Then my phone buzzes. Dad Calling. Dad Calling.
I gaze up at my house.
Leaving Michael and Ezra behind, I feel as if I’m floating—and not in a good way.
“Tee!” Ezra calls out behind me.
When I reach the front steps, I break into a jog. I crash through the front door.
Marina heads me off in the foyer. “Your parents want to see you in the senator’s office.”
I rush up the stairs and into Dad’s study. The lights are low. Burning wood crackles in the fireplace, snapping under the intense heat.
Ben is standing there, shifting from foot to foot. Mom’s face is redder than a fire extinguisher. Dad has his glasses off and is rubbing his eyes.
“Taylor Lukens. What have you done?” Mom says in a low voice. Then it turns into a screech. “Are you out of your goddamned mind?”
Ezra suddenly appears beside me and places his hand on my shoulder. When Ben sees him touching me, the look on his face morphs from pain to torture.
“What’s going on?” Ezra asks, taking in the scene. “Why are you shouting, Mrs. Lukens?”
“Ask Taylor!” Mom yells. “How could you? You’ve ruined your father’s career! And for nothing!”
Ezra pulls me toward him.
Dad still hasn’t said a word.
“What did you do?” I ask Ben.
“I had to tell the truth, Tee.” His words come out in a rush. “I’m sorry. I just had to make things right. Before your father’s election.”
“It’s a bit late for that, isn’t it?” Mom snaps. “Polls are down by three points, and the election’s in six days! What good does your little confession do us now?”
Ben winces. “I thought maybe if the press knew the truth—”
Ezra’s hand tenses on my shoulder. I can feel his body stiffen.
“The last thing we need is for the press to rehash this,” Mom interrupts. “We need good news, not bad.”
“Dad?” I say with a shaky voice.
He pulls his hand away from his eyes but still won’t acknowledge me.
“Will someone please tell me what’s going on?” Ezra asks.
I turn, place a hand on his chest, and look up at him. “The pills weren’t mine.”
Shock fills his face. It slowly turns to understanding. Then anger.
He lets me go, stalks toward Ben, lifts his hand, and makes a fist.
Ben puts his hands up to protect himself, but he’s too slow. Ezra punches him square in the jaw. Ben stumbles to the side, nearly taking out an antique vase on his way to the hardwood floor. Dad rushes over, pulling Ezra off Ben. Ezra tries to break free from Dad’s arms, but Dad keeps a firm grip.
“Son, stop it,” Dad says to Ezra. “Go sit down.” He jerks his pointer finger at a sofa on the other side of the office. Ben clutches the side of his face, rasping for breath.
“Tee, tell me you’re lying,” Ezra gasps. “Tell me you didn’t cover for this little sh—”
“Ezra,” Dad commands. “Go sit down, now.” He turns to me with betrayed eyes. “Taylor, I’d like an explanation.”
“How could you?” Mom cries again, and Dad sighs.
“Donna, please let Taylor speak.”
I square my shoulders and stand up straight. “Ben and I were out in the woods. He brought his backpack. When he left to go to the bathroom, that’s when the dorm mothers found me and thought the pills were mine. I knew that Ben would get kicked out of school, but I thought I’d be fine, Dad…because of who you are.”
Dad hangs his head, disappointed.
“I know now I was wrong. I shouldn’t have tried to use you and your position to get out of trouble.”
“But you wouldn’t have been in trouble!” Dad says. “They weren’t your pills!”
“I know,” I say quietly. “Things got out of hand. I never expected all of this to happen.”
“Well, what did you expect?” Mom asks. “I can’t believe you’d do something so dumb.”
“Stop talking to Taylor like that,” Ezra says, but he looks furious with me. His angry eyes bore into mine. “We said no more secrets.”
“I’m sorry—” I start, but he’s already storming out of the room. “Ezra!” I call. He leaves me alone with the firing squad.
“Mom, Dad, if I had known this would get so crazy, I never would’ve covered for Ben. And I didn’t tell you afterward because I found out Ben was selling the pills, and I thought it would make things worse if people knew I was covering for a drug dealer. I was planning to tell you the truth as soon as the election was over. I knew it wouldn’t do any good right now—”
Dad holds up a hand to quiet me.
“Ben,” Dad says quietly, “thank you for coming to tell us the truth. But I don’t want to see you at my home again. And if you try to contact my daughter, I’ll be asking the police to investigate you.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Please leave.”
Ben gazes over at me with tears in his eyes. He nods once, mouthing good-bye, then disappears out the door.
Mom stalks over to Dad’s wet bar and pours herself a scotch. With a shaky hand, she brings the glass to her mouth. She sips, closing her eyes.
We’re all quiet, but Mom interrupts the silence. “This will cost us the election, Edward. You shouldn’t have let St. Andrew’s expel her.”
Dad sits down on the sofa and puts a hand over his face.
“Dad?”
“Go on,” he says softly, gesturing at the door.
“Don’t you want to talk this through?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “Not now.”
With tears streaming down my face, I climb the stairs to my bedroom. I doubt my parents will ever look at me the way they used to. Will they ever trust me again?
And what about Ezra? I betrayed him. We promised there wouldn’t be secrets between us, and I kept this from him—from everyone.
I open the door to my room and gasp. He’s sitting on my bed, staring down at his hands. He lifts his head to stare at me.
“Are you kidding me?” Ezra starts. “You’d throw away your future for that asshole? Why? Why didn’t you tell the truth?”
“Ezra—”
“You could do anything you want with your life, and you gave up St. Andrew’s for some loser who didn’t even have the balls to stand up for his own mistake!”
“Things got out of control. I didn’t mean for this to happen—”
“I thought you were better than this.”
“I am—I didn’t want to be a tattletale!”
“You should’ve confronted Ben and told him to fix the situation before it got out of hand! I am so mad at you right now.”
“Ezra—”
“We said no more secrets. That includes the big, dark ones.”
“Now you know everything. We’ve both made mistakes. Please, let’s just get past this, Ezra. Please.”
He drags a hand through his hair and stands. “I need time.”
He strides by me without another word and leaves.
? ? ?
I’m scared to go downstairs.
Scared to face Mom and Dad.
Scared to read the texts from Oliver and Jenna.
Scared to turn on the news to check the polls.
Scared to go to school.