a Cha

fifteen, awkward and overwhelmed, a middle-class girl thrust into

hen, at seventeen, a towering presence. He carried himself with a quiet authority.

e would offer a curt nod, a brief smile. I watched him from a

ould drench my dress, Elliott was there. He stepped in front of me, shielding me. His expensive suit bore the brunt of th

of girls cornered me in the hallway. Elliott appeared, his presence immediately silencing them. He walked

nto an aching love. I wrote it all down, a long, heartfelt dr

phone. His call was immediate, his voice a furious roar. "What is this, Alexia

ott's hand. "She's been after me all along!" Elliott read the message, his expression shifting from confusion

ut my words were swallowed by their fury. Jarrod crumpled my printed confe

our mother taught you? To chase after money?" His words

ection, the gentle guidance-they were not born of affection. They

pt to explain was met with icy indiff

re being too harsh on her," Jarrod said, his voice strained. Elliott's reply was cold: "She made her choice, Jarrod. L

I stepped out, I turned to Elliott. "I am l

o relief, no soften

hen drove off. The sense o

te everything, I still loved him. The feel

wounded to acknowledge, I knew I was lying. The meter had driven me away, but it had also tied me to him in