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“And his mom might’ve told me that, if I kept dating Caleb, she would press charges against my Dad.”
I didn’t think her jaw could drop any further, but it hit the floor. “We have to do something about this. Does Caleb know? He could talk to her.Icould talk to her—”
“No!”
She blinks with big eyes.
“Sorry, but I just can’t take that chance. You know how much Dad means to me.”
“He’s the one that messed everything up. Why should you suffer from his bad decisions?”
I fidget with my spoon. It dips into the ice cream repeatedly but never quite comes up with a scoop. “He blames me for Ethan’s wreck.”
“That’s ridiculous.” She tenses a little, but breathes deeply, forcing her shoulders to relax. Her eyes start to water again. “I loved Ethan, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t hate him a little bit. He wasn’t a safe driver, and your dad knows it. He grounded Ethan twice last year.”
“The speeding ticket.”
She nods, remembering the same things I do. “Do you want to know what I think?”
“If I say no, you’ll tell me anyway.”
She nudges me with her elbow. “Good call.” She clears her throat as if she’s about to change the directory of Earth with her opinion. “I don’t think your dad blames you. He might’ve said that, but he probably blames himself. We all do.”
I shrug. “That doesn’t change anything. He’s still my dad. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I let him be reported when I could’ve stopped it.”
“You do realize Caleb is going to be at the dance, right? His band is playing.”
“I know.”
“You still want to go?”
“I’m done running away every time something is hard. Besides, it’s not like I have to stay the whole time.”
She pats my hand. “Okay. I’ll be right there with you the whole time.”
I smile. “You better.”
CHAPTERTHIRTY-ONE
We spentthe whole evening baking cupcakes and decorating them until we couldn’t see straight, and then we both passed out on Sadie’s bed.
I missed this. I missed having someone I could have deep conversations with one minute and be ridiculously silly with the next without any judgment from them.
“What do you think?” Sadie asks, twirling in her dress. She puts her hand on her waist and strikes a pose.
“Did you change it?” I ask, laying with my head at the foot of her bed. I’m watching her upside down.
She bites her lip. “I might’ve bedazzled it.”
“You didn’t.”
“It took four hours.”
I toss a pillow at her face. “No wonder you failed your math test.”
She catches the pillow, sending me a half-hearted glare. “Ha-ha.”
“It looks good.” I sit up, propping my chin on my hand.
