looked at me with huge eyes.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” Ishmael muttered behind me.
I spun toward Oswald. “What did you do to her?”
Oswald took a step back and held his hands up. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, Arden was on her feet, wrapping her hand around my elbow.
“Stop, Gideon. He didn’t do anything.”
“This can’t be happening,” Ishmael lamented, rubbing his eyes like he could erase the scene in front of him.
“Arden, we need to go.”
“No.”
“The whole town is looking for you. People think you’ve been murdered!”
“I’m staying here,” she said stubbornly.
“The police are involved. This is a big deal. This is a crime.”
Doubt flickered across her face.
“Do you really want Chief Kaufman to find you here with him?” I pressed. “How do you think she’d react?”
Arden’s gaze went to Oswald who, for the first time, didn’t seem slick. The color had drained from face and his skin looked like wax.
“You should go with your friends,” he told her weakly.
“I want to stay with you.”
“Arden, sweetheart, you really need to go.”
“Don’t you call her that.” I seethed. “Don’t you call her anything, ever again.”
His words had done their job, though. Arden went back into the bedroom and gathered her things—her purse, and the dress she wore to the dance.
“Do you want to put shoes on?” Ishmael asked hesitantly.
“No.”
I quickly ushered Arden to the Jeep and got into the back seat with her, shoving aside piles of junk Ishmael had amassed there.
“Are you okay?” I asked, as we pulled onto the road.
“I’m fine.”
“Did he…”
“He didn’t do anything that I didn’t want him to do.”
From the front seat, Ishmael groaned. “This is so screwed up.”
“Arden,” I said. “We need to go to the police station.”
Her expression turned panicked. “What? No.”
“Your mom is terrified. People think you could be dead. You don’t understand what a big deal this is.”
“Who would care if I was dead?”
“I would.”
Arden’s eyes filled with tears. “You didn’t even trust me enough to tell me about Owen. And now I’m supposed to believe you’re my friend?”
“I’m sorry, Arden.” I took her hand. “I’m a jerk.”
She sniffled.
“But it’s not you, it’s—”
“Cliché, dude,” Ishmael interrupted.
“It is me, though,” I said. “I should’ve told you the truth, and I can’t even explain why I didn’t. It just seems impossible to talk about my feelings and make myself vulnerable. Maybe I’m not even really honest with myself.”
Tears snaked down Arden’s face. “I just wanted to be included. I wanted you to like me.”
“I only like about five percent of humanity. But one of the few people I like is you.”
Her tears didn’t stop, but a faint smile appeared on her face.
“I’m so sorry for what I said at the dance. I was angry and took it out on you. I hope you can forgive me.”
“It’s not just you, you know. It’s everyone and everything. Sometimes I don’t think I’ll ever belong anywhere.”
“Me too, Arden. Me too.”
After a pause, Arden took a deep breath and said, “I don’t regret what happened with Oz.”
“But—”
She held up a hand to stop me. “I know it doesn’t make sense to you. But he makes me feel good about myself.”
“That’s part of his act.”
“I don’t care.”
“You know you can’t see him again, though,” I said. “You know this was wrong. He’s an adult. He used you.”
Arden ducked her head. “Maybe. But I won’t turn him in.”
“You have to.”
“I’m gonna have to agree with Gideon,” Ishmael said from the front of the Jeep.
“He was there for me when no one else was. Maybe he was using me. But what I did was my choice, and I’m not getting him in trouble for it.”
The Jeep was silent for a long time. Eventually, Ishmael said, “Uh…I kind of need to know where to drive.”
I looked at Arden. “We need to go to the police station.”
“I said—”
“Don’t mention Oswald if you don’t want to. But people are looking for you. You need to tell the cops something. Say you ran away and…I don’t know. Stayed at a motel.”
Arden thought about it. Finally, she nodded. “Okay, fine.”
It wasn’t fine, though. Arden thought she went with Oswald willingly, but I knew how he manipulated people. He was an adult who took advantage of a mixed-up teenager, and there was nothing fine about that. I hoped Arden would eventually see that for herself.
“Gideon?” Arden said softly. I turned to her. “Thank you for apologizing.”
“I meant it,” I replied. “I promise.”
She sniffled and rubbed her nose.
“There’s a box of tissues back there