Page 59 of Elusion

She nods. “His grandparents sent him to camp the summer I turned fourteen. That’s when Trey and I met Brock—the second worst thing ever to happen to me.”

“What was the first?” I ask.

“Graham,” she says, her voice betraying her with a hint of resignation. “Anyway, Brock taught me to drink and smoke and how to forget the rage eating me alive on the inside. For two years, we were toxic to each other and everyone around us. We were my parents.”

My gaze diverts out the window, my mind piecing together what she’s saying with what I already know. “The pictures of you as a blonde and of the crazy stuff were from when you dated Brock?”

“Most of it. Trey tried to keep me relatively safe. All my friends from back then came along for a mess of self-destructive behavior. Even Pete after I dumped him.” Her eyebrows pull together, the disconnect she shows lessening.

“Two years,” I say, chewing on my licorice. “You broke up when you were sixteen?”

“When Lauren took out a restraining order, we moved to the next town over. The high schools were combined, and without a reason to go to Sutterville anymore, Brock and I stopped seeing each other. At first, it seemed to solve a lot of problems. But my parents realized they could use the divorce to control one another. And a bad situation became so much worse. Shayna’s pictures tell you more about the next several months than I can even remember.”

I pull her hand over to my lap, locking my fingers with hers. “I shouldn’t have brought up the pictures the way I did, Callie. What I said was out of line.”

“I blindsided you, and you reacted,” she says. “I’m the one who purposely used what you’d said about your parents against you. Out of everyone, I should know better, and I’m sorry.”

“Forgiven,” I tell her without hesitation. “Moving on. Tell me what happened after the divorce.”

She glances over and gives a small smile, appearing relieved not to dwell on the topic any longer. “Connor gave me a calendar counting down to my eighteenth birthday when the custody agreement would end. It’s silly but crossing out the numbers saved me. Each day closer to freedom, the less power they held over me. I stopped partying and avoided anyone who challenged my sense of control, including my friends. I spent the summer working my ass off on Pete’s grandparents’ farm to save money. The plan was to leave for school and never go back. All the bad memories would be hours away, and Graham would just be someone I survived.”

“But now, you have a countdown calendar to nineteen and drive back on the weekends.”

“Enter Graham’s desperate need for control.” She takes a deep breath, the indifference fading even more. “Thanks to an amendment in their divorce agreement, he pays child support until we’re nineteen. In his mind, he owns us until then, but I turned eighteen and refused to see him. That’s when the stream of texts and calls started. When those didn’t work, he withheld my mail, used Cate and Connor to get to me, canceled my insurance, reported my car as stolen—”

“He reported your car as stolen?” I interrupt.

“Twice,” she says. “He tried whatever he could think of until he found what worked.”

“What’s that?”

“He stopped making support payments. Not just for me, but for Cate and Connor, too. Lauren blamed me the first month her money didn’t show up. Since I caused the problem, she expected me to fix it.”

“So, you agreed to visit him.”

“Every other weekend until I’m nineteen. If I deviate, he resorts to his alternatives.” She turns off onto another highway, one without a car in sight.

For the first time, I see the entire picture. It gives Trey’s words about other people dictating how she lives her life a whole new meaning. No wonder she wanted to escape.

“And the Friday of my birthday, you were supposed to go to his house.”

“Everything started to domino. After I told Graham I’d be home Saturday morning, he showed up at the dorms to inform me otherwise, which pissed me off. Uncle Kev made me leave my car, and then Graham took away my phone when I got there. I felt isolated and trapped, and I couldn’t take it anymore.”

Callie pulls over on the shoulder, her hand sliding from mine to shift into park. She turns toward me but stares at the console between us. I bring her hand back over and shut off the music. Whatever song’s playing, she’ll forever associate with whatever she’s thinking and feeling right now, and I can’t stand the thought of anything bringing her back because she looks so damn hurt.

“When I woke up that Monday, I only remembered out-of-order pieces from the weekend. Without context, everything was pretty damning, so when Brock texted and lied about something happening between us, I believed him. For the first time in a long time, I felt like Callista, the girl with a less-than-stellar reputation who lets the worst part of her life ruin the rest of it. I didn’t want you dealing with the fallout.”

I run her knuckles over my lips. “You should have just told me.”

“I know, and I’m sorry.” She finally looks at me. Her eyes offer just as much of an apology. “I wasn’t ready for you to know what a mess my life is. I’m still not entirely sure I am, but I’m sick of missing out on things because of it. And it really is a disaster, Jordan. Seriously, you should run right now.” Without looking, she hits the button on the door behind her, flipping the locks to unlocked.

I reach over and curl my fingers around the back of her neck, then I pull her closer and lean in until my forehead presses into hers. “I’m not going anywhere, Callie. I don’t care how messy your life is. Messy, complicated, unpredictable—I want it all if it means I can have you.” Doubt lingers in her eyes, so I kiss her. “I can handle it,” I say, my lips brushing hers. “I’m certain.”

There aren’t many things in my life I’m sure of, but I am about this. Her mouth turns up, the doubt dissipating, and I kiss her until it disappears altogether. Then I kiss her one more time because we still have a long drive ahead of us, and I won’t get another chance for a while.

When I finally drag myself away, I relax back in my seat. She reaches for the gearshift but pauses and turns back to me. “One more thing … Johnny almost got into a fight with Lauren’s boyfriend last night.”

“At a college party?”

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