For over a week, I have been more quiet than ever.

And that's saying something.

My dad and I have been eating together, but other than that, I never found a good time to confront him about the information I found out with Tyler.

I woke up Monday by the sound of my alarming ringing on my bedside table next to me.

Quickly, I turned it off to prevent myself from listening to it any further before getting out of my bed with a yawn.

Once I left the bathroom with brushed teeth and my hair pulled up into a pony tail, I walked to my dresser and pulled out black leggings and a knit black shirt before tying a flannel around my hips.

Normally, I wouldn't wear a flannel, but considering the surprise I got in the bathroom, I decided to be safe than sorry.

Yes, I got my period. Yay.

Especially a day before my birthday. Double yay.

"Why Monday? Why can't it be Saturday everyday?" I grumbled to myself as I jogged downstairs, only to smell the fresh scent of fruits.

I slowed my steps as I walked into the kitchen, seeing dad cut up strawberries before putting them in a bowl, where there was already washed raspberries and blueberries.

"Hey dad," I said slowly as I stood on the other side of the counter, and he looked up from the cutting board to flash me a smile.

"Hi hon," he replied before turning around to pick up a plate next to the shove.

When he turned back, I noticed it was two waffles spread out on the plate.

My lips tipped up slightly as he put the bowl of washed berries in front of me before grabbing the whipped cream from the fridge to put it next to the plate.

"Bon appetit," he grinned, and I chuckled before preparing the waffles for myself.

For ten minutes I ate in peace while dad was reading something on his phone as he leaned against the fridge casually, however, beyond that, I noticed that he seemed tense.

Right after I finished my breakfast, I put the plate in the dishwasher just as my phone rang with a notification.

Hey baby, I'm here.

"Tyler's here, I gotta go," I said quietly, looking at dad to see if his facade would break at the mention of Tyler.

It didn't.

After grabbing a light jacket, I slipped into my shoes before grabbing my school bag to head out.

"Hey," I smiled as I watch Tyler push himself off of the bed passenger door with a smile.

"Hi," he tilted his head to the car. "Let's go?"

Once we were seated, I was slightly surprised to see that Tyler immediately didn't jump on the topic about my dad.

Which is understandable, because my father looks pretty guilty in his eyes.

"So, about your dad..." he began, and I internally sighed before turning to face him.

I tilted my head to the side. "I know. I'm taking forever to confront him. But what if he's innocent? I'm accusing him for something big," I reminded him, and sighed.

"I know it's hard on you. I'm sorry. But it's been a week, and your birthday's tomorrow. I don't wanna seem all cool around him if I don't know the whole truth," he confessed.

Deciding to lighten the topic, I smirked. "Who said you're coming over for my birthday?"

Tyler looked at me briefly to scoff before looking in front of him. "Of course I'm coming. No discussion," he said, ending that topic with that.

Within the next few minutes, we were parked close to the front of the school before getting out of the car, letting the chill weather come to contact with us.

"Shouldn't it be getting warmer now?" I hissed as I jogged inside the school while Tyler laughed behind me.

Once we were safely inside the school, I shivered dramatically and Tyler rolled his eyes at my behaviour.

"Hi," I heard a deep voice before me, and I turned around to see puppy killer, also know as Travis, standing in front of me.

"Hey," I smiled brightly, just to annoy him.

He hates happy people.

Travis ignored me, so I decided to wrap my arm around his neck lazily, and I could tell he was fighting back a groan.

Suddenly my thoughts were shifted back to where Travis lived, and my heart dropped in my chest, just imagining how he's been getting to school since Tyler began to pick me up.

I'm such a terrible person.

I sighed mostly to myself, moving that topic back so I could to Tyler about it in private.

"So did you talk to Emanuel yet?" Travis asked, and Tyler and I looked at each other before shaking our heads.

"No," I whispered. "I'm gonna tell him. I promise."

Tyler clenched his jaw slightly. "You've been saying that for the last week."

My eyes closed and I lied my head back. I'm so selfish. To both of them.

Tyler went though something traumatic when I was gone, and I wasn't there to help. It also didn't help that my dad is a current suspect for crashing into him, which meant he caused all that mental, and physical pain for him.

"Okay," I nodded. "I'll tell him. Tonight."

They both looked at me with raised eyebrows. "I swear."

The bell rang, interrupting them from whatever they were going to say, and Tyler sighed before cracking a smile.

"Come on, let's go to class," he said quietly and I took my arm off of Travis before walking next to Tyler.

As we were doing so, I pretended that my heart didn't jump out of my chest each time our fingers brushed.

➸

Erin and I left History in a rush so we could avoid the traffic of people that would be there in minutes.

After grabbing small fries for the both of us, we walