AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I’m only distracted when Misha reaches up and touches my dangling pendant. “You told me once that you and Clara believed this was your amulet of protection.” He pauses, then asks, “Why did she give it to you? It sounds like she needed the protection more than you did.”
“You know, I’ve spent so many nights asking that exact same question. But Clara always cared more about me than herself. She was sad, but she hid it for my benefit.” I sigh. “Sometimes, I think that maybe she gave me the pendant because she knew it wouldn’t make a difference to her. She’d written herself off from the beginning. I just didn’t realize it.”
“Maybe she didn’t realize it, either,” he offers gently.
“I wish I could have helped her like she helped me.”
I say the words like a prayer. Wherever she is, I hope she can hear me.
“You gave her your friendship. That counts for something.”
I shake my head. “That’s the thing—it feels so pitiful in comparison to what she gave me. She was a stand-in for every other person in my life. Siblings, parents, other friends. She was everything to me.”
He glances at my chest. Only then do I realize that I’m holding onto my pendant for dear life.
“No one can or should be everything to you, Paige. It’s too much pressure for any one person.”
I nod tearfully. “Do you think that’s why—”
“No,” he says, stopping me before I give life to that terrifying thought. “She did what she did for her own reasons. She did what she did because of something inside of her. It had nothing to do with anyone else.”
I take a deep breath, and as I do, I resign myself to the harsh truth that I can’t rage about Misha keeping things from me if I’m doing the exact same thing to him.
“There’s something I have to tell you,” I confess. He tenses, and I rush to explain. “It’s not, like, a DEFCON-1 or anything. But I want you to know.” I take a deep breath, forcing out the words. “My, uh… my parents called me last week. They called to ask for more money.”
“Moremoney?” he asks, not glazing over that point the way I hoped he would. “Is that why the monthly withdrawal has been increased?”
I sit up straight. “You already knew?”
“I assumed you raised the amount you wanted to send them,” he says, looking pissed now. “I didn’t realize they were extorting you.”
“I… I wouldn’t call it extortion—”
“They’re using you, Paige. That’s exactly what it is.”
I sigh. My hands fall limp in my lap. “I know that. But they’re still my parents. They’ve lived in that godforsaken trailer park their entire lives, and I’m not about to visit them anytime soon. So sending money, it feels—I don’t know… I feel like I should.”
“Why? Because they deserve it? I think we both know that they don’t.”
“Maybe this is not about what they deserve,” I ponder. “Maybe this is just about me trying to do what’s right.” He looks so annoyed that I have to laugh. I pat his cheek. “It’s okay, Misha. I don’t mind.”
“Ido,” he hisses. “Why should they benefit from your hard-earned money when they never appreciated what a prize they had?”
I smile tenderly. “Just as long as you do, I’m okay with that.”
He leans up and kisses me passionately on the lips. It’s an angry kiss, like he’s getting back at them through me and it. I curl my fingers through his hair, feeling my body respond immediately. When we pull apart, I feel so much better on so many different fronts.
“This honesty thing is pretty cool, huh?”
He chuckles. “I wouldn’t go that far. But it’s certainly less irritating than I thought it would be.”
“Speaking of…”
“Here we go,” he says, feigning dread. “Strike my last comment.”
I playfully hit him on the arm. “It just occurred to me that I don’t know what happened to Anthony after he came to the hospital that day. He went silent. I guess I just figured he took the hint and disappeared, but…” I trail off, wondering if I should have brought this topic up at all.
Misha’s face is a mystery. “He’s still alive, if that’s what you’re asking.”
