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 That is for you to decide, Finn said simply.
He finished up our lesson after that, saying I needed to rest up for
tomorrow. The day had exhausted me, and I was eager to curl up in my
blankets and sleep until Sunday, straight through the ball and all the angst that
accompanied it. Sleep didn t come easy, though. I found myself tossing and
turning, thinking about the way it felt dancing with Finn and his hand resting
warmly on my stomach. But I would always end up thinking of Matt and
Maggie, and how much I still missed them.
I woke up startling early that morning. Actually, I d been waking up all
night long, and at six, I finally just gave into it. I got up with the intention of
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sneaking downstairs to grab a bite to eat, but when I hit the top of the stairs,
Rhys came barreling up them to meet me, chomping on a bagel.
 Hey, what are you doing up? Rhys grinned, swallowing down his
bite.
 Couldn t sleep, I shrugged.  You?
 Same. I have to get up for school soon anyway. He pushed his sandy
hair out of his eyes and leaned back against the stair railing.  Are you worrying
about this Saturday?
 Kind of, I admitted.
 It is pretty intense, Rhys said, his eyes wide. I nodded
noncommittally.  Is something else bothering you? You look pretty& upset, I
guess.
 No. I shook my head and sighed, then sat down on the top step. I
didn t feel much standing anymore, and to be honest, I wanted to cry.  I was
just thinking about my brother.
 Your brother? Something flashed across Rhys s face, and slowly, he
sat down next to me. He seemed almost breathless, and at first I didn t
understand, then it dawned on me.
I thought about how weird this must be for Rhys. His whole life he had
known that this wasn t his real family, and it wasn t even the same as being
adopted. It wasn t like his family had given him up. He had been stolen, and not
by a family that had wanted him. They had just wanted me to have his life.
 Yeah. I mean& your brother actually, I corrected myself, and that felt
painful saying it. Matt would always be my brother, no matter what our genetics
claimed.
 What s his name? Rhys asked quietly.
 Matt. He s pretty much the nicest guy in the whole world, I said with
tears burning my eyes.
 Matt? Rhys repeated, in an awed tone.
 Yeah, I nodded.  He s the bravest guy ever. He would do anything to
protect the people he cares about, and he s completely selfless. He always puts
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everybody first. And he s really, really strong. He s&  I swallowed and decided
that I couldn t talk about him anymore. I shook my head and looked away.
 What about my mom and dad? Rhys pressed, and I didn t know how
to answer that.
 Dad died when I was five, I said carefully.  Mom took it pretty hard,
and um& she s been in the hospital ever since. For psychiatric problems. Matt
and my dad s sister, Maggie, they raised me.
 Oh. His face contorted with concern, and I suddenly hated Mom
even more. I knew that she had done everything because she loved him, but this
is what I was left with telling him. And she d never be able to have a life with
him because she d always be locked up. All she had done was hurt him and me
and Matt and everyone.
 I m sorry. I placed my hand gently on his, to comfort him.  It s hard
to explain how I know it, but your mom really loved you. She really wanted you.
And I think she always hated me because she knew I wasn t you.
 Really? There was something hopeful and sad in his eyes when he
looked at me.
 Yeah. It kind of sucked for me, actually, I smiled wanly at him, and
he laughed.
 Sorry about that, Rhys smiled back at me.  I guess I m too hard to
forget.
 Yeah, I guess you are, I agreed. Rhys moved his hand so it was
actually holding mine, and even though his mood seemed to brighten, I didn t
take it from him.
 So what about this Maggie? What s she like? Rhys asked.
 She s pretty cool. A little overly attentive sometimes, but cool, I said.
 She s incredibly loving and patient, and she put up with a lot of crap from me.
They both did, really. I thought about how strange this all was, that they
weren t my family anymore.  This s so weird. They re your brother and your
aunt.
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  No, I understand. They re your family, too, Rhys insisted.  They
loved you and raised you. That s what family is, right? That was the exact thing
I had needed someone to say to me for so long, and I squeezed his hand [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]