“You think you’re pretty fucking special, don’t you?” she snarls as I look back out the window. “Congratulations, you got to be the pathetic side bitch waiting at home for a rock star who’s fucking everything with legs thousands of miles away.”
Her words don’t bother me. Maybe a couple days ago they would have, but now, they roll off me. Mike’s touch is still on my skin, like a coating that makes me unbreakable.
“You’re such an idiot, Hailey. We’re on a family share phone plan, for God’s sake. I have the password. I know you never stopped talking to him.” Her voice is pouty and mocking when she says, “Poor little Hailey. Sitting by the phone.”
She laughs loudly, and I sit quietly, wondering how slowly a car would need to be driving in order for a person to jump out of it safely.
“I even know he came home last night.” I glance at her, and she grins wickedly. “He’s famous, Hailey. Word spreads fast. But I decided not to break up your little party. Do you know why?”
Silence answers her, but she presses on.
“Because it doesn’t matter. None of this matters. What, do you think you’re going to grow old with him? Let me guess: white picket fence, golden retriever, two-point-five kids?” She snickers, and steel shutters close over my expression.
“I’m not playing this game anymore, Danica.”
“Oh, this isn’t a game, Hailey. This is war.”
“You’ve lost.”
“Have you forgotten who pays your bills?”
My heart drops, because a small part of me—a very small, very naïve part—had hoped that when I told her about Mike after Thanksgiving dinner, she’d try to understand. She’d be hurt, but maybe the time we’d spent together recently would matter to her. Maybe she’d care about how I felt and what I had to say. Maybe she wouldn’t try to ruin me.
Instead, she’s known about us this whole time. She’s been planning this the whole time. And now, her gloves are off.
“What are your parents going to think when they hear you’ve decided to throw away your education for a boy you barely know?” Danica asks, and I imagine the disappointment on their faces. “What about your brother? What kind of example are you setting?
“I’ll make sure my dad never offers to pay for him to go to school, either,” Danica threatens. “No use throwing away money on the same redneck family twice.”
My blood boils, but I bite my tongue. If I respond to her now, there is going to be more than a war in this car—there is going to be a bloodbath. Literally—because there is a psychopath behind the wheel, and I don’t doubt that she’d kill us both just to spite me.
“Is Mike really worth losing everything for?” she asks, and the answer is yes. Yes, he’s worth it.
Of course I want my brother to go to school, but maybe education in this country will be different in six years. Maybe he’ll have more financial aid options. Maybe my parents will win the lottery. There are lots of maybes, and right now I need to worry about myself. For once, I need to put myself first. I can’t go back to being the girl who wears pajamas for three days straight, skips her classes, and cries herself to sleep at night. My heart isn’t whole without Mike, and I’m not breaking myself into pieces again.
I don’t tell Danica any of that, though. Instead, I stare out that passenger side window.
“What’s he going to think of you when he realizes you’re nothing but a gold digger, Hailey?” Danica presses. “Because that’s the plan, right? Live with him, let him pay all the bills. Maybe he’ll even pay for you to go to school.”
I would never let him do that. Never.
“You have nothing to offer him,” Danica says. “Nothing, Hailey. You’re not even pretty. It’s actually kind of embarrassing. It’s why I didn’t want you at my thirteenth birthday party, you know. My friends all made fun of you that night after you fell asleep in your ratty little sleeping bag, and I convinced them you were adopted so they wouldn’t think we were related.”
I think back to that night, and I remember my tattered purple sleeping bag. I remember the girl I was, with her rebellious curls and her gentle heart. I remember sleeping alone in a corner while the other girls stayed up gossiping, because even back then, I knew I wasn’t one of them. And I want to go back in time, hug that little girl, and tell her to stop caring so much. I want to tell her that in ten years, she’ll meet the love of her life, and he’ll think she’s prettier than all of those girls combined.
And I tell myself that now. I hide the smile that grazes my lips as I remember the way Mike kissed me against his truck this morning. Nothing Danica can say can take that from me—can take him from me—so I stare out the window, thinking of him, as she spends the next half hour trying, and failing, to tear me apart.
When we pull into her parents’ driveway, I immediately try to open my door, but Danica hits the child locks. “Look, Hailey . . .” She sighs dramatically. “I’m willing to give you one more chance. I know you didn’t have any friends as a teenager, so maybe this is your rebellious phase or something, I don’t know. But if you call Mike and break things off, if you tell him he belongs with me and not you, I won’t tell my dad about any of this.”
I just stare at her, and she smiles.
“I’m even going to be nice and give you time to think about it.” She unlocks the doors and gives me one last smile before stepping out. “You have until the end of dinner.”