2:
His blunt words hit me like a train.
This time, even crying my eyes out didn’t get
him to budge.
He told me to cool off and warned me again:
“Hayley, I’m just your Uncle Michael. That’s
all.”
But after saying that, he followed me home,
took care of me all night while I was dead
drunk.
I didn’t see him in the morning, but his
cologne lingered in the air and there was
hangover medicine on the nightstand.
So, I barged into his study, desperate. If he
didn’t love me, why couldn’t he just ignore me? This push–and–pull was killing me.
He laughed, but it was harsh. “Havlev, are you
<
stupid? I’ve raised you for six years. Even a
cat gets affection. You’re reading way too
much into a few kind gestures.”
“You’re eighteen. You’re an adult noi
it’s not
okay to think about your uncle like that.”
Suddenly, I felt like the grossest person alive.
He’d taken me in. Been like a parent. And I’d
fallen for him, then dared to say something.
He put up this wall, so high.
“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that. Now,
get out!”
Michael’s eyes were ice–cold.
The courage I’d scraped together vanished.
I don’t know how I got out of that study.
Then, I heard him talking sweetly on the
phone.
“Okay, I’ll come pick you up.”
I ducked around the corner, peeking at him as
he walked away.
He froze, looking straight at me.
He’d seen me.
Panicked, humiliated, I hid.
When my legs gave out, I realized he was long
gone.
My phone buzzed. A number I didn’t know
<
sent a photo.
Two hands, holding each other.
One was Michael’s.
I recognized the scar on his knuckles.
The message: “Me and your uncle are
together now. He didn’t want me to feel like
I’m getting stuck with you, but I really don’t
mind. I’ll love you just like he does. Just let
me know if there is anything you need.”
It was Lynn, the woman he’d turned down
before.
She talked to me like I was a child, and she
was just bragging.
regging.
Sunlight streamed through the window,
blinding.
I was like a rat in the gutter, peeking at
something beautiful.
He took me in. She was being nice. And I was
the only one making a fool of myself.
That was when I stopped wanting to love. I
stopped wanting anything.
I applied to the study abroad program.
I wanted to leave him. I wanted to get out.
3:
