“Yes.”
“So you were eighteen?”
“I was.”
“That seems awfully young to lock yourself away.”
I hate the sadness in her eyes so much I want to erase it, make her smile at me again. “I didn’t lock myself away. It’s just since the accident, I prefer to stay close to home.”
“What about school?”
“I graduated high school a few weeks before the accident.”
“You didn’t go away to college.” It’s a statement, not a question, because I already told her I hadn’t.
“No. But I have a college degree.”
“What? How?” Her gaze is full of shock and curiosity.
“I studied online.”
“All of it? The whole thing?” she asks, her voice and expression full of wonder.
“Yes.”
“I didn’t know you could do that. Did it cost a lot?”
“Not as much as going away to college, because I didn’t have to pay for accommodation, only tuition.”
Her expression turns sad again and I want to obliterate whatever made her feel that way. “I wanted to go to college.”
“You still can.” Although the thought of Riley leaving puts a sour taste in my mouth and a lead weight in my stomach, I can’t let what I want stop her from going after her dreams.
“Maybe.”
“You can.” I ignore the tightness in my chest, the churning in my gut, and say, “I can help you find a way.”
“Why would you do that? I’m no one to you.”
“I told you why. I know what it’s like to be stuck in a situation you can’t see a way out of.”
“And you want to help someone else because you didn’t get the help you needed?”
“Yes.” I got help eventually, but I spent hours trapped in our crushed car, Mom dead beside me, wondering if I was going to die too.
Riley shakes her head. “I don’t understand that. No one in my life has ever done anything to help me.”
“Didn’t you say your aunt took you in?”
“She did. But I think that was more about having someone to do everything for her.”
“How old were you when you moved in with her?”
“Two or three I think.”
“You don’t know?”
“No. Aunt Bethany doesn’t talk about my parents or anything really. She just shouts commands at me most of the time.”
