by Blair Young
As I got ready for school, I wasn’t sure how I was going to bring it up. I didn’t want her to feel harassed, but at the same time, I didn’t want it to just go by the wayside, either. She had to be honest. We were best friends, after all, and I didn’t appreciate it when she left me out in the dark.
I wanted to have a reason to bring it up to her, but no matter how I thought about it in my own mind, nothing seemed quite right.
It wasn’t until she showed up late for school again that I felt I had my chance. And, I took it. As soon as I caught her alone in the hall, I pounced, demanding an answer.
“What’s going on with you?” I asked. “Something is, don’t lie.”
“I’m fine,” she said with a smile, but I crossed my arms and glared at her.
“I’m your best friend. You need to tell me the truth. Is it Peter?” I asked.
“No! No,” she said quickly. She looked around as though she was afraid someone was going to overhear our conversation, then she took a step closer. “It’s my dad.”
“I thought he was in jail,” I said.
“He is, but the judge, well, my dad, he”- she tried to get the words out, but the tears started falling and her voice caught in her throat. “We have to pay back the money he laundered. Thousands of dollars of it. Thousands.”
“Oh, no,” I said.
“We lost everything. We’re not going to be able to afford Secret Bay anymore. Everything here is so expensive, we’re going to be moving,” she sobbed. “I’ve been helping my mother pack up the place and sell things every day before and after school, so I don’t have time to hang out and I’ve been running late.”
She covered her face with her hands, and words couldn’t describe how terrible I felt. Abby had been through so much already. To think that she was also going to lose her house and her home made me feel sick to my stomach.
Abby was one of the kindest, most understanding people I knew. There wasn’t any reason for life to be so hard on her, but yet, it was. She had sacrificed a lot when she chose to be my friend, and now, I wanted to help her, but I knew there wasn’t anything I could do.
I didn’t have the money to fix this, and it didn’t sound like there was any way around it, either. Her father had screwed not only hundreds of clients out of a lot of money, but he had screwed over his own family by trying to get the money in illegal schemes.
There wasn’t a single good thing about the situation, and no matter what I said or did, nothing was going to make this better. Abby was just as stuck in her problems as I was stuck in mine.
And there wasn’t anything either of us could do about it.
Chapter 3
Sutton
I dashed out of school right after class, searching for Abby. We hadn’t been able to continue our conversation because of the bell ringing, but I told her not to leave without seeing me first.
She’d tried to tell me that she had to get home and help her mom, but I didn’t want her to leave with so many things running through my mind. It killed me to think that she was going to be gone, and it was even worse not knowing for sure when she was leaving for good.
Abby was gathering her things out of her locker and putting them in her backpack when I found her.
“Are you emptying everything out?” I asked.
“Just the things I really don’t need anymore,” she said with a sigh. “I mean, it’s only going to be a few more months of this, and we’re going to have to get everything out anyway.”
“Are you going to be here through graduation?” I asked.
“I hope so,” she said. “I really don’t want to have to transfer schools. But, my mom is doing the best she can, and it really comes down to the finances. If she doesn’t have the money, she doesn’t have it.”
Abby’s voice cracked, and my heart broke for her. I wished there was a way I could help her, and though I didn’t know how that would be possible, I offered anyway.
“We’re going to figure this out,” I said. “We’ll find a way for you to stay.”
Abby shook her head. “It’s alright. My mother and I have been looking for ways to make it work, and it just doesn’t seem like there’s a chance. I can’t leave her in the state she’s in. It would kill her. Her husband is in jail, she lost her house and her whole life besides, she can’t lose me, too.”
“I can’t lose you!” I said fiercely.
Abby looked at me with a strange smile on her face. She brushed a few loose strands of hair behind her ear and sighed. “You were going to move as soon as you got out of school anyway. What’s the difference?”
I was dumbfounded. She did have a point. I’d often thought about how much I was looking forward to graduation so I could move away from Secret Bay, but I never meant that I was going to cut Abby out of my life. Or Damon, either, for that matter.
Not only were the two my closest friends, they were my only friends. To lose either one of them would be to go back to the life of solitude I had largely chosen growing up. I might not want to stay in Secret Bay or be around Susan or Dean, but that didn’t mean I didn’t want Abby or Damon in my life.
“You’ve got some of the best grades in school,” I said. “I thought we could look into colleges together. Maybe become dorm roommates or something. You could go or do anything you want, and I would be happy to work hard enough to get into the same school you do.”
“I’m not going to college. Not now anyway,” Abby replied, another sob threatening to choke her words. “There’s no way we can afford it, and I don’t want to go into a lot more debt with so much already stacked up against my family. I just can’t.”
“I was planning to work to get myself through school,” I tried, but Abby shook her head again.
