Chapter 20 (iii)

I offered Emily another fry. “About…about what happened while I was still back at Jefferson—the whole thing with Adam—he was here and Jonie…Jonie flipped him, and we’re banned from the store, now Sydney’s upset—”

“Whoa, whoa, one thing at a time,” he said. My ramblings made it difficult for him to keep up in any meaningful way. “I’ll ask Jonie about her stuff later; tell me about Madelyn finding things out.”

“Please…I don’t want to talk about it, not right now. This was supposed to be a date,” the first I’d ever had, “I don’t want it ruined with all this heavy stuff. Let’s talk about something normal.”

Jayden’s eyes searched mine for a silent moment, seeking answers I didn’t think I could give. He wanted to push; the insistence was there in his eyes, but he didn’t. Instead, we fell into an awkward silence,