Chapter 2

In the end, I didn't make it in time. I never saw my father again.

Ryan, ignoring the storm raging outside, pulled over on the shoulder of the highway and kicked me out, just like he dragged me out of the passenger seat all that time ago.

It was because Emily knew he was with me.

She was sobbing into the phone, her voice breaking, "Ryan, you left me again. You always leave me.

"You promised you would take me to see the stars when I woke up.

"Ryan, am I just a burden? I shouldn't bother you so much... I... I..."

Her breath hitched, and she started hyperventilating.

Ryan had forgotten his headset, so her desperate gasps filled the car.

I just forced a weak smile and stayed silent.

Ryan, however, was frantic, trying to comfort her. "It's my fault, Emily. I'm sorry. Something urgent came up. I didn't mean to sneak out.

"It's okay. Don't overthink it. I'll drop Sophia off and be right there."

The other end went silent. For a second, I thought she hung up.

Then, a metallic clatter echoed through the speaker.

Ryan's face went white. "Emily, what was that? What are you doing? Don't do anything stupid!"

The sound of a running faucet started.

Emily whimpered, "Leave me alone, Ryan. I'm fine. It's just running a bath. I'm just going to take a bath."

After that, there was nothing but silence on the line.

Ryan yelled her name into the phone, over and over, too panicked to realize the call hadn't disconnected.

He slammed his fist against the steering wheel.

His wild eyes landed on me as he explained, "Sophia, she's on the edge. I'm afraid she's going to hurt herself..."

I cut him off, "You're afraid she'll hurt herself, but you're not afraid I'll get hurt if you dump me on the side of a highway?"

He flinched, and his expression soured with irritation. "You're an adult, Sophia. You're not helpless. What's going to happen to you?

"I told you, she has depression! Why do you always have to compete with her over things like this?"

My own voice was bitter. "Right. She has depression, so the whole world has to baby her?"

The dam finally broke. All the anger I had been swallowing for years came pouring out.

"I've told you a million times, her depression is fake!" I screamed. "I begged you to get her professional help, but you never listened!

"She's always threatening to die, but has she ever actually tried it?

"Have you ever once stopped to think about how many times you've chosen her and abandoned me?"

I thought I was past the point of feeling it. I thought I was numb.

I was wrong. The memories still felt like a thousand tiny needles piercing my heart.

Because once, I had genuinely believed Ryan and I would spend the rest of our lives together.

"Are you done?" he snapped. "Even now, you're making this about you? About being jealous?

"Do you even realize she was about to kill herself? And it's all your fault!"

My fault?

The accusation was so absurd that it made my head spin. He had actually twisted this to blame me for her manipulative games.

A flicker of guilt crossed his face, but it brought me no comfort. It only made my blood run cold.

I fought to steady my voice, sneering, "Ryan, have you no shame?

"You and Emily should just be together. You weren't born on the same day, but maybe you can die on the same day."

Before I could finish, he slammed on the brakes.

My arm flew out, my forearm smacking hard against the center console.

His face turned livid. He stalked around to my side, yanked open the door, ripped off my seatbelt, and hauled me out of the car.

I stumbled and fell, my elbow cracking against the wet concrete. It hurt way worse than my forearm hitting the console.

He saw me fall, but he didn't care. "I get that you're angry," he seethed, "but you have no right to curse her!

"You need to cool off and get some perspective. I'll come back for you later."

Without another glance, he slammed the door and sped away.

I just stood there, stunned, in the pouring rain. After a long while, I reached for my phone to call for a ride. My pockets were empty. All my things were still in his car.

I've never been good at judging distances.

But I knew clearly that the hospital was still an hour and a half away.

Driving back to Emily would take him three hours.

In Ryan's mind, even if Emily was on the other side of the country and I was right beside him, he would always, without hesitation, abandon me to go back to her.