He’d refused to let me go all the way to West Virginia on my own, so we’d looked at apartments close to campus where he could stay. He’d claimed that he had nothing to stick around for in California, but I wasn’t so sure. He couldn’t afford the plane ticket to go with me, so I’d used that knowledge to blackmail him into letting me pay for his rent for the first few months until he could find a job. He hadn’t been happy about it, but he’d finally agreed. He hadn’t had any other options.

Ally had disappeared the day after she graduated. She hadn’t been around much anyway, but Andy was worried. He would get a text message here and there from her, but that was it. It was enough to let him know she was alive, but it wasn’t enough to make him stop worrying. I knew I was being a cruel bitch, but I didn’t care if she dropped off the face of the earth. She’d destroyed my life, and I hadn’t been able to do a thing about it. I had wanted to go after her when Andy told me what she had done, but he wouldn’t let me. I knew that she would kick my ass in a fight, but I hadn’t cared. As long as I could make her hurt a little bit, I would be happy.

I’d fought with Andy over it, but he’d finally convinced me not to hunt her down. I’d understood where he was coming from, but it hadn’t made me feel any better. She was his sister, but she’d hurt me. I just wanted to make her hurt, too.

“I think that’s our exit,” Andy said, pulling me from my memories.

I glanced up to see that he was right. I was nervous as I followed the signs pointing me to the university campus. The roads were clogged with students moving in for the school year, so it took a while to get through.

After what seemed like years, we finally arrived. This was it. I was finally here. I pulled into a parking lot directly across the road from a large brick building with my dorm name displayed on the front of it. Tons of students and their parents were unloading cars in the parking lot and along the street.

I felt a pang of jealousy as I watched a mom and dad hug their daughter a few cars in front of mine. I wondered what that would feel like—to have a dad around and a mother who actually cared. I tried to ignore my hurt feelings, but they wouldn’t leave. Kids were supposed to have their parents around to take care of them. Instead, I’d snagged a dad who cared from thousands of miles away and a mom who didn’t give a damn about me.

“Come on, let’s get you checked in,” Andy said before stepping out of my car.

My dad had known that my mom had taken away the car she’d bought for me, so he’d had a brand new SUV waiting for me at the Pittsburgh airport. I knew it made me a spoiled brat to accept it, but I didn’t care. I needed a car, and my dad had helped me out. I honestly thought the only reason he was helping me with all of this was because he felt guilty for leaving me alone with my mom for so long.

Andy kept his arm around my shoulders as we walked to the dorm. He’d become protective of me after Jesse left, and I was secretly glad. It was nice to have someone there for me just because he wanted to be. In this world, there were too few genuinely kind people to let one disappear from my life.

A line of students was waiting to be checked in when we walked into the lobby. I tapped my foot impatiently as the line slowly moved. I hated to wait.

When it was finally my turn, I gave the girl behind the counter my name and showed her my I.D. Once everything was checked off, she gave me a map of the campus and my key. I was instructed to go up to the third floor and turn left. She eyed Andy warily as she informed me that this was not a coed dorm, and no men were allowed after nine at night. I rolled my eyes, but I said nothing before we turned and walked away. I noticed several girls eyeing Andy, like they wouldn’t mind having him in their dorm room after hours. He smiled back at a few of them, but he didn’t stop to talk.

“If you want to flirt, go ahead. You need to remove your arm from my shoulders though before someone thinks you’re my boyfriend. I don’t want people to assume I’m the idiot girlfriend who stands around while her boyfriend eye-fucks the girls around them.”

He laughed. “You worry too much. I won’t eye-fuck anyone.”

“You can eye-fuck all you want. Just don’t act like my brother or boyfriend while you do it.”

“Maybe I want to pretend I’m your boyfriend.” He bent down and gave me a sloppy kiss on the cheek.

“You’re an ass,” I growled as I wiped his kiss away.

“I know.”

He finally dropped his arm from around my shoulders once we made it to the third floor. I wasn’t sure if it was because he really was looking for someone to hook up with or because we had to walk single file down the hallway since girls were everywhere, trying to carry boxes. Either way, I was glad.

