Page 30 of Not Your Little Girl Anymore

Damn it. I refuse to accept that.

I stare out the window in front of us. The vibrant green foliage and bright blue sky stretch out in the distance. Crinkling fills the car as Summer opens her bag of chips. From my peripheral, I see her stuff a few at a time into her mouth. My lips shift upward on their own accord, and I let out a low chuckle.

“What?” she says, her voice muffled by the amount of chips she shoved in her mouth.

I shake my head. “Not a thing. Finish eating.”

She finishes chewing the handful of chips in her mouth before saying, “I didn’t realize you had a sister.”

A small ping hits me in the center of my chest causing an ache that is almost unbearable. “She’s my world.”

“And you don’t see her often?” She shoves another chip into her mouth, chews, and swallows.

“What makes you think that?”

She shrugs. “Going by the interaction you both had, it’s obvious.”

Frowning, my eyes move to my lap. “Unfortunately, I don’t.”

I get this strange urge to explain to Summer the reason behind not being able to see Callie, but that would require spilling the truth about her father and how corrupted he is. It’ll only ruin my chances of getting my charges wiped clean. No matter how hard I try to push this feeling aside and focus on my mission, I can’t.

Something inside of me is screaming at me to tell her about my life. Except, I have to leave out that her father is the one who fucked my life upside down.

With my hand on the steering wheel, I reach my arm over to the glove box where I keep my unopened packs of cigarettes and pull one out. My arm feathers against Summer’s knee, causing my heart to flip.

Clamping my teeth together, I bat the feeling away and tell myself it’s nothing.

The crinkling of the plastic wrapper fills my ears as I pull the tab and flip the box open, grabbing one with my teeth.

“When I was 18 years old, I was arrested. Snuck into a bar and got in trouble for being underage.” I pause for a second, studying the way her eyes shift. Her eyes don’t hold concern, though. It’s different than that. It’s as if she’s intrigued, which makes me even more curious about her.

I want to leave it at that, but I know that doesn’t explain why I can’t see Callie. “On my nineteenth birthday, I ended up throwing a small party at my aunt’s house. Her and Caller weren’t home for the weekend. They went on vacation.”

She cuts me off. “Why didn’t you go with them?”

I huff. “I wasn’t allowed to.”

Summer slowly plops another chip into her mouth, waiting for me to continue.

“Initially, the party was only supposed to be a few friends.” I stop, patting my thighs for my lighter, but it’s not there.

My blood heats, aggravated that I can’t light my cigarette. I pluck the butt from my mouth and hold it between my fingers. “James, my bass guitarist, invited others, who invited others, and so on. It ended up being a really big party.”

I start to search the center console for a lighter, hoping I left one there at some point, but there isn’t one there.

Where the fuck did I put my lighter?

I sigh with aggravation. At the same time, Summer reaches into the cupholder on the passenger side and pulls out a lighter I didn’t know was there. Without hesitation, she hands it to me.

With a long breath, I grab it, thank her, and place my cigarette between my teeth before flicking the lighter. My lips press against the filter, sucking in a mouthful of smoke and blowing it out the window.

“Little did I know, my aunt had the neighbors keeping watch over the house. I was too naive to think she’d go that far, but I was wrong. She never really trusted me much. The neighbors called her and then called the cops. They arrested me for consumption of alcohol and being under twenty-one.”

Summer watches me intently, finishing the rest of the chips before tossing the empty bag with the rest of her trash. “Were you released?”

I nod. “They kept me in the holding cell until my aunt came back into town.”

I look down at the cigarette between my fingers. I didn’t think retelling this story would leave me with so much pain and anger.

---