that I stay away from—”
James’s jaw tightens, but then he shakes his head. “I don’t care what they think. I don’t care what anyone thinks.”
“They can send you away again.”
“I’m not scared.”
Worry pulses though me, and I lean over, putting my chin on his shoulder. “What if I’m scared for you?”
James looks sideways at me. “Aw . . . look at you being all sweet. Told you you’d be impressed.” He kisses me quickly and then goes back to the road, as if that’s the end of the conversation.
“James,” I say, feeling tension starting to settle in my shoulders. We’ve been gone most of the day. It was reckless. I’d pushed the idea away until now, enjoying the freedom of being with James instead. But now I know how stupid it was.
I check my phone and see that I’ve missed four calls from my house and one from a private number. “My parents have been looking for me,” I say.
Something in the tone of my voice makes him turn. I watch as his sun-kissed skin pales, his fingers tightening on the steering wheel. “What do you think they’ll do?” he asks.
And then I know it, feel it inside. “James,” I say, choking up as the realization slides over me. “My parents are the ones who sent me to The Program in the first place. I think . . .” And the idea is horrible. The fact that they betrayed me like that. “I think my mother is the one who did this to me.”
I can still see her face when I’d told her off the morning Kevin was waiting at the front door. And I know I’ve seen it before, that look of stubborn love that makes her think she’s doing the right thing. Kevin took me to The Program from my own house, which means my parents had to be in on it.
James’s expression is pained and he chews on his lip. “Call home,” he says. “Call home and put it on speaker.”
“What? Why?”
“So I can listen.”
I’m terrified of what will happen. I check the clock and see that it’s nearly six. My fingers shake as I dial. James glides the car into the empty lot of an abandoned farm, and parks.
I blow out an unsteady breath, clicking on the speaker just as it starts to ring. My mother answers immediately, and I almost hang up.
“Hi,” I say.
“Sloane! Where are you? We’ve been so worried.” In the background there is a rustling, making me think she’s covering up the receiver. I swallow hard.
“I’m okay,” I tell my mother. “It was such a beautiful day; I thought I’d go swimming.”
“I need you to come home, honey,” my mother says calmly. She doesn’t acknowledge the fact that I can’t swim. My breath is caught in my throat.
“Hang up,” James says then. “Hang up the phone.”
“Who is that?” my mother shouts quickly. “Sloane, who are you with?”
I click END, and then lower the phone to my lap. “She wasn’t alone, was she?” I ask, too devastated to look up.
“No. I don’t think so.”
I let the realization hit me. I know my mother loves me; I’m sure I’ve always know that. And in her heart, she believes in The Program. And because of that . . . I can never trust her again.
“Sloane,” James says. “It’s going to be okay. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
I meet his eyes. “Promise.”
“Yes.”
“Do you think you promised that before?” I want to tell him then, tell him about us. But he seems hurt that I asked him about before, like I’ve accused him of something.
“If I’d promised you, Sloane, then they wouldn’t have taken you to The Program. I would have died trying to protect you. I wouldn’t have let you down. I’d hate myself if I did.” He shakes his head as if he can get rid of the thought. “No, I’m promising it now—even if it means running away. Hiding out for the rest of our lives. I promise I won’t let anything happen to you. Can you trust that?” James’s face is scared.
And I don’t know what happened to land us in The Program, but the truth is, we did let each other down one way or another. We didn’t make it. But I have James back, here and now, as mine.
I grab him by the collar of his shirt, letting the phone fall to the floor. I pull James to me, kissing him hard. His hand is in my hair as