Page 129 of More To Us

"I don't know. I'll get a job."

"Then you won't have time to train. Training for nationals is a full time job. There's no time for anything else."

"Dammit, Amber!" I raise my voice. "Why are you always so freaking negative when it comes to this? You won't even give me a chance! You refuse to believe in me. I can do this. I know I can."

She glances down at my leg. "I'm telling your mom how this happened. The truth. Not the made-up story you told her."

"Don't you dare." I point my finger at her. "If you do, I'll just train harder when my leg is better."

"She has to know."

"No. She doesn't. And it's not your place to tell her. I'm not twelve. You don't run and tell my mom on me. Even if you did, what do you think she's going to do? Drag me back to Michigan and lock me in my room? All because I'm working out?"

"I don't know what she's going to do."

"She wants me HERE. In college. And she knows if she took me out of school because of this and moved me back home, that I'd get a job and move out of their house, and she'd have even less control over me than she does now, here, with you spying on me." I take a breath. "Don't tell her. Please. It'll only make things worse."

"So you just want me to stand by and let you destroy yourself?"

"I'm not destroying myself. I know my limits. I promise you, I do. If it hurts, I'll stop."

"You're saying your leg didn't hurt when you were working out like that?"

"Sometimes I got a leg cramp but other than that, no. It was fine."

She stares at me a moment, then says, "I agree with Austin. I don't want to be around someone who can't be honest with me." And then she storms off to her room and slams the door.

I go to my room and lie on my bed and let the tears fall again.

So much for a fun Friday night. I was supposed to be out with Austin tonight. If this hadn't happened, we'd be out having dinner, then going to a movie, and then he'd spend the night here. But instead I'm alone, feeling hollow and empty, like I've lost everything.

I lost Austin, the only guy I've ever loved. And now I might've just lost my best friend.

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