Halfway through the session, she starts rubbing her bruised wrist, and I’m reminded we still have so much to talk about. I know she didn’t get those bruises from a trampoline. No, those marks look like they came from fingers, and after seeing how Luna’s parents treat her, my bet is that one of them did it.
I only hope she’ll trust me enough to open up and tell me the truth.
“Is everything okay?” Grey asks the second the session is released.
“Yeah, why?” I stand up from the chair and put on the jacket to cover up my outfit.
“You seemed a little distracted with something on your phone.” He runs his fingers through his hair, making the strands go askew. “Like someone sent you a message or something that was bothering you.”
I open my mouth to lie to him, to be the liar I am, but the truth just sort of tumbles out. “It was actually an email.”
“Okay.” He chews on his lip, deliberating something.
God, I can’t believe I kissed those lips. Holy shit!
“Can I ask what it was about?” he asks. “Or is it too personal?”
“I have this aunt, my aunt Ashlynn,” I start, shocked I’m telling him this. Then again, he already knows so much about me. Maybe that’s why it feels so easy to tell him stuff. “She’s kind of like the bad seed of our family. My grandma kicked her out of the house when she was around my age because she was doing a lot of bad stuff.”
“What kind of stuff?”
“I’m not really sure. I mean, I’ve heard a couple of stories about her hanging out with the wrong friends, getting caught drinking, and coming home late, but no one’s ever said what specifically got her kicked out.”
“That seems like mild stuff to get kicked out of the house for.”
“Yeah, but I’m not surprised, considering how my parents are.” I zip up my jacket. “I’m actually surprised they haven’t kicked me out yet after everything I’ve done.”
“You really worry they’ll kick you out?” he asks, baffled.
I shrug, pretending it’s not as big of a deal as it is. “They’ve threatened me about it before.”
“Luna . . . I’m so sorry. That sucks that you have to worry about stuff like that.”
“It is what it is.” I wander toward the door, knowing my grandma is going to have a meltdown if I don’t come out soon, and Grey walks with me. “I’ve always kind of known there’s a chance I could get kicked out of my house before I graduated. My parents made sure of that. Every time they’re mad at me, they bring up my aunt Ashlynn’s situation, but no one ever brings up what happened to her after she was forced to leave, and I used to make up all these stories in my head of what happened to her. Sometimes my thoughts would go to a much darker, twisted side, and I’d picture her lying in some rundown building, dead. But sometimes I’d wonder if she had, like, this really awesome life where she could be this carefree person.”
“Is there any way you could find out?” Grey asks as we stop in front of the door.
“I used to think there wasn’t. I mean, every time I ask my mom if she’d heard from her, she got really upset and said she hasn’t spoken to Ashlynn since she left.” I splay my hand against the door to push it open, but then draw back when I spot my grandma’s car parked out front. I’m not ready to go out just yet. I need just a few more moments to talk with Grey, a few more moments of peace. “I got an email today from someone claiming to be her.”
“Really?” His eyes pop wide. “How long has it been since you’ve seen or heard from her?”
“I was four when she got kicked out, so about fourteen years.”
“What did she say in the email?”
“That she wanted to meet up with me to see how I was doing. She didn’t say how she got my email or anything . . . I’m not even sure why she’d try to contact me instead of someone else in the family.”
“Maybe she knows that you’re a more understanding person than your family,” he says. “Maybe she’s reaching out to you because she knows you might reply to her.”
“But how could she possibly know that?” That’s what doesn’t make sense. The last time I saw my aunt Ashlynn, I was four. How could she possibly know what kind of person I was going to grow up to be? Was it evident back then that I was going to turn into an utter disappointment for my parents? “And how did she even get my email?”
Grey suddenly grows uneasy. “Are you sure it’s her? Maybe someone found out about her and is pretending to be her.”
My brows draw together. “Why would anyone do that?”
He scuffs the tip of his sneaker against the carpet. “To hurt you.” He sighs heavily. “Luna, I need to tell you something, and I’m not sure how you’re going to react.”
I move away from the door as someone walks by us. “Okay . . . ? You’re making me a little worried.”
“I don’t want you to worry, but I feel like you need to know.” He takes a deep breath. “Piper might try to come after you.”
“What?” That is so not what I was expecting him to say.
“I promise I won’t let anything happen,” he adds in panic. “I just want to make sure that you’re careful when you’re around her.”
“But I didn’t even do anything to her. I barely even know her,” I say in a high-pitched voice.
“You might not have purposefully done something to her, but she mentioned you when I was breaking up with her, and it made me nervous.” He blows out a deafening breath. “I know how she is when she gets pissed off at someone . . . like with me and that stupid rumor she’s been spreading.”
I smash my lips together as anger simmers under my skin. How can she be so hurtful to someone?
“I don’t get why she brought me up when you broke up with her. I mean, why bring up some random girl you talk to sometimes?”
“You think you’re a random girl I just talk to sometimes?” He searches my eyes for something. Then, looking unsure of himself, he reaches forward and laces his fingers through mine. “Luna, you’re probably the first girl—no, the first person other than my dad that I’ve ever really talked to.”
I stare down our intertwined fingers. “And you think that’s enough of a reason for Piper to target me?”
“I’ve seen her try to ruin people over less.” He squeezes my hand, drawing my attention up to him. “But that’s not going to happen. I won’t let her do anything to you. She can come after me—I’m okay with dealing with her drama and shit—but she better not even so much as spread a rumor about you.”
Something occurs to me then. “Wait? You don’t think she’s the one who emailed me, do you? Because there’s no way Piper could know about my aunt Ashlynn. Not even all my friends know about her.”
“I doubt it’s her, but you never know.” He yanks his fingers through his hair with his free hand, tugging roughly at the roots. “If she overheard you talking about her even one time—if anyone did—then I wouldn’t put it past her to look into it and do something messed up like email you and pretend to be your aunt. It is kind of weird that your aunt suddenly contacted you after fourteen years at the same time all this shit is going down with Piper.”
“I don’t talk to many people about it, though, so I still don’t think it could be her.” Or maybe that’s just false hope.
“But you talk to me about it?” He holds my gaze, and I don’t look away, even when my skin warms.
“I know.” My uneven tone makes my face flush hotter.
“Just be careful with this, okay?” He lightly grazes his finger along the inside of my wrist. “Until I find a way to get Piper to chill the fuck out.”
“How are you going to do that?” I question. “She doesn’t seem like the kind of person who just chills out over anything.”
“There are ways to break her down. She may pretend to be perfect, but I know she’s not.” His jaw sets tightly as his eyes drift to our linked hands. “If you want to walk away from this, though, I get it.”