“God, you scared me! What were you doing? Spying?”

“Nice try. Who was that?” Mom repeats.

“Just a friend. He used to work with Kat. At the store.”

“What’s he doing hanging around here?” Dad asks, his lips set into a thin line that tells me he’s more upset than he’s letting on. He glances toward the window. “How old is he, anyway?”

I bite my lip. They’re not going to like the answer, but it doesn’t really matter after all. “Twenty.”

Mom crosses her arms in front of her chest, and I know immediately this is not a good answer. “He’s a man! Nobody that age has any business hanging around you. You’re just a child, for God’s sake!”

“Child! Seriously? I’m almost seventeen!” I shout back. It’s not like I want to go out with Drew, but this kind of treatment is really getting to me. If they only knew what I’ve experienced in the past couple of months, how much I remember about being an adult, they wouldn’t treat me this way. But of course, I can never tell them. “Who I hang around with is none of your business.”

“After what your sister pulled, it’s completely, one-hundred-percent my business.”

My frustration boils over. I knew this would happen. “Just because Kat got out of here early doesn’t mean you have to punish me for it!” I glance up at the clock and reach for my bag. So much for happy family meals. “I have to go.”

Dad steps into the hallway, blocking the door. “Where? I meant what I said. I don’t want you seeing that guy. I’ll get the police involved if I have to.”

I walk up to Dad, trying hard not to cry. He’s always been the one on my side, but now he’s just parroting her talk. “If you do, then you’re going to have an empty house a lot sooner than you think.” He can’t meet my eyes, so I reach around him to open the door. Mom starts to say something else, but I close the door behind me before I have to listen to her.

“Have you been practicing?” Janine asks, taking a bite of her salad as we walk toward the Faculty Glade behind her office.