Avery Turner, a perfectionist with a double life, and Kyran Drake, a charismatic boy with secrets, find their fates intertwined when their secrets threaten to unravel their dreams-will they overcome their differences to protect their futures, or wil...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"She looks happier," Max says from beside me. The sound of the aluminum foil tears through my ears as I watch Avery talk to her math teacher about something. She's definitely doing better. As good as someone in her situation could be, I guess.
"Yeah, my parents offered to help," I say, taking a bite out of my sandwich.
"Did you tell her about her Dad and the shit you found?" He glances at me, and from the look on my face, I've already betrayed the truth.
"Kyran, you need to tell her!"
I run a hand through my hair, frustration taking over. "I know, Max. But it's complicated." I glance over at her, still talking about something while that math teacher, I forgot his name, scribbles a complicated looking integral on the board. Trust me, I'm neat with math most of the time. Of course, I had to learn it to do coding. But, calculus makes me want to take a skewer and poke my eyeballs out. I don't know how she does it.
"But she needs to know, man. It's her life, her dad, her shit, her choices. If you keep hiding this from her, it's not okay." Max is worried about me, as he should be, but he doesn't realize the extent to which this could break Avery.
I turn away from her, biting my lip. I don't know how much clearer I can be with Max about this. "I don't want to hurt her. She's been through enough, Max. The last thing I want is to be the one to break her."
Max shakes his head, a sharp exhale escaping his lips. "Kyran, you're already keeping things from her. This isn't about protecting her anymore. It's about letting her make her own choices. If you really care about her, you'll give her the chance to decide what to do with the truth."
I lean back in my chair. I know I shouldn't spend all my time worrying about Avery that I forget myself. She doesn't deserve to be buried under the weight of her parents' stupidity. But if I don't tell her... if I don't give her a chance to see what's really going on, am I just as guilty as him?
Max gets up, grabbing his foil piece with him. "Oh, and a word of advice. Stop staring at her like you're hungry."
I laugh dryly, running a hand over my face, but the smile doesn't reach my heart.
"Are you going to confess your undying love for her?" Max says, glancing between me and Avery.
"Maybe I am." The words slip out before I can stop them, and instantly, I feel like an idiot.
Max pauses, his back still turned, then slowly faces me again. "You're not fooling anyone, Kyran." He hold my gaze. "If you care about her, stop acting like keeping secrets is the answer. You're doing this weird dance around her, and she deserves more than that. She deserves you—the real you, not this version who's too scared to tell her what's really going on."
"It's really not that," I explain, trying my best to sound convincing. "I just don't want to overburden her, that's all."
Max spares a glance of disbelief. "Overburden her? Kyran, she's already dealing with more than what most people her age ever should. Hiding things from her doesn't protect her—it just feels like a betrayal to her if she ever got to know this."