“Sutton, it’s just not going to happen, okay? My dad really ruined a lot of people’s lives with what he did, and I guess now we just have to deal with it. He might be the one in prison, but he doesn’t seem to realize that what he did reached far more than just him. Peter’s family lost everything, his family lost everything, and according to the court, so many more people lost everything. We deserve this, really,” she said with the tears running down her face.
“You listen to me!” I shot back. “You don’t deserve any of this! Your dad was the one who committed the crime, it’s not fair that you have to be the one to pay for it!”
“It’s not fair to all those people who lost everything because they thought my father was trustworthy,” Abby replied shortly. “I feel just as bad for them as I do for myself and my mom!”
“Still, you can’t blame yourself or your family for what happened. If anyone is to blame for any of this, it’s your dad and only your dad!” I said.
Abby folded her arms and broke eye contact. I knew she wanted to argue with me. That was just the way Abby was. She didn’t like to see people hurting, and to know that her father was responsible for ruining so many lives made her feel responsible.
Even if she had nothing to do with it, she hated to think of all the people who had to give up the things that they loved because of her father, and she did take some of the blame because she was part of the family. I knew there wasn’t anything I could say that would change her mind. All I could do was be there for her. Taking a deep breath, I knew I had to choose my words carefully. I didn’t want to say anything that would push her away.
She was going through enough trouble as it was, and though I knew how that felt, that didn’t change anything.
“Do you want me to come help you pack?” I asked gently. “I’m not doing anything today, and I’m sure you could use a hand.”
Abby shook her head as she wiped the tears from her eyes. “The house is a complete mess right now, and I know Mom wouldn’t want anyone to see it in that condition, it’s going to be fine, we’ll have plenty of time to hang out again before I go, and I’ll make sure we do.”
“It’s just going to be so weird knowing that you’re moving,” I said, my throat feeling tight and my voice cracki
ng. “I mean, I want to see you as much as possible, but I hate knowing that there’s going to be a goodbye at the end.”
“We’ll keep in touch,” Abby pulled her backpack over her shoulder and tried to smile, though it was threatened with more emotion that swept over her features. “We’ll call and text and I’ll let you know everything I’m doing and you better keep me in the loop over your own life.”
“I will, you know I will. And maybe after graduation you can tell me where you and your mother end up and I’ll figure out if I can move there, too. If you’re not here, I see even less reason to have any connection to this place as soon as I’m out of school,” I said.
“Damon?” Abby raised her eyebrows, and I sighed. He was the other reason I would have a hard time going, that was for sure. But, I hoped against hope he would want to come with me no matter where I was going. He didn’t love the town, and he didn’t want to live with Susan any longer than he had to, either.
Dean might have changed his mind a bit, but I still didn’t get the impression it would be enough to keep him in town when we were done with school.
“I’ll figure something out,” I said with a shake of my head. I didn’t want to talk about Damon. I knew her leaving was going to put more strain on her relationship with Peter, if they were even able to stay together at all because of it.
Peter’s life had changed so dramatically, too, it was hard to say what was going to happen to him when we were done with school – especially if Abby was moving away. I hoped the two of them would stay together. I didn’t want to think of my best friend losing her boyfriend over this.
But, I knew there wasn’t anything I could do that would change anything.
“Text me when you can, okay?” Abby said. “When I’ve got a minute I’ll shoot you a text and let you know how things are going for me.”
“Okay,” I said. I gave her a tight hug before she turned and hurried down the hall toward the door. I had to get my books out of my own locker before I left, but I took a moment and just watched her as she walked away. That was yet another person in my life I had come to love, and she was being taken from me.
It was another reason I wanted to put up walls that kept the rest of the world far away from my heart. I lived in it, so there was no avoiding being with other people, but I hated opening up to them, being with them and falling in love, then having them disappear out of my life.
I’d lost so much already, it was hard to think I would never see her again in just a matter of weeks. Well, I couldn’t say that for sure, but I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. There were so many promises that were made to me in life, but so few of them were kept, it was hard for me to trust Abby would stay part of my life if she were to move.
She might try. There might be moments when we were able to talk, but it wasn’t going to be like it was now. Things were going to change, and she would be gone. I would once again be left without anyone I could turn to. Damon, sure, but he was different. He wasn’t Abby. He didn’t go through some of the things Abby and gone through with me.
It was because of her I had the chance I did at Secret Bay. She was the one who pushed for me to give Damon a chance in the first place. She was the one who gave me a voice with the other students. So much of my opening up since coming to the new high school was because of her.
And now she would be moving.
And no one else could fill that hole.
I hesitated for a moment before going inside. There had been tears in my eyes most of the way home, and now they threatened to spill over onto my cheeks. Dean’s truck and Susan’s car were in the driveway, so I knew they were both home, and I didn’t want to talk to either one.
It wasn’t unusual for me to dash through the house and head straight up the stairs toward my room, but I didn’t even want to see Dean or Susan right now. I wasn’t going to talk to them, and I knew if they saw that I was upset, they would be all over me asking questions and wondering what happened.
