High schooler, Helena Gallagher is still recovering from life's latest tragedy when chaos occurs.
Another murder.
Only this one is much closer to home. And when fingers start pointing towards her boyfriend-Elliot-she has no choice but to intervene...
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Elliot and I enter the house through the front door and are immediately ushered into the car by Mom and Celia.
"Where are we going?" I ask.
"Your dad's. He's cooking a family dinner."
Elliot interrupts, stumbling over his words. "Cee and I can hang back if you guys are having family night?"
Mom twists in her seat, avoiding hitting the curb by a mere fraction. "Helena—hit your boyfriend for me."
I gently tap him on the arm.
"When are you going to accept that you are our family, Elliot Evans?"
Celia laughs from the front seat, amused at her brother being told off by Mom.
"Are you sure you want us?" he jokes. "We're pretty messed up. And Celia talks in her sleep."
"I'm sure," she insists. "I love you kids."
Celia suddenly stops laughing, focusing her attention on Mom. "Do you?"
Her insecurity breaks my heart.
"Yeah, baby. Of course I do."
Mom flicks her on the thigh and blows her a kiss, lighting the mood. It's nice to see them interact like this and I can tell Elliot is thinking the same, judging by the huge smile on his face.
"We love you too, Perrie," he offers.
"Yeah, ya better," she replies, eyeing him through the rearview mirror and winking.
God—when did Mom get so happy?
"Oh—we have something for you," I inform, grabbing my backpack from the middle seat.
She pulls up beside Dad's car in the drive and kills the engine.
"What is it?"
I show her Sarah's roller skates, now clean after giving them a quick wipe down using baby wipes.
"Are those—"
"Sarah's skates," I inform.
Her eyes immediately gloss over. "I haven's seen these in years."
"Elliot and I were at the house packing a bag when we found them. We both thought you might like to keep them."
She takes them from me, resting them on her lap. "Wow."
We sit in silence for a while, allowing Mom the space she needs to process everything.
"I love them. Thank you."
Dad comes sauntering over with a tea towel slung over his shoulder, no doubt wondering what's taking us so long.
