Free Rush by Tori Minard Page B

probably embellishing with all kinds of
bogus details.
    My gut went cold at the thought that
Caroline knew what I’d done. She hated me now. She judged me—I’d seen it all
over her face. I’d never be able to get close to her now she knew the truth
about me.
    My face flushed as a wave of shame
washed over me. My prick of a stepbrother would never let me get past what I’d
done to Carter, no matter how many years went by. That hideous deed would
follow me everywhere I went, haunting me until the day I died.
    Caroline’s good opinion meant nothing to
me except for the fact I wouldn’t be able to use her as a weapon against Trent
if she kept avoiding me. I had to find out exactly how much she knew. Maybe I
could explain myself, get her to understand.
    Ah, hell, who was I kidding? Nothing
could explain away the shooting death of my three-year-old brother. Nothing.

 
     
     
    Chapter 7
     
    Caroline
    Mid-November days in the Willamette
Valley tended to be rainy and cold, but the Wednesday before Thanksgiving was
an exception. We had a rare blue sky and I took advantage by taking my studies
outdoors to a bench outside the student union. Unfortunately, the bench was
wet, something I didn’t think of until after I’d already sat down.
    I hadn’t seen Max since Monday. He hadn’t
even been in class this morning. He must be avoiding me.
    That was sensible of him. Neither of us
needed any extra drama in our lives and Trent would never tolerate me being
friendly with his stepbrother, even if nothing ever happened between us. The
ridiculous thing was, I couldn’t get Max out of my head. I’d thought about him
every day since I’d met him, and the thoughts always came with generous sides
of lust and butterflies in the stomach, even after finding out what he’d done.
    I should have been catching up on my
reading. But instead of pulling out my books, I took out my phone and called my
mom.
    “Looking forward to Thanksgiving?” she
said cheerfully as soon as greetings had been exchanged.
    “Yeah.” I guess. “Trent and I are
leaving as soon as we’re done with our afternoon classes.”
    “I hope you drive carefully, especially
if you hit any ice.”
    “We will.”
    “You sound kind of down. You don’t want
to go?”
    It was always annoying when my mom saw
through me so easily. She had mom superpowers, including mind reading and eyes
in the back of her head.
    “It’s kind of weird,” I said.
    “How come? Trent’s a great kid.”
    He wasn’t a kid at all, but I let that
one pass. I guess to someone my mom’s age, we college students were all kids.
    “I’m just not sure where this
relationship is going.”
    “Oh. I thought things were good between
you.”
    How much should I tell her? “They’re
okay, I guess.”
    Only they weren’t okay. I was
daydreaming constantly about another guy. My feelings for Trent had gone from
fantasies about marriage proposals to resentment and boredom. This wasn’t going
to end well.
    “He’s got a lot of potential, Caroline.
And he’s so good looking.”
    “Yes, he is.”
    I couldn’t tell her I didn’t feel any
passion for him. I mean, she’s my mom. That would be, like, the most awkward
conversation in the history of all mother-daughter conversations.
    “Well, I think you should go. Sometimes
you have to put some work into a relationship.”
    “Yeah, I know. And anyway, it’s too late
to back out.”
    “It’s never too late if you’re that
uncomfortable. You can stay in the dorms, can’t you?”
    “Yeah, mine is open for the holiday. But
I don’t want to do that to him.”
    The conversation lagged. I watched
clumps of students pass me as they crossed the quad separating the student
union from huge, old Merriweather Hall. Everyone seemed happy, lookign forward
to their holiday.
    “How are studies going?”
    “They’re fine,” I said.
    “It’s not too late to pick up a minor in
education, you know.”
    “Yeah, I know. I don’t want to teach.”
    There