Page 108 of The Young & the Sinner

“Oh, calm down. I doubt you didn’t do worse things than she’s doing in college. Hell, even high school.”

Max was quiet for a moment, and I smiled. She got him there. It was no secret that he had a wild streak in high school, and even in college. His mom told me some of the stories that she knew. There were probably more stories that she didn’t, and they were probably worse.

“Okay. Before I let you go back to sleep, there’s something else I want to ask you.”

“Yeah?”

“Are you okay, Lizzie?”

I held my breath and waited by the door. That was something we never got around to talking about. Lizzie said she would tell me about it soon, but I wanted to know now. I wanted to know if she was in trouble.

“Why do you ask?” she replied softly.

“You look sad, sweetheart. I just want to know if everything is okay with you. And if it’s not, if there’s anything I can do to make it all better.”

Her voice was hoarse when she answered, which told me she was on the verge of tears. “You can’t make it better. No one can.”

“Lizzie?” Max said, sounding unsure. I thought I heard feet shuffling.

It was a while before anyone said anything. And when Lizzie spoke, I couldn’t make out what she said. Her voice had sounded muffled, like she was in Max’s arms.

“It’ll be okay. I promise. Things will just work out the way they’re supposed to,” he said.

I moved away from the door to give them some privacy. Before, when they were talking about me, I didn’t feel bad listening in. Now, it felt like I was intruding on their moment.

Quietly, I climbed back into bed and pulled the covers up. And I tried to go back to sleep, but between the pounding headache, thoughts of Mason, and even Lizzie’s situation, there was no way that was going to happen.

I heard Lizzie coming back into the room some time later. Then she climbed into bed with me and was fast asleep within a minute. I stayed up well into the early morning, only falling into a restless slumber around five in the morning, when the sun was beginning to rise.

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