Chapter 21

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Seth puts his hand on my shoulder. "That's why we're here, remember?"

If that were me, and I was tortured for accidentally coming here; if I had been away from my parents for who-knows-how-long, what would I be thinking? What's going through Cody's mind right now?

"It's not fair, Seth. It's not fair." I say.

"I know it's not. But we're gonna change all that."

"But now we have to wait...wait for me."

"Chloe, it's not your fault." He makes me look at him. "Don't blame yourself for this happening. It just happened to be you instead of Rick or me."

"I know, but--"

"But nothing. It's not your fault. Don't blame yourself." Seth says.

"Thanks." I say.

"That's what friends are for, right?"

I nod. "Right."

"I wish I knew how long we've been gone from home. I hope nobody's worrying about us..."

"Time never passes the same. We've probably been gone a few hours."

"I know that."

"I know that you know that. I'm just sayin'."

"Oh well. My parents don't care..."

"How could you say that? Your parents would freak!"

He sighs and shakes his head. "You don't know them like I do. They're my parents after all."

"If anyone's parents wouldn't care, it would be mine. They're always away. They almost never say goodbye."

"That doesn't mean they don't care."

Oh, is he on their side now? I frown. "Then what does it mean, Mr. Know It All?"

He rolls his eyes. "I don't know..."

"Exactly! Your parents are home every night! I just get notes or texts, if they even bother. I could stay with you for a month and they wouldn't care!"

I pause to take a breath. "My parents don't care about me!"

He stares at me in utter disbelief.

"And I don't care about them either! So it's a win-win." I say angrily.

"No it's not. You want them to talk to you--to show that they care about you."

"I didn't know you were a psychologist...I don't need your 'prognosis' ok? They don't care about me, I don't care about them."

"You know that's not true."

"You don't know me that well."

"Ok, fine. What I do know is that I care about you."

I don't say anything.

He gets right in my face. "Sometimes parents do things for our own good, but we don't realize it. They wouldn't do what they do if they didn't love you."

I stare at him. "How do you know this?"

"It's something my sister told me. Why else would they work so much if they didn't wanna provide for you?"

"Because they're workaholics and they want to be at the top of their company, perhaps?"

Seth shakes his head. "You don't understand."

"No, I don't."

"You're gonna have to trust me on this one."

"It's not that I don't trust you, it's just that I can't believe you."

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