I fumble with the phone as I type out my fatherâs number.
âHey, little bird. Whatâs up?â he says, shocking me when he actually answers on the second ring.
âI need to move in with you.â
Thereâs a long silence. âUhh, wellââ
âYouâve never done anything for me, and I never asked you to. But I need you to do this one thing for me now. I canât stay here. I need to leave Thatcherâs Bay. Now, Dad. Iâll sleep on the couch, the floor if I have to. I donât care. Itâs not a permanent thing. Itâs just until I go to Dartmouth in the fall,â I spit out. âIâm on the next ferry out of here, Dad. The question is, will you be there to pick me up, or am I sleeping on the streets? Because even if your answer is no, Iâm going.â
Thereâs another long pause, and Iâm sure heâll say no even as I hastily throw my things into a bag.
âIâll be there,â he finally says. âI promise.â
I donât believe him, because I donât believe in anyoneâs promises anymore.
But I still leave the house with my bags. And I still get on the first ferry out of this godforsaken island.
And I donât feel a thing when my fatherâs actually waiting at the dock when the boat pulls in.
When I get settled, Iâll call my mother and explain why I left without so much as a goodbye. Daisy will make sure she understands.
But no matter whatâ¦Iâm never going back to Thatcherâs Bay again.
I think about hurling myself off old man Winterâs lighthouse for months after she leaves.
I see it so clearly in my mind. Falling off the cliff and letting the ocean take me under. Letting the waves crush my skull on the rocksâuntil blue is tinged with dark red.
But I canât muster up the courage to go somewhere sheâs not.
Not even in death.
The only thing that keeps me going, day by meaningless day, is that sheâs living her dream.
Even if all my dreams are now dead.
Iâm going to love Skylar Amesâ¦forever.
And sheâs going to hate me just as long.
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