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Aiden turns toward me, his eyes red and filled with tears. It feels like someone punched their hand through my chest and grabbed my heart. At this moment, I know the thing I hate most in the world is the way Aiden looks right now. Broken.
He wipes away the tears hastily and lets out a heavy sigh. “Pip, I…” He stops mid-sentence, letting the unsaid words hang in the air between us.
I reach out and gently touch his arm. “You can tell me anything.”
He looks into my eyes and holds my stare. “I need to get out of here.”
I nod, feeling the bile rise in the back of my throat. “I know.”
This day was always going to happen. It’s what I’ve feared since getting to know him. The realization that Aiden Slate has so much to offer this world, and that one day, someone would recognize it, swoop in, and take him away.
“Things will be different. Our lives will change forever.” My own eyes start to well with unshed tears. “I don’t know what the future will hold.” His voice shakes.
“What do you want, Aiden?” It comes out in barely a whisper. The fear of what he’ll say eats me alive.
“You know my mom wouldn’t let me apply to college,” he says.
It’s her way of keeping him stuck here so she can drain him.
He can provide for her. He can pay the bills.
She’s a leech and Aiden’s her host.
“There’s this hockey game coming up, Pip. And well, this is it for me. This is my chance to break out of here. It’s my best shot at getting scouted by professional teams.”
I swallow the lump stuck in my throat. My body shivers at the thought of losing him.
“It’s the opportunity I’ve been dreaming of, but…” He hesitates for a moment, struggling to find the words. “She took all my money. I can’t afford the ticket to get there.”
“What?” I shriek, sitting up straight and forgetting about the rain and everything else he said, choosing to focus on the part about his awful mother stealing from him again.
“You know she—she doesn’t want me to succeed. She wants me stuck here for good.” He groans, head tilting back. “I feel like my dream is slipping away because of her. Because of money. It’s always money.”
My fingers grip the hem of my shirt. A nervous habit I’ve had for as long as I can remember. As I twist the material, I start to think.
I’ve always known he loved to play hockey and is incredible at it. I just never understood until now that it’s his way out. It’s his only way to gain freedom from her.
I have to do something.
I have to help him.
My mind concocts a whole list of ideas, some more ridiculous than others. Then, like a lightning bolt striking down to the earth, it hits me.
“I have money, Aiden,” I whisper as though someone else will hear.
Aiden’s eyes widen in surprise, but he shakes his head. “No. I can’t. Absolutely not, Pip.”
I crawl up on my knees, facing him. “I want to give it to you.”
“There’s no way I can take it.”
“Sure, you can. It’s no big deal.” My hand cups his knee. “It’s only money.”
“Pip. It is a big deal. You need it.”
For kids like us, any amount of money is a really big deal. It’s the difference between surviving or ending up on the streets when our time comes to escape our current situation.
“It’s not a lot. But it should be enough to get you to the game,” I say, mentally counting how much I have saved up.