Though I hadn’t had to deal with much bullying lately, I knew Susan was watching like a hawk. She was aware of the suicide attempt I’d made when I was younger, and she had stepped in and put me in counseling when Molly had bullied me at the beginning of the school year.
I knew she was on high alert every time I walked through the door after school, scanning my features for any sign that something was wrong.
And right now, something was wrong, but I didn’t want to tell her what it was. She would just give me some trite speech about how things change in life and people have to move on. But I didn’t want to hear that right now. My best friend was moving away, and I was losing another very important relationship because of it.
I would move on from the pain eventually, but Abby wasn’t the person I just moved on from. This hurt, and I didn’t want to show that pain to anyone.
Damon was on the steps coming down, but he saw by the look on my face something was wrong as I dashed through the room and headed toward my door. I didn’t know where he was going, and I didn’t really care, either. He might have to work that afternoon, or he might be on his way to a fight for all I knew.
But, to my surprise, he turned and followed me up the stairs when he saw how upset I was. “Sutton? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I said. I would have closed my door behind me, but he was right there, stepping in so I couldn’t get it shut.
“You don’t look fine, what’s wrong?” he asked. The look of concern was clearly evident in his eyes, but he kept his voice low so Susan and Dean couldn’t hear from down below.
“Nothing,” I said.
“Sutton,” his voice was gentle as he walked into my bedroom and closed the door behind him. “You know you can tell me anything. What is it?”
I had my back to him, my arms folded and my head down. I was staring at the floor, but my mind was spinning. The lump in my throat was threatening to make me burst into tears all over again, and I fought it with all that I had in me. I didn’t want to cry in front of Damon, but it was hard to think about Abby leaving without wanting to just crumple into a ball and let all the tears out.
Damon walked up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me back into him. His touch was soothing, comforting in ways I didn’t imagine they could be. He always made me feel like everything was going to be alright, but there was a difference to it now.
I felt like he could really help me, even if there wasn’t any changing what was happening in life, he’d be there for me and support me through it.
“Abby’s moving away,” I said.
“What!” he exclaimed.
“Her father had to pay back the money he took from those people, and since he’s in jail, well, they came for what was in his bank account and any assets he had,” I explained. “Abby and her mom can’t afford to live in Secret Bay anymore, so they’re moving.”
“God, I’m sorry, Sutton,” Damon said. “Are you going to be okay?”
“No,” I sobbed. “I’m going to miss her so much. You and her are the only two people I’ve got, and now she’s leaving. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I feel sick to my stomach. I want to help her, but there’s nothing I can do to make this better. She’s just leaving, and that’s it.”
“Do you know when?” he asked.
I shook my head. “She doesn’t even know. She told me we’re going to have time to hang out before she goes, and she hopes she’ll be able to stay at least to graduate but she doesn’t know if she’s even going to make it that long.”
Damon was silent for a moment, then he gave me a light squeeze before turning me around to face him.
“Try not to let it bother you too much. Graduation is still months away, and that’ll give you guys plenty of time to see each other before she goes. And who knows? Maybe in that amount of time something will happen that’ll let them stay in town.”
“Maybe,” I said. Damon put his fingers under my chin and lifted my face to look into his, but I still let
my eyes drop. It was hard to hold his eye contact when I was on the verge of tears, but I was happy he was there. Clearly, whatever he was planning on doing wasn’t as important as being there for me in my time of need, and that just showed me even more how much he cared.
“It’s going to be okay,” he said. I nodded slightly, but I couldn’t stop the tears from spilling over and running down my cheeks. Damon brushed them away with his thumb before leaning forward to kiss me.
I closed my eyes, falling into the kiss as he held me, letting the tears fall freely now. So many different emotions were running through me, so many thoughts tearing my brain apart.
But, right now, I had Damon, and I felt like he was going to take care of everything. I knew he couldn’t change anything, but he was there for me, and right now, that’s what I needed more than anything.
I was so tired of feeling abandoned and alone in life, but Damon was taking that away from me. He was showing me that he really did care and he would stand by me no matter what. He wasn’t going to let me deal with this on my own.
He was there. He would always be there as much as I needed him to be. The offer was right in front of me, my choice to take it or leave it. And boy, I needed him.
I just had to let him in.
Chapter 4
Sutton
“No matter what happens, you’re always going to have me, okay?” Damon said when we came up for air. He’d pulled me close into a tight hug. I held him for a minute, then I looked up into his face.
“Always?” I asked.
“Always,” he said with a smirk as he gazed fully into my eyes. “Why would I ever let someone as perfect as you walk out of my life?”
“You know what I’m talking about,” I replied quietly. There was silence in the room for a moment, and I hoped I hadn’t said the wrong thing. But, I did feel like we had to talk about it. Our relationship had been rather intense, and now that we were sleeping together again, I felt that we should address what was going on.
