Chapter 32

Now

“You’ll call me if anything goes wrong, right?”

“Yes, Dad,” I tell him for the millionth time.

“If you don’t want to go, you can change your mind. ”

“I know. ” How do I tell him I’m tired of changing my mind? That I need to find a way to do this. It’s just Steve. It’s just a coffeehouse. It’s not a big deal.

“Brenda said… Is that the first dream about Jason that you’ve had, Emily?” His voice is low.

I think about lying. Almost do, but stop myself. “No. But they’ve been less lately. ” Even though it’s the truth, a bit of guilt still weighs me down, since it’s not the whole truth. Dad’s being cool. He’s letting me go out with Steve. I don’t want to jeopardize the progress we made by telling him about talking to Jason. I don’t even want to think about how he would react.

He closes his eyes and I know it’s because he’s hurting. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Because I can’t. Because you don’t believe me. You’ve never said you believe me. “It’s…hard. ”

Tell me I can. Tell me you want me to.