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It was from Connor.

Can u come get me?

For half a second, I wondered if he was in jail, but then remembered that he wouldn’t have been able to send a text message if he was. And he would have called our dad first because he could only remember one or two phone numbers.

Where are you?I typed out the response with my teeth clenched. It didn’t matter, but I wanted to make sure he wasn’t in danger. I might not like him very much, but he was my brother and I didn’t want anything terrible to happen to him.

New Hamshire

How the hell had he managed to graduate from high school? I knew my dad must have pulled some strings and put pressure on the teachers to pass him.

What the hell are you doing in New Hampshire?

He called me.

“Can you just come get me?” he whined. “I’m hungry.”

“You told me you’re in New Hampshire, but where? Are you sitting on the side of the highway? Are you safe somewhere?” He was so bad at details.

“I’m, uh, sitting in front of a Walmart.” Okay, that was good.

“And how did you get there?”

“Ugh, can you stop it with the third degree and just come here?”

I had no idea what had resulted in him ending up at a New Hampshire Walmart, but I wasn’t going to be bailing him out. He could call someone else.

“Call Mom or Dad. I’m busy.” I hung up.

Immediately he blew up my phone until I turned off the notifications. He’d stop eventually, and then I’d get the calls from my parents for being a shitty sister and the cycle would begin again.

Letting out a disgusted sound, I started folding my laundry and thinking about today with Delaney. A complete surprise, but I wouldn’t have changed a single moment of it. She’d been shy, and then eager and adorable and open. We could do so much more together. Just in case, I wanted to check if she’d been recently tested in case she decided she wanted to explore more.

At some point, we’d have to discuss the fact that she had very recently been dating my brother. It was going to be weird, that was for sure.

I checked my phone about an hour later and saw that I had a bunch of angry voicemails that I deleted and a lot of pissy texts. Well fuck him. He could figure his shit out himself.

And I had another message from Delaney.

I can’t stop thinking about you. Is that bad?

No, there was absolutely nothing bad about that. Instead of typing out a message, I video called her.

She answered right away. As if she’d been waiting for me.

“Hey,” I said as her face lit up the screen. She was in bed, her hair draped on her pillow.

I got comfortable on the couch.

“Hey,” she responded. “I thought you might want some space or something, but…I guess I didn’t want to give you space.”

“Me neither. I almost asked you if you wanted to stay another night. You could, you know. Or I could come there.” I’d walk if I had to. It wasn’t that far.

She sighed. “No, I need to have some space to think. But I can think and still talk to you about other things.” Good. I needed to keep talking to her.

“Did you tell Millie that I said hello?” I asked her.

She snorted. “Yeah, I talk to my air fryer now. I guess I’m that person.”