I turn in my seat and look back at the familiar house that holds so many of my childhood memories. My parents. Colin. Liam. And, of course, Dallas.
He's no longer in there, I know. His helicopter has already whisked him away. And as I look at the well-lit house contrasted against the dark night sky, I can't help but wonder where he's going--and if he is thinking of me.
Dallas was cramming his T-shirts into his duffel bag when Jane burst through his bedroom door wearing sleep shorts and a Bugs Bunny T-shirt. She was fourteen now, just like him, and Dallas didn't know if her body had filled out early or late for a girl, but he knew that it was perfect. And he knew that he thought about it way, way too much.
"Liam just told me," she said, slamming the door shut behind her. "Is it true?"
"Guess that depends on what 'it' is."
She scowled at him. "Is Dad really sending you to boarding school in London?"
He wanted to snap back an answer--like, what? Did she think he was packing for fun? But he saw the tears glistening in her eyes and the words died in his throat. It wasn't Jane he was mad at. It was himself. And his father.
But it was Jane he was going to miss the most.
He dropped the duffel and went to sit on the edge of his bed. "Yeah. It's true. I'm surprised Mom didn't call you."
"Me, too." She'd been at a sleepaway girls' camp for the last week. Dallas had been having fun with his friends, too. Mostly jacking cars like the one that had gotten him caught. The one that had his dad sending him away.
"Why did you do that? I told you that Ron and Andy were bad news. Why did you keep hanging with them?"
He couldn't answer. He didn't have a reason. Or maybe he did. Maybe he was just bad like his birth parents. Maybe that's why he did all that shit.
Maybe that's why the only girl he fantasized about was his sister.
"Now they're sending you away from me and it's all your fault. God, Dallas, what were you thinking?" A tear spilled from one eye and she wiped it away brutally. "You're so stupid sometimes."
He exhaled loudly. "It's not just because of the cars."
"What? The drugs, too? I know you smoke pot sometimes, so don't even pretend that you don't."
"It's not the drugs," he said. "And it was
only a couple of times."
"Then what?"
He took a deep breath. "You."
Her forehead crunched into a frown. "What are you talking about?"
"Remember a few months ago. The time I fell asleep in your bed?"
"Yeah. So?"
"Eli saw me come out of your room."
"So what? It's not like we ever did anything."
But we wanted to. He almost said it, but he didn't. He didn't need to. She knew it as well as he did.
Instead, he just lifted a shoulder, remembering what their father had said. "He said it was bad." He lifted his hand to bite his thumbnail, then forced himself not to.
"What was bad?" Her voice was almost a whisper.
He swallowed, then focused on his thumb. "The way I look at you."
"Oh."