Hannah enjoyed the twisted teen film more than she’d expected. It was better than Pretty Woman at least. But Cody was notably agitated. Perhaps watching the love interest get killed by a car hit too close to home. Hannah felt bad, but then she reminded herself to keep her feelings out of it.

“So do girls really do that?” she asked when it was over. “Practice kissing and sex with each other?”

“I don’t know, Hannah. You’re the girl.”

“Yes, I am a girl. But I’m normal. I need you to tell me what’s normal for the Goldens.”

“They do a lot of fucked up things. This movie is basically their anthem, and I don’t mean the ending where they all wake up and feel bad for the shit they’ve done. They’re conniving assholes who get off on power and manipulation. You should fit right in,” he muttered gathering his things.

“That’s uncalled for, Cody. We have a deal.”

“Yes, I know. You won’t let me forget it.”

“Well where are you going? I thought we were going to watch Mean Girls and Can’t Hardly Wait?”

“I’m done for today. We can pick it up tomorrow.”

“I have my tennis match tomorrow,” Hannah called after him.

Cody was already out the front door when Hannah caught up to him. “Wait, I have to drive you.”

“It’s a mile, Hannah. I think I can handle it.”

“But my car’s at your house.”

He was already in the driver’s seat. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow.”

“Oh so you’re taking me to my tennis match at the crack of dawn?” she taunted.

Cody sighed and slumped his head against the steering wheel before finally unbuckling his seatbelt. He slid out and walked around to the passenger seat, grumbling the whole way.

“Can you give me a minute to change?” Hannah begged. “I’m sort of in my pajamas.”

Cody flicked his wrist dismissively without looking at her and Hannah retreated to switch her plaid pajama bottoms for yoga pants. She swooped her hair up in a messy bun and stuffed her feet into her favorite converse before jogging out to the Range Rover.

Cody’s head was in his hands when she approached. Hannah picked up her pace worried he was having another panic attack.

“You okay?” she asked when she got in.

“Fine,” Cody grumbled rubbing his temples.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m not that fragile, Hannah,” Cody barked. “Can you just drive me home and retrieve your car?”

Hannah almost made it the short drive to Cody’s without caving in, but the flashbacks of her mother’s depression and panic attacks pulled at her heartstrings. She knew Cody wasn’t fine. Hannah was sensitive to the signs. Agitation, mood swings, deep breathing, shaking, headaches . . . He’d displayed them all on the drive. She refused to do nothing and let this sickness steal someone else.

“Cody, I know the movie upset you. We can talk about it if it’ll help.”

“It won’t.”

Good, he admitted he was upset at least. “I bet I’m cheaper than your therapist,” she grinned trying to lighten the mood.

“Let it go, Hannah.”

“No, Cody. You can’t keep things bottled up. That’s what my mom did and—”

“I’m not your mother!” he yelled.

“I know that. And I’m trying to make sure you don’t become her.”

Cody stared at her with anger and confusion as Hannah pulled into his driveway and parked.

“I lied okay. My mom didn’t just leave. She killed herself! She took a bath with a bottle of pills and left us a sweet little note that said she needed to leave.”

Cody’s eyes were wide and full of pain. “I’m sorry,” he said softly.

“Don’t be sorry. Be better than she was. You can’t leave your problems behind. You need to deal with them or they’ll drown you.”

Cody shook his head and Hannah could see his self-loathing.

She put her hands on his cheeks and gripped his face hard making him look at her. “Cody, you’re not a lost cause.”

His face was so close to hers she could feel his breath. When Hannah looked at him she saw the boy he kept hidden. The one who still possessed goodness. He leaned his forehead against hers and for a moment they both held their breath, shouldering each other’s pain.

When Cody opened his eyes, they were dark. He caught a tear from Hannah’s cheek. “Some people aren’t worth saving,” he whispered slipping from her grasp and exiting the car.

He was up the stone steps, disappearing into the house before she even turned the car off. Hannah swiped the tears from her face, angry that thoughts of her mother still held such power over her.

Cody was wrong. He was worth saving. But what could she do? He wasn’t hers to save. Hannah trudged to her car and drove home in echoing silence, with only her melancholy thoughts to keep her company.