Chapter 19 (1/2)

Neither time nor a breakup would change that.

That’s clearly not what she wanted to hear, and she pushes my hand away with a “don’t.”

“I don’t need a safe place, Landon, I need . . . well, I don’t even know what I need because my life is fucking failing and I don’t know how to fix it.” Her eyes are dark now, waiting for my response.

Her life is failing? What does that even mean?

“How so? Is it school?”

“It’s everything—literally every damn thing in my life.”

I’m not following. That’s probably because she hasn’t given me any information to allow me to help her.

When I was about fifteen, I realized that I would do anything to make sure she was okay. I’m the fixer, I’m the one who fixes everything for everyone, especially the curly-haired neighbor girl with an asshole for a father and a brother who could barely speak in his home without getting a bruise for the effort. Here we are, five years later, out of that slow, eroding town, away from that man, and some things really never change.

“Tell me something that I can go on.” My hand covers hers and she pulls away, just like I knew she would. I let her. I always have.

“I didn’t get the part that I’ve been training and training and training for the last two months. I thought this role was mine. I even let my GPA drop because I spent so much time rehearsing for my audition.” She lets out a forced breath at the end and closes her eyes again.

“What happened with the audition? Why didn’t you get it?” I need more pieces of the puzzle before I can form a solution.

“Because I’m not white.” She says it loud, certain.

Her answer presses against the small bubble of anger that only holds things that I’m helpless over. I can fix a lot of shit, but I can’t fix ignorance, as much as I would love to.

“They said that?” I keep my voice down, even though I don’t want to. They couldn’t have possibly actually said that to a student?