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“Katie, no.” He pulled her into a hug. Her head rested on his shoulder simply because she could reach it. “What happened?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” She shook her head, bursting into tears. Again.
She hated this. How long would it be before she stopped crying? Katie had never experienced the loss of a loved one before, but she imagined this is what it felt like. Unimaginable grief. It was like mourning for someone who’d died, yet they weren’t dead. How would she ever get over this?
She wouldn’t.
‘Love is a severe mental illness curable only with time.’
‘Who’d want a cure?’
‘There are plenty of reasons people might want to be cured of it.’
“Sometimes, talking things over, just having someone listen, can give you clarity.” He took her hand and led her outside. “Let’s go.”
“Where are we going?” She abruptly stopped walking and he spun around. “Don’t you have a class to get to?”
“My place.” He tucked her hair behind her ear. “And I’m skipping it.”
She was too exhausted to argue and went with him. Back inside his attic room under the eaves, Katie glanced up at the panel of glass in the ceiling. The sky was still heavy and gray. It would probably snow. It was fitting, she supposed. She wondered how many girls had been in this room since she’d been here last. When was that? Four months ago?
“None.” Earnest hazel eyes caught her gaze. “I can still tell what you’re thinking.”
Wringing her hands, Katie sat down on the edge of the bed and stared at the misty downtown skyline through the window. She could see it now, without the leaves on the trees impeding her view as they had in October.
“You want a drink? I still have some of that seltzer you like in the fridge.”
“No, thanks.” She looked down at her lap. “I, um, can’t.”
“Water?”
“Yeah, that’d be great.”
Cameron got her the water and sat beside her. “Tell me what happened. Why are you leaving school?”
“I’m…” Just another statistic. “…having a baby, Cam.”
“Oh.” Now he was looking at his lap. “You don’t have to leave school because you’re pregnant, you know.”
“I know, but…”
“But?”
She was silent for a minute because she really didn’t know how to put her thoughts and feelings into words yet.
“What happened?”
Once she started talking, though, the words just tumbled out. The story sounded like a fucked-up romance novel gone wrong, even to her, and it was her story. Boy meets girl. Boy and girl fall in love. Girl gets knocked up. Boy is accused of murder. Boy and girl break up. No happy ending.
“So, now you understand why I just can’t stay here.”
“Not really.” His arm came around her. “You know, I don’t like the guy. But in all fairness, seems to me like he’s doing what he thinks is best for you.”
She arched her brow. “How do you figure?”
“If they convict him he gets prison for life, babe.”
“He didn’t do it,” Katie vehemently insisted.
