“Owen’s right,” Ashley said. “Socially, Echo is doing beautifully. She’s going out with her friends, talking on the phone and texting. She and Luke are dating again. It’s like she’s finally fitting back into her old skin.”
“What Ashley and I are trying to get at,” my father added, “is that Echo is becoming Echo again. Child Protective Services was right to get involved after what happened, but now, it’s overkill. Her mother is no longer an issue. Echo has this new job and, I’ll admit, you were right. Working toward repairing the car has given her a healthy way to grieve Aires. Therapy was needed when she couldn’t cope, but Echo is no longer simply coping. She’s living.”
“And her memory loss?” asked Mrs. Collins. “The nightmares? Her insomnia? The fact that Echo refuses to expose her arms to anyone?”
My stomach churned. I craved my father’s answer, but to my utter mortification, Noah Hutchins had already heard too much. I reached out to disconnect the line, but Noah shook his head and placed a steady hand on my back.
Dizzy from nerves, I swayed to the right. Noah took a small step toward me while guiding me into him using gentle pressure on my back. I shouldn’t be touching him, but I wanted to hear the answer and I needed someone to lean on. Just one time—this one moment only—would I rely on him. I allowed my muscles to relax when he combed his fingers through the curls hanging near my shoulder blades.
“Do you want my honest opinion, Mrs. Collins?” my father asked.
“Yes.”
“You’re right. She’s not one hundred percent, but she is doing better than she was a year ago. Leave the past alone. Let her try to move on with her life.”
“Without ever remembering?” Mrs. Collins pressed. “Without ever dealing with the emotions buried inside of her?”
“I think it would be best if Echo never remembered. I have a hard time understanding how her mother could hurt her. How can a child grasp the extent of the madness?” My father paused. “The nightmares are bad. Echo still has issues, but I’m concerned the truth will only hurt her, not help. Echo’s mind cracked when the first psychologist pressured her to remember. What if you pressure her and she cracks again? Are you willing to risk my child’s sanity?”
I clamped my hand over my mouth, to keep both words and vomit from coming out. Noah ended the call and placed the phone back on the other side of the counter. The room tilted and sweat formed between my breasts. Even my dad believed that if I tried to remember, I’d lose my mind … again.
“Echo?” Noah’s deep, raspy voice hummed inside of me, but I couldn’t look at him.
Pressing my lips together, I shook my head and withdrew into my hair.
“I won’t tell anyone. I promise.”
Noah brushed my hair behind my shoulder and tucked a straggling curl behind my ear. It had been so long since someone touched me like he did. Why did it have to be Noah Hutchins, and why did it have to be now?
“Look at me.”
I met his dark brown eyes. His fingers skimmed the back of my hand. The sensation tickled like a spring breeze yet hit me like a wave rushing from the ocean. His gaze shifted to my covered arms. “You didn’t do that, did you? It was done to you?”
No one ever asked that question. They stared. They whispered. They laughed. But they never asked. My entire world collapsed around me as I answered, “Yes.”
NOAH
I leaned against my locker, scanning the students heading to lunch. Isaiah and Beth stood across from me near the side doors, waiting for the hallway to clear. If Echo stopped by her locker before lunch, she had to walk this desolate area to reach the cafeteria. I needed to know if she’d pushed back her appointment. That’s what I told myself. Our plan wouldn’t work if she failed.
Honestly, she put me on edge. She’d refused to make eye contact with me during calculus and fled the room the minute the bell rang. After her admission yesterday, she left the office. One moment, she’d relaxed her warm body next to mine, taking my comfort and strength. Seconds later—gone.
“Are you even listening to me, man?” Isaiah asked. Two blondes walked past us, huddled together. One sneered as she stared at the sleeve of tattoos on Isaiah’s arms. He smirked while appraising their chests.
“Yeah.” No. Something about cars and his jacked-up job at the local auto shop.
“No, you’re not,” said Beth. “You’re looking for Echo Emerson.” She waggled her eyebrows. Part of me regretted asking her for Echo’s background. “Screwed her yet?”
“No.” The look I gave her made football players shit their pants. Beth simply shrugged and rolled her eyes.
She flicked the unlit cigarette she held in her hand, anxiously waiting for the teachers to go into the lunchroom so she could sneak open the side door. “What’s your obsession with her anyhow? Every time that girl comes around you stare at her like you’re the Coyote and she’s the Road Runner. Either fuck her or move on. You and the ex-popular chick will never be homecoming court material.”
We could have been. If life was different, if my parents had never died, if I’d never gotten screwed by the system, if … I shut down the ifs. “She’s my tutor, and she’s helping me out with some stuff. Leave it—and her—alone.”
“Don’t say you haven’t thought about it, man. She’s … How did Beth put it? Oh, she has a rocking body,” Isaiah said.
Beth slid her left hand underneath Isaiah’s elbow and flicked the lighter. Isaiah jumped out of the way, smacking the flames lapping his shirt. “You’re crazy.”
“Damn straight,” she replied.
The hallway finally emptied of students and teachers. Beth opened the side door, poked her head out and lit the cigarette. She took a long draw and blew the smoke out the door. “Maybe you’ve been alone for too long. Whatever happened to that Bella chick?”
“We ain’t living through Bella again. Remember how clingy she got?” said Isaiah.
She flicked the ashes. “Yeah, I forgot. Bella’s off the list. What about Roseanna? She basically ran out the door anytime Isaiah and I came downstairs.”