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Hazel raises her eyebrows. “He made you a piece of art?”

“You’re missing the point.”

“And what exactly is the point?” Hazel asks, genuine bewilderment on her face.

“He shouldn’t have made me the art piece!”

Hazel looks alarmed. “Why not?”

“Because it’s a sign he caught feelings, and I told him I don’t do those.”

“Riiiiight,” she draws out. “He caught feelings, and you had your first proper fight and you’re upset. And maybe, you also caught feelings?”

“Oh my God, you sound just like him! I don’t want to be one of those women.”

“I’mone of those women!” Hazel cries, throwing her hands in the air. “What is so wrong with that? There’s nothing wrong with allowing yourself to love someone, Kali!”

“And end up like my mother? A shell of a woman who could barely function after her soulmate died? So much so, that she checked out of reality and ultimately died from the pain?”

That look Ihatedas a child crosses Hazel’s face. Pity. “Kali, you are not your mother.”

Tears blur my eyes as I stare Hazel down. “And Ineverwill be.”

I storm out of the house before Hazel can say another word. It’s not until I round the corner that sobs rip from my throat.

35

ANTHONY

I rollthe unlit cigarette between my fingers before lifting it to my nostrils and inhaling. The smell and the way it flares up my brain before it’s even lit should concern me, but I welcome it.

“You alright?”

I’m not surprised that my brother crept inside the house with the deftness of a ninja. He’s stealthy at the best of times.

“Just dandy,” I grunt.

Patrick remains somewhere behind me. I imagine his eyes narrowed with concern, watching his screwup younger brother sitting on the back steps, staring at the ocean and sniffing an unlit cigarette like a weirdo. “Those things will kill you, you know. What happened?”

I sigh. “Things got screwed up with Kali.”

Patrick hums under his breath but says nothing.

“She found cash in my car. It was payment for an art piece from a guy at work. She immediately thought I was dealing and … I … I unleashed all this pent-up rage and told her how I’m responsible for Chloe’s death. Might have mentioned what I did to Nathan. Safe to say, it didn’t go well.”

Patrick’s designer shoes come into view, and he silently joins me on the steps, his hands clasped together. He squints as he too looks out at the ocean, his perfect hair waving slightly in the breeze.

“That couldn’t have been pretty,” he muses.

“The dealing accusation set me off,” I admit. “I can’t say I blame her. I kept so much from her. Why wouldn’t she jump to the worst conclusion?”

I tuck the cigarette behind my ear and rub my hands down my face, hoping it’ll somehow ease some of the pressure behind my cheekbones. “Why didn’t I just tell Kali about Chloe when I met her? I don’t know why everything’s so different with her.”

Patrick tuts. “You don’t?”

I glance at my brother, and one of his eyebrows is already quirked in that annoying, knowing way.

My head drops into my hands. “Fuck.”