Free Scars of the Past by Kay Gordon Page A

him, trying to instill my best mom impression on him. “I need you to not be distracted so you can make it home safe, okay?”
    “You’re ridiculous, Madelyn Louise.” He rolled his eyes as he squeezed me tightly. “Wait here, I have something for you.” He took off into the house, and I watched as Sydney tried to do a front flip that ended up being more a spastic half-somersault. Amanda was laughing so hard she had fallen to her knees, and Sydney promptly went and knocked her over.
    Matthew reappeared holding a small box, and he handed to me. “Read the manual, keep it charged, and keep it with you. “
    I looked at it for a moment trying to decide what it was when I realized it was a small stun gun.
    “If you even think someone is threatening you, Mad, you stun first and ask questions later, okay?”
    I gave a small chuckle before agreeing. “Okay. Hopefully I don’t stun myself in the process.”
    His shoulders shook with laughter as he reached out to mess up my hair. “Sadly, I can see that happening, too.”
    –––
    Leaving my mom’s house was hard, and by the time we finally left, I was a soggy mess from the tears I’d shed. Amanda looked somber in the passenger seat, and I thought I saw her wipe a few tears away as well.
    When we made it back to the apartment, I said goodnight to the girls and went straight to bed, barely stopping to change my clothes. The lack of sleep from the night before and emotional upheaval of the evening had taken its toll on me.
    I woke up suddenly sometime later, and I was instantly confused as to what had brought me out of my sleep. The clock on the nightstand read 6:14 am, and I was impressed at how long I’d slept. I sat still for a moment before I saw the flash of lightning outside my window. Seconds later it was followed by a clap of thunder that made me jump. I stretched my arms above my head and exhaled in frustration. The first night I’m able to sleep for more than three hours and a random storm rolled through. I was starting to question my luck.
    I reached over and pulled my phone off the nightstand. Unlocking it, I saw I had a text from Matthew from about an hour before.
    Matt: At the airport, miss you already. Be safe and stun as needed! Love you Mad.
    I frowned at the reminder that my big brother was off once again, and tapped out my reply quickly.
    Me: You be safe too, or else I’ll stun your ass when you get home. Love you more Matty.
    I closed the text message screen and opened my email, scrolling through the various and pointless school messages. I came to one from my boss that had been sent last night that had the schedule for the upcoming weekends on it. I added the times to my phone’s calendar and deleted two more random emails before a text came through again. Assuming it was Matthew, I was surprised when it wasn’t his name that showed up.
    Josh: She’s not my girlfriend, she’s an obligation.
    I stared at the screen, thoroughly confused with the context of the message, and why he decided to send it now. I thought for a moment before I hit the reply button and tapped out my own text.
    Me: It’s not my business. You can date (or not date) whoever you want.
    I hit ‘send’ and threw my phone to the foot of my bed in frustration. Why was he even bothering to break his silence now?
    I stared out the window and watch the lightning continually flash for a few minutes before my phone vibrated against my foot.  I picked it up, knowing that it was another message from Josh before I even unlocked it.
    Josh: Did I wake you? I’m sorry if I did. I know you deserve a better explanation than that but it’s the best I can do right now.
    I rolled my eyes at the vague, brush off and didn’t bother replying. Instead, I decided to hurry to the shower in case Amanda was due to wake up anytime soon.
    After my shower, I was heading back to my room when the door next to mine opened and Amanda came out, a surly look on her face.
    “I hate mornings when I can’t