Page 209 of Heartache Duet

“I guess, yeah. But…” But this is my life now, he doesn’t say.

The conversation dies there, and soon enough we’re all heading out for the day, saying bye to Krystal and Mom at the door.

“What are you doing?” Connor asks, looking over at me on the drive to school.

I turn over a page on my English assignment and answer, “I just wanted to check over this paper real quick. It’s due today, and I only finished it this morning.”

“When this morning?”

“While you were sleeping. Just give me two minutes.”

He stays quiet until I finish reading over it and shove it back in my bag. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“When—how—why—”

“Pick an adverb, any adverb!” I sing.

He chuckles. “I just don’t understand when you have the time to study as hard as you do, and how you managed to get early admittance to all these amazing colleges, and why you do it in the first place if you initially never intended on going.”

I let his words sink in. “Wow. That’s a lot of not understanding.”

“I know; there’s a lot I don’t understand about you.” He smiles over at me.

“Like what?”

“Like, why you’re with me, for one.”

“Your self-deprecation is only cute sometimes.”

“Fine,” he laughs out. “Then I don’t understand how you always manage to deflect every question I throw your way.”

I sigh. “I study at night when Mom goes to bed—”

“But I’m there now, and I don’t see you—”

“I do it once you’re asleep.”

“What? How do I not know that?”

“Because you sleep like the dead.”

“Fair. So next question, how?”

“Early acceptances?”

He nods.

“I had a killer essay. Pity me, I’m the daughter of a wounded war veteran…”

“Ahh.”

“Plus, my grades are good, not great, but good enough.”

He nods again. “So, lastly… why?”

I suck in a huge breath, let it out slowly. “Because it’s always been important to Trevor. There are certain things he doesn’t want me missing out on, and education is one of them. A big chunk of the money we got from the sale of the house went to that, and so I don’t want it to go to waste, and… more than anything, I don’t want to disappoint him. He’s sacrificed so much, the least I could do was give him that.”

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