“What? He went to jail?” I ask in horror.
“No, but he did go to juvie. I don’t think anyone expected anything to happen to him, since it was supposedly a family matter, but the state doesn’t treat hit-and-runs lightly, no matter who’s involved. Especially when they did a drug test and found weed in Justin’s system. I guess they thought they could make an example of him.” Chace rakes his hand through his hair, and for the first time I notice the sadness behind his blue-gray eyes. It was always there—I just never put my finger on it until now.
“I don’t understand why Justin would take the fall,” I say, shaking my head. “I mean, I can sort of understand adults being influenced by money, but a kid our age?”
Chace takes a deep breath.
“Justin caused his parents more than a few headaches over the years, and I know he felt bad about it as he got older. He was a good guy, but he was constantly blowing off school and getting high. My dad once told me Lucy had to take off work practically every other week for parent-teacher meetings. My guess is, Justin’s parents convinced him that by taking the fall and earning them my dad’s bribe money…he’d be making it up to them in some way.”
I stare at Chace, finding it impossible to believe that the golden boy standing in front of me, whose every interaction with me pulls at my heart, is only here because another boy took his place in a cell. I take a gulp of air.
“Is he…out?”
“My parents told me it was a short sentence, so I think he’s out now. Although, who knows if they were just trying to calm me down when they said that. They considered me a ticking time bomb, I was so racked with guilt and anxious to tell the truth. So they sent me away to Oyster Bay Prep.” Chace meets my eyes for the first time. “I guess that’s the only thing I can’t be mad at them for—that they brought me here.”
My thoughts are running all over the place, and I struggle to focus them.
“What about Brady? Is he okay?”
Chace gazes up at the brownstone in front of us.
“I’ve been following his recovery every day since the accident. I found out that he was moved to New York to be treated by the best physical therapist on the East Coast, and that he was living at his aunt and uncle’s place in Brooklyn. I had to see him, to know for myself that he really was getting better. So I became a volunteer at Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, and I offered to help Brady with his exercises on the weekends.”
“That’s him,” I say, realization dawning as I stare at the shadow of the boy in the window.
“Yeah. He’s doing so well.” Chace smiles slightly. “He’ll finally be rid of the cane soon. And we’ve become buddies, Brady and I.”
“But what does his family say about you being the volunteer? I mean, they obviously know the truth.”
“His aunt and uncle don’t know me, Lucy never told them the real story, and I use a different name when I’m here,” Chace admits. “But you don’t know how much I want to tell the truth. The fact that Brady’s getting better doesn’t alleviate any responsibility I feel. And it’s not fair that I get to have the whole world ahead of me while Justin is who-knows-where, with a record to his name.”
“I need to sit down,” I blurt out.
Chace nods, leading the way to a coffee shop at the end of the block. I sink into a seat at a corner table, my mind still digesting everything as Chace orders for us.
“I’m sorry,” he says, returning with two steaming mugs of coffee. “This was your big day. I feel like I put a major damper on it with my story.”
“No. I’m glad you told me.”
He tries to smile, but his expression is filled with sorrow.
“Now do you see why I thought you might feel differently about me after hearing this?”
“Yes. But the funny thing is…I don’t.”
I tentatively reach across the table and place my hand over his. The electric charge is still there, sending my stomach swooping, but now there’s something deeper beneath it.
“I see someone who made a mistake, but is doing everything he can to make it right, even when it means going against his parents. I see someone brave enough to be honest.”
His eyes fill with gratitude as he gazes at me.
“And when I do tell the truth…”
“You’ll have me by your side,” I tell him. “I promise.”
We sit beside each other on the train back to Oyster Bay, both quiet as we watch the nighttime scenery fly past. Everything we’ve shared and spoken over the past few hours seems to have turned us shy as the train hurtles back to Long Island. Will he regret confiding in me? I wonder. Will we both regret what we’re about to confess to Lana?
The train speeds past a sharp turn, and my body slams against Chace’s.
“Sorry!” I exclaim, my face reddening.
He wraps a gentle arm around me.
“You okay?”
I glance up at him. Our faces are so close. I can feel his warm breath against my cheek. My heartbeat quickens.