AllFreeNovel
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Two hours later, I’m the owner of a shiny new cell phone complete with a brand new number my parents and Tim will never know.
It feels liberating. Scary, but liberating.
My father will cut me off after this, but I don’t care. I’m done still being his puppet.
They banished me here with little thought to my feelings. Now, it’s my turn to cut them off.
“You okay?” Conner asks, noticing my frown.
“Yeah.”
“Are you worried about what your dad will say?”
I let out a bitter laugh. “I have no one, Conner.”
“Not true,” he says as we sit eating a batch of Ellen’s cookies at the breakfast counter in the Jagger house. “You have me and Ace and Remi, and my stubbornly stupid brother. We’ve got you, Hadley, baby.”
“Thanks,” I mumble, stuffing another cookie into my mouth.
Putting my cell in the trash had felt amazing, but I’d been high on adrenaline and anger. The reality was, though, that without my parent’s money, I have nothing.
Dread snakes through me. What the hell am I going to do? I can’t rely on getting a scholarship, and even if I do, I’ll still need money.
“I need a plan,” I say.
“A plan?”
“Yeah. It’s almost the holidays, and I still haven’t applied for college. I was waiting to see if Co—” I stop myself. I’d been putting off applying because I didn’t want to be the dutiful, docile daughter my parents expected me to be. And then when Cole had mentioned Colton U, I had looked up their admissions.
But now, I was adrift again.
Lost in a sea of uncertainty.
“What are your plans?” I ask Conner, realizing we’ve never once talked about it.
In fact, we’ve never really just talked.
Guilt hits me. He’s been such a good friend to me and I’ve been... so self-absorbed.
“I’m sorry,” I blurt out, and his brow furrows.
“You’re going to have to be a little more specific.” He grins.
“You’ve been a good friend to me, Conner. And I don’t even know what your plans for after graduation are.”
“It’s no big deal.” Conner shrugs. “You’ve had a lot going on.”
“Yeah, but I should have—”
“We’re not doing this. I don’t give to receive.” A smirk tugs at his mouth. “Besides, the pleasure of your company is reward enough.”
My cheeks pink, and I feel it again, the lingering connection between us. It doesn’t burn as bright as what Cole and I share, but it is there.
“I know you’re his, Hadley,” he says, as if he can hear my thoughts again.
“How do you do that?” I gawk at him, ignoring the insinuation behind his words. “You always know what I’m thinking.”
“Your eyes give you away, every damn time.” He gives me a sad smile. “Does it cross my mind that you could’ve been mine... sure it does. But you and Cole share something I’m not sure I’ll ever understand. I know there’s more to your story, Hads. I just wish he was...” Conner trails off, averting his gaze.