Once Andy and I had started hanging out a lot back in California, we’d had to fight off the rumors within his circle of friends. Everyone had assumed that we were a couple since we were together all the time, but we’d finally managed to convince them that it wasn’t true. Andy and I’d talked about whether or not there was anything between us, and we’d both agreed that there wasn’t.

We were nothing more than friends, and I was relieved. I wasn’t over Jesse, and I wasn’t sure that I ever would be. Andy kept up with his man-whore ways, and I moped by myself, wishing daily that Jesse would come back.

“Hey, I think this is your room,” Andy said from behind me.

I turned back to see that he was right. I’d been so preoccupied that I hadn’t even realized that I’d passed right by my room. I unlocked my door and threw it open. It was ten times smaller than the room I’d had at my mom’s house, but I loved it anyway. My dad had called the school and arranged for me to have a private room since I was his daughter, so I knew my room was smaller than most since it only slept one.

A small closet was only a few feet away from the main door. A desk was against the far wall, next to the one and only window. I could see from here that the window’s view was of the parking lot out front. A twin-sized bed sat on the opposite side of the room, and another door was in front of the bed. I walked over and opened it to see that I had my own bathroom. It was small, but it was more than I’d expected. Now, I wouldn’t have to fight with every other girl on the floor to shower daily.

“What do you think?” Andy asked as he sat down on my bed.

“I love it,” I said as I smiled.

“Really? It’s kind of tiny. I’ve seen your room at your dad’s house, and this is the size of your closet there.”

“I don’t care. It’s mine, and my mother has no say here. I love it.”

“You’re so weird,” Andy said as he spotted a stack of boxes beside the desk. “At least your stuff made it here safe and sound.”

“Yeah, it would have sucked if they had lost my crap.”

“You want to get unpacked before you take me to my place?”

“Nah, I can do that later. I need to make a quick stop before we go to your place though.”

“Okay…”

He eyed me suspiciously, but I ignored him. He was going to kill me when he realized what I’d done.

I locked up and led the way back downstairs. I had to hug the wall more than once as girls passed by me with their arms full of boxes. Once we made it outside, I walked to my car and unlocked it. I double-checked my directions as I waited for Andy to get into the car.

“Where are we going?” he asked.

“You’ll see.”

“Emma…”

“Don’t use that tone with me. You’ll see soon enough.”

I drove through the congested traffic as I searched for the street signs I needed. Once we were off the main drag, the traffic thinned, and it was easier to watch for my destination. I spotted it and quickly pulled into the driveway of a two-story brick house.

“What are we doing here?” Andy asked.

“I have to pick up something.”

“What?” He spotted a car in the yard with a For Sale sign on it. “Emma, you didn’t.”

“Shut up.” I stepped out and started walking toward the house just as the front door opened.

“Can I help you?” an older lady asked.

“Hi, I’m Emma. We spoke on the phone about the car you had for sale online.”

“Of course. Let me grab the keys, and I’ll be right out.”

I walked across the yard to where the car was sitting. It wasn’t the nicest thing out there, but as long as it ran, I’d take it. I knew asking my dad for money to get Andy a car would be too much, so I’d saved some of my monthly allowance from my dad until I had enough to get him something decent. He only planned to stick around for a few months, but he still needed something to drive while he was here.

“I’m going to kill you,” Andy whispered in my ear.

I jumped, not realizing that he’d followed me. “You need something to drive.”

“I’ll take the bus.”

“You’ll take your car,” I countered.

“Here are the keys if you want to start it up,” the elderly woman said from behind Andy.

I turned and took them from her hand before walking over to the car. After unlocking the door, I started the car, and I was relieved when it took right off.

“Can we take it for a drive?” I asked.

The lady seemed unsure. “If you do, I’d like to go with you. It’s nothing personal. I just don’t want it to disappear.”

“Of course!” I said.

I got out and then sat in the backseat. Andy and the lady sat down in the front. I knew nothing about cars, so I figured it would be better if Andy did the test-drive. Andy put it in drive and pulled onto the street. We circled the block a few times before he parked it back in her yard.