I didn't think about what would probably happen if I got home and my father was there, waiting up for me. He wouldn't be expecting my eyes to be red, or for a defeated-looking Jordan to be there either. His car was in its rightful place, so I prepared for the onslaught of questions awaiting me. To my surprise, Darcy had gone to bed; he wasn't waiting by the door barking at me. He didn't like to be awake alone, which I hoped meant that my father was asleep too. Jordan and I crept to the back of the apartment where my room was and were my father was sleeping, undisturbed.

"You can take a shower if you want. I'll get you towels and something to sleep in."

"That sounds great right now," she said quietly.

She never moved past the entrance of my room. I handed her the towels and clothes and she tiptoed across the hall. I gathered things for my own shower as she took hers. My lamp was on, instead of the ones on the wall, so it was a shock to see my dad in the frame of the door.

"You're home," he commented.

"Yeah. Didn't expect the drive back to take so long. I hope it's okay if Jordan stays over."

"Not a problem at all," he said.

I waited for him to say goodnight and go to bed but he stopped for too long, looking at me. I was hoping it was dark enough to not see my eyes. The shower shut off, which took his eyes away from mine. I shifted, picking up the clothes from my bed.

"Goodnight Parker," he said.

"Goodnight," I got out before he closed his door.

The bathroom door opened a few minutes later, and Jordan soon appeared. Her hair was being dried with the towel. It distracted me from being able to really look at her face and tell if she was okay. Whether she was or not, she wouldn't want to talk about it. I gave her a kiss on the cheek as I passed. Hopefully that pushed a smile onto her face. I had no clue how long I was in the shower. Every time I thought about what Rebecca did it added about five minutes to the length of my shower. I finally shook it off and turned off the water.

I looked at myself in the mirror after I was done changing. The steam was mostly gone but tear shaped droplets remained. My eyes weren't as red as I was expecting, so it's possible he hadn't seen anything at all. Jordan was still awake but laying in my bed. Her hair was mostly dry. I still couldn't see her eyes, but I was sure she wasn't high either. I just wanted to see how upset she was. She heard my footsteps and peeked up at me.

"Hey," I said.

"Hey. Good shower?"

"Yeah, yours?" I asked as I crossed the room and sat in my bed as well.

She shrugged, which didn't change the vibe in the room. I sat down next to her and neither of us spoke, nor were looks exchanged. Twitter held most of her attention for the better part of the 20 minutes. I found my own social amusement, unsure of what to do.

"I think we should talk," she said.

She finally locked her phone and turned to face me.

"Okay," I said, turning to face her also.

"So this is the first time I've told anyone this stuff out loud, other than my... psychiatrist."

I had no response to that, so I waited until she said more. I wasn't here to judge her, only to listen. I could see that it was going to be hard for her to tell me what she'd gone through. It was hard enough for me to even want to talk about Amanda. She didn't speak again for a few minutes.

"Is it bad that I want to smoke again before I tell you?" she asked.

"No. I'm okay with that if you want to," I said,

She stood up and began putting her jacket on, and waited for me to do the same. I'd never snuck out before, with the exception of the one time Jordan called me to come outside to go to the park; the first night we kissed. I went out first, checking if my father's door was still closed. It was. She followed me down the stairs and outside. She didn't waste any time, and lit the joint as soon as we were off the front steps. I had no idea what time it was but it didn't really matter. No one else was out on the street. She didn't tell me anything while we were outside. Smoking in silence was weird. Well, there was the sound of me coughing occasionally.

We snuck back in unnoticed, but no doubt smelling. I lightly spritzed perfume through the hall as soon as I changed out of my clothes. I sat down on the bed across from Jordan when I was done. She looked down as she began the story, as if ashamed.

"I'm a foster kid, Parker, but I wasn't always one. My whole life, I knew that my family was a dysfunctional one, and I always wished I was the only kid so Arielle wouldn't have had to deal with this. She's the only innocent one in this situation – none of this was her fault."

She paused and I watched a tear roll down her cheek. She wiped it away, and cleared her throat before speaking again.

"I'm a bad person Parker, as great as I seem to you. I stabbed... I stabbed my father, and my mother watched me do it. We... were doing things I didn't want to be doing at all and we were in the kitchen. I was screaming for my mother, who must've been telling Arielle not to come downstairs. And when she came, well, she stood in the corner, watching me struggle. He was too focused on my body to realize I was reaching for a knife. I didn't aim, I just stuck it wherever I could. Then blood... it was everywhere and I couldn't move. I watched him gasping for air, begging for help he didn't deserve. She called 911 and I was arrested immediately. My little sister was watching from the window upstairs. She didn't know what happened, she was too young. Only that I was probably going to jail and daddy needed major surgery if he wanted to survive."

During the rest of the story, Jordan had to stop a few times to cry, heavily. The first time she stopped after telling me that at first, they didn't believe that he'd hurt her, and refused a kit for three days while she sat in a cell with criminals. She was only 14. I moved next to her as she bawled and put my arms around her. She cried a little harder and tightened her grip slightly. I let her cry as long as she need. She moved on in the story as the tears faded away. She hadn't killed him and the attorney given to her said it was good that her mother was a witness. In order to get Jordan a lesser sentence for the assault, her father would have to admit that he raped her, something he was not likely to do. That meant it was up to her mother then. To say to a jury what she saw that night in the kitchen, spousal privilege damned.

Her parents had something else in mind. They wouldn't press charges. The plan was to sign away their rights instead, and give up Jordan and Arielle too, to avoid an investigation by CPS that was sure to come. 'The girls will be better off,' her mom had said.

"So, they gave us up, just like that. Like they weren't my parents, like they hadn't raised us at all. They were completely detached. We were put into a temporary home together, with a lady who was okay. She was mad that Arielle cried all the time but I couldn't get Arielle to understand why our parents abandoned us. After almost six months, Kennedy met us, and wanted to adopt us. The case worker said to take it. It was rare that someone wanted to adopt a teen, and their sibling. I just wanted to be with Arielle, I didn't want her to feel alone, like I left her too."

As Jordan described her, Kennedy was Heaven sent, a saint, an angel in all aspects of the word. They'd gotten lucky. Two years ago, Kennedy got married to a man that she was sure Jordan trusted. Jordan's gut feeling rang true, Danny was a wonderful guy, a great father. They adopted another girl, Emma-Lee. She was twelve when they brought her. She was more troubled than Jordan, although no one ever divulged what happened to the girl. Her behavior was hardly ever excused though, and she was always in trouble with Kennedy and Danny. However, they never threatened to send her back. They got along just fine, but to Jordan, Emma-Lee never felt like a sister.

A year ago, Kennedy and Danny had a child of their own. They'd been unsure if they even could conceive before Kennedy was deemed pregnant. It was a boy, who they named Timothy.

She ended he story by telling me what happened with her case. The district attorney wouldn't let the charges be completely dropped so Jordan would be on probation until she turned 18. One slip up, and she would go to jail.

"That-that's what Rebecca wanted you to tell me?" I asked. She nodded. "How did she know?"

"What?"

"How did she know what happened to you?"

"That's the thing, I don't know. She never told me. I wanted to pretend that it never happened, like she was just bluffing to get me away from you. She said it was on record somewhere, and she could get proof."

"She's seriously psycho. Why didn't you tell me before she kissed me?"

"I-I don't know. If I told you, you'd be mad about the bet for sure, and I didn't want to lose you, nor was I ready back then to tell you about my past. Then she kissed you, and you chose her over me. I was pissed, but again, the story was stopping me from telling you. I figured it wouldn't be long before Rebecca showed her true self, and you two would break up," she paused finally looking up and into my eyes. "I hope you know, even though I was mad, I was waiting for you, Parker. I was always planning on taking you back. I love you."

The buzz I was still feeling gave me a small boost of confidence needed to bring her in closer, and kiss her.