.

Jaden texted me over and over during the weekend, reminding me that he knew my secret and he had no problem telling people. And even if they didn’t believe him, they would believe Ralph. With every text he sent, my stomach roiled. Bile rose in my throat, scorching it. I felt pathetic and useless. And pissed. And not for the first time, I thought I’d just tell him to go ahead. Tell everyone. I didn’t care anymore. Just do it and get it over with. Whatever the fallout was, it couldn’t be any worse than living with the secret hanging over me.

Me: Had an accident over the weekend. Don’t flip when you see me.

Jenna: Yeah. An accident. Ok.

Me: Tell Tim for me.

Jenna: Sure. Whatever.

I sat looking at the screen on my phone, tapping my fingernail on the back. I knew I had to text Brody. I couldn’t just walk into biology without warning him. He’d have a fit. These were always the hardest bruises to explain. The others, I could hide with clothes, but my face, I couldn’t. That was why he didn’t normally hit in the face. I guess that shows how much I pissed him off Friday night.

Breathe. Just breathe. It won’t break you. Just breathe.

I took a deep breath and started typing.

Me: Hey, Ace.

Brody: Hey back.

Me: I need to tell you something and you have to promise me you’ll be cool.

Brody: Okay.

Me: No. Promise.

Brody: I promise. I’ll be cool.

Me: I had an accident over the weekend. Don’t flip out when you see me.

Brody: I’m gonna kill him.

Me: You just promised me. Cool remember? Or I’ll leave.

Brody: Damn it, Willow. Okay. I’ll try.

Me: Try hard. For me.

Sighing, I opened the car door. I reached in the backseat to grab my bag. When I turned around, I saw Brody jogging across the parking lot toward me.

Oh, jeez. I was hoping to put this off until we were in class where he wouldn’t make a scene.

“I saw your car when I pulled in. What happened?” His voice trailed off when he got close enough to see my eye. “What the hell?”

“I had an accident—”

“Don’t lie to me, Willow. Remember sitting in my aunt’s bar and telling me you wouldn’t lie to me? So, let’s try again. What happened?” Brody reached out and took my chin in his hand, moving my head to the side so he could get a better look at my mangled eye. He gently smoothed the hair away from my face.