See his face.

It’s branded in my mind

Like the tattoo on my side

Put there to remember.

You never wanted me to forget.

Guess what. I didn’t.

IT’S BEEN A COUPLE OF days since Ayden did the treatment. For the most part, everything’s been quiet in our lives. There hasn’t been much drama, and we weren’t even grounded for sneaking off to the therapy session. But Ayden is getting restless, waiting for something to happen with the case, although he won’t say much about it.

I spend a lot of time trying to cheer him up, and from the outside it seems like it’s working. But in the back of my mind, I worry he might not be dealing with stuff. It has to be hard for him. After finding out all those things about his parents. After seeing what they did. Finding out that his father paid his mother to have him.

My heart breaks for him and the pain he has to be going through.

“Did you hear anything I just said?” my friend, Maggie, asks me.

We’re sitting in front of the school beneath the tree, lounging in the sun. We’re supposed to be in class, but since it’s the final day of school, and then I’ll officially be a high school graduate, my English teacher let us have a free period.

“Not really,” I answer truthfully, stretching my legs across the grass. “Sorry, I’m just a little distracted.”

“You’re always a little distracted.” She rolls up her shirt to the bottom of her bra so the sun hits her stomach. “And I think I know why.”

“Really?” I ask with skepticism. There’s no way she could possibly know.

“Yep. It has something to do with a certain sexy Goth boy you can’t keep your hands off of.” She rests back on her hands, smiling smugly.

I relax against the tree behind me. “Okay, enlighten me then. Because I have no clue what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, you so do.” She pulls her glasses down, looking at me from over the top of them. “I can see it in your eyes every time the two of you are within a mile of each other.”

“See what?” I say innocently, only so she’ll have to say it aloud.

“You know what I’m talking about.” She sits up and tucks her legs under her. “But if you want me to say it then I will. I’m talking about S.E.X. Sex.” She raises her voice loud enough that the people around us can hear her. “You want to have sex with Ayden. You want him to put his—”

“All right. All right.” I cut her off, laughing. “I get it.”

“But do you really get it?” she asks, retrieving a tube of lip-gloss from her purse.

“Maggie, I love you to death, but I’m totally not following you.”

She applies a coat of gloss then smacks her lips together. “I’m asking you if you get how much the two of you need to get your freak on.”

“Okay, we’ve talked about that reference,” I say. “No calling it getting our freak on. It makes it sound so gross.”

“Sometimes, it is gross.” Her nose scrunches. “Like with Sage.”

“Don’t go there.” I point a finger at her. “If you tell me things, I might not be able to look him in the eye anymore. I need to be able to do that for the sake of the band.”

“Fine.” Her eyes sparkle mischievously as she sits back in the grass. “I won’t tell you all the horrible details just as long as you admit you want to have sex with Ayden.” When my lips remain sealed, she adds, “If you want, you can call it making love, but I kind of wish you wouldn’t.” She pulls a face like the idea is appalling.

“Fine, I’ll admit it, just as long as you’ll drop the subject of my sex life.”

She grins, bouncing up and down. “So you’re saying it’s true? You’re thinking about having sex with Ayden?”

I nod, trying not to smile idiotically. But the idea of being with Ayden like that makes me grin. “I think about it a lot.”

“Think about what a lot?” Ayden asks from right behind me.

Maggie smirks at me then bats her eyelashes as she looks up at Ayden. “About you and her getting your freak on.”

I glance over my shoulder at Ayden and offer him an apologetic look. “Just ignore her. She ate too much lip gloss today.”

“Hey, I don’t eat it,” she protests. “I use it to draw attention to these bad boys.” She smacks her lips.

Ayden’s never been a fan of Maggie, and he simply stares at her before focusing on me. “Why aren’t you in class?”