Chapter 5

Cary was totally wrapped up in Holly, stressing she'd flub her interview because her parents got laid off. He didn't even notice I wasn't in their testing group.

It wasn't until the physical exam that it clicked for him.

He cornered me, eyes narrowed. "Did you change your application?"

I wasn't in the mood to chat. I gave a lazy nod, barely looking at him.

Cary got this annoyed vibe. "Why'd you do that?"

I shrugged. "Just realized I'm not cut out for that whole military-style deal. So, I bailed."

He pressed, "Where'd you apply instead?"

I smirked, thinking it might cheer him and Holly up—and keep them off my back.

"University of Eldridge Police Department," I said.

Cary muttered under his breath, "That's, like, a million miles away."

Exactly, dude. Far enough to not mess with your little love fest.

I didn't say that out loud, though. Just brushed past him.

As I headed down the stairs, a hand shoved me from behind.

I grabbed the railing just in time, but my ankle twisted anyway.

Not a huge deal, but it was gonna screw with my test scores.

Holly's voice dripped with venom. "You almost cost me my interview. Let's see how you like flunking this test."

I glanced up at the security camera, biting my tongue.

No time to deal with her nonsense—the test was starting soon.

When the examiner heard about my ankle, they bumped my slot to the end and even got someone to massage it.

Sweet, but it didn't fix everything. First up was the 50-meter sprint. I clocked 15 seconds. Total fail.

The physical test had four parts, and I had to ace the last three to secure my Early Decision spot at Eldridge.

Otherwise, I'd be stuck in the Regular Decision pool, where the competition was brutal.

The examiner shot me a worried look, like he could feel my stress.

Next was the standing long jump. My first try was pretty weak—just four feet, seven inches.

By my third attempt, I barely scraped a passing score.

The 800-meter run and sit-ups? Nailed those, thank God.

The second I left the testing area, I called the cops.

Holly got hauled off, and Cary lost it.

After failing to sweet-talk the police, he came to me, practically begging. "Wannie, can you cut Holly some slack? She didn't mean it."

I raised an eyebrow. "You watch the security footage?"

He knew damn well what it showed.

Holly meant every bit of that shove.

Still, he doubled down, trying to smooth it over.

"She's got some wrong ideas about you. I'll talk her down, I swear. She won't pull this crap again," Cary pleaded.

Holly thought I'd staged some bar incident to break her and Cary up.

That was my private pain, the kind they kept ripping open by bringing it up.

And now, here was Cary bringing it up again.

I shut him down cold. "Your promises don't mean squat. You can't control her, and you're too soft to call her out."

Cary's face burned red—partly from Holly's recklessness, partly from me not giving an inch.

But he couldn't let her go.

"Can't you really just—" he tried again.

I cut him off. "Nope. She messed up, she pays the price. I'm not forgiving her."

In my old life, I was too spineless, always letting Holly walk all over me.

Not this time. She was gonna learn her lesson.

I turned to head back to my room, but Cary grabbed my arm, his voice low and desperate. "What if I cash in ten years of being there for you?

"All the times I had your back—does that buy me this one favor?"

Cary had been like a big brother for a decade.

He stuck up for me, took the fall for my screw-ups, even threw punches and cussed people out for me.

Things got real tough after Mom passed, but Cary was there.

Without him, I'd have been a total mess, no way I could've even dreamed of applying to University of Eldridge Police Department.