FREE STORY WITH EXCLUSIVE CONTENT. This is *not* a Paid Story.
Eighteen-year-old hockey prodigy Elliot Wexler has three goals for senior year. One: somehow graduate with a 3.5 GPA. Two: hide his bipolar disorder from his peers. And three: make it in...
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"WHO IS IT?" I ask. The hairs on my arms raise. Elliot and I are alone here, no parents, no protection. A sudden, paralyzing fear sizzles through me.
What if it's him?
Could he have found me?
What if he followed me here and was waiting for Elliot's parents to leave? For his cop dad to be long gone so there's no protection for either of us?
Elliot slips out of the living room, but I instinctively grab onto him. I picture Elliot opening that door to a knife at his throat. My heart is pounding.
"What's wrong?" Elliot asks, concern all over his face. Then he says, "Hey, it's okay, Luce. It's just Katie."
Relief floods me along with the feeling of total stupidity. Of course it isn't Slater—he has no way of knowing where I am.
"What does she want?" I ask.
"I dunno. I better let her in."
"Do you want me to hide?"
"What? No. Not unless you want to."
Something about Katie being here doesn't feel right. "Maybe I'll stay in here."
It's wrong to eavesdrop, right? But he didn't tell me not to, and while I don't want to meet her, I kind of want to see this starving child-saving wonder girl for myself.
The Wexlers' house is built like a honeycomb, with a bunch of different rooms connected to each other. I tiptoe to the study, where I peek around the corner as Elliot opens the door. Katie bursts inside. Without that Facebook filter, she has frazzled blonde hair and a deep scowl. She's crying like an ugly toddler as she crashes into Elliot's arms.
"Hey, Katie, what's wrong?" He buries his face in her hair while she cries into his blue hoodie.
"It's Luke, El—he broke up with me!"
I narrow my eyes. I want Elliot to hold me like that. I want him to comfort me. But there's a lot more going on here than whatever we have. With Katie, it's years of friendship and trust, a whole world Elliot lives in that I know nothing about. A high school, friends, girls who like him. Girls who he likes back.
"I—I couldn't lie to him anymore," Katie sputters, all blubbery-faced. "He kept accusing me, and I had to tell him."
Elliot firmly grabs both her arms. "What did you tell him?"
"I told him about us, and he fucking dumped me. He said he doesn't want your sloppy seconds."
Sloppy seconds. Now all I can see when Elliot touches both of her arms is him fucking her.
"I'm sorry, Katie," Elliot says, and she tugs herself from his touch.
"I never should've hooked up with you," she spits. "Now Luke wants nothing to do with me, and he accused me of cheating on him with you."
