She’s never been without money.
But he was more certain than ever of his decision not to tell her about his father losing his job. If Rhea made some comment about his having not worked hard enough, he didn’t think he would be able to take it.
She wouldn’t say that.
But what if she did?
She was looking around at his suitcases, at the stripped mattress and the bare walls. “I can’t believe you’re not going to be living here when I come back from winter break,” she said quietly. “This place isn’t going to be the same without you.”
He sighed. Just like that, with only a few words, she had reminded him how much he had always cared for her.
“I’ll call you on my first day in Philly,” he said. “I’ll give you a virtual tour of my new room.”
“Maybe we can see each other over break,” she said. “We could meet up and exchange Christmas presents or something.”
He nodded. “I’d like that,” he said. “If you don’t think it would be too hard to travel from Baltimore.”
“No, it’s only a short trip,” she said. “And I’ll probably want to get away from my family for a while. Honestly, you’ll be doing me a favor.”
He nodded. “I’ll look forward to that, then.”
Rhea hesitated. “Zach… don’t you think there must be something we can do about this? I know you don’t like to think about it. But I hate to give up. Maybe… maybe if we talk to my father…”
Zach felt as if his blood was turning to ice. “What?”
“He’s sponsored scholarships before,” Rhea said quickly. “And honestly, the money would be a drop in the bucket to him, especially since you only have three semesters left to finish. Maybe if we told him what’s going on, he would be willing to help out. It’s worth asking, right?”
Zach hoped to God that he had misunderstood what she was saying. Would she really try to offer him her father’s money? Could she actually believe for a moment that he would accept something like that?
“I don’t want your money,” he said, surprised by the chill in his own voice. “I don’t want anything from your father.”
Rhea stared at him. “Excuse me? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“What do you think?” he asked. “Do you think I’m some kind of charity case? A project for the Wilson family to take on so you can all feel better about yourselves?”
“I feel perfectly fine about myself, thanks,” Rhea said icily. “I’m trying to help you because I care about you, Zach.”
“And you think that’s the way to do it.”
“Well, what the hell do you want me to do?”
“I want you to accept that I have to go,” he said. “I want you to be a friend. Support me. Stop trying to make me fit into your life, and try to fit into mine instead. I’m not a person who can afford to go to school wherever he wants, and if you really do want this friendship to survive, you’re going to have to accept that.”
“Do you think I have some kind of issue with how much money you have?” Rhea demanded.
“It’s obvious that you do,” Zach said. “You keep trying to fix me.”
“I am not trying to fix you! I’m trying to help you, Zach! Why can’t you see that?”
“Because I didn’t ask you for your help!” Zach said. “I’m not looking for you to save me here. Believe it or not, the solution me and my dad came up with is just fine with us. We’re moving to Philadelphia—”
“Wait, you’re both moving to Philadelphia?” she asked. “Your dad too? Why?”
“Did you think he was going stick around here and clean up your dad’s distillery for the rest of his life?” Zach snapped.
“So your dad doesn’t work for my dad anymore?”
She looked as if something was falling into place in her head, and suddenly it occurred to Zach that Rhea’s family might have made some kind of comment to her about his father. She clearly didn’t know that he had been fired, but what if her father had told her something his father had done wrong?
What if that’s why she’s so determined to fix me now? What if she can only see me as a flawed person?
He turned away from her and pressed his hands to his cheeks, breathing deeply and doing his best to calm himself down.
This is Rhea, he reminded himself. She’s your best friend. She means what she’s saying. She wants to help you.
But he had