Barely Breathing (The Breathing #2)(115)

"Graduation?" I suggested. I wouldn't be convinced I was going until I walked down the aisle with the diploma in my hand.

"That's actually a great idea," Evan considered. "We can have a huge graduation party in my backyard."

"Yes!" Sara exclaimed in excitement before rolling the ball down the lane.

"And your dad will go for that?" I questioned skeptically, knowing he and Evan weren't exactly on speaking terms―kind of like me and my mother, but for extremely different reasons.

"Who cares," Evan shrugged. "What's he going to do?"

Jared laughed with enlarged eyes, like he knew exactly what their father was capable of. Evan didn't seem fazed. But I couldn't help but shrink a few inches in my chair.



"Should I be worried about Evan and his father?" I asked Sara when I was driving her back to her house.

"Are you looking for insider information because Evan's making it seem like it's not a big deal?"

"Well, yeah," I answered uncomfortably. "Has Jared said anything?"

Sara was quiet, deliberating what to say. She always got fidgety whenever she had to tell me something I didn't want to hear.

"Just say it, Sara," I demanded flatly.

"I promised Jared I wouldn't, so you have to swear that you won't mention it to Evan, no matter what." I just stared at her impatiently. "Fine. Mr. Mathews has threatened to cut Evan off if he goes to Stanford. He said he could freeze his accounts, take away his passport and even his car."

"Over choosing Stanford?" I struggled to get the words out.

"You know it has nothing to do with Stanford."

"Yeah," I breathed. "I do. I can't let this happen."

"It's not your decision to make, Emma," Sara warned. "It's Evan's."





30. Unexpected Future



My mother couldn't stay silent for long. It was against her nature. So whether she'd truly forgiven me or not, she was talking to me like she had.

"I may be a little late tonight," she informed me, rushing around as she tended to do most mornings before work. "Do you have practice today?"

"No, not today," I told her from my spectator position, on the couch with a bowl of cereal.

"Do you think you could cook dinner?" She paused and looked to me. "Or... maybe order out? I don't think I'll be out of the meeting in time."

I smiled and said, "I may go to Evan's for dinner."

"Great. I'll feel better knowing you're eating something that's not microwaved. But I won't be late, okay?"



       
         
       
        

"Okay." She'd been letting me know her schedule for the past couple of days. I was pretty sure it was her indirect way of apologizing for making me worry about her last Thursday night when she passed out at Sharon's without calling.

She rushed out the door with a lightweight jacket over her arm.

This week had taken a pleasant rise in temperature. They were forecasting near eighty by Friday, which was unheard of in early April in Connecticut. I wasn't complaining.

With the increase in temperature and only eight weeks to go until permanent freedom, the seniors were having a hard time concentrating. Class was more chatty and the halls were bouncing with energy.

"Want to skip last class?" Sara proposed during lunch.

"I can't," I moped, "I have a paper due."

"What are you doing after school? You should come over."

"I don't think I'll have time. I have to get some laundry done before I have nothing to wear, and then I'm going to Evan's for dinner."

"This weekend then. I'm not leaving for Florida until Monday, so you can spend the weekend with me. Do you have a game?"

"On Saturday," I told her. "Yeah, I think we need some girl time."

Sara smiled. "Yes we do! I'm feeling a little disconnected from you lately, so we have some catching up to do."

"Agreed."

I'd decided even before this conversation that I needed to fill Sara in on everything that was happening with my mother. I didn't have Jonathan to talk to any longer, and Sara was my best friend. She was supposed to know these things. Now that we had actual time set aside for us, I somehow felt... better. Sara would know what I should do. Or at least have a very candid opinion of the situation.

With a promise of seeing Evan at his house after baseball practice, I drove home with my windows down. Spring was starting to stretch its arms, and I welcomed it after a frigid and snowy winter. The early spring flowers were in bloom, and the trees were in varied stages of budding or flowering, which meant in a few weeks they'd be filled with green leaves.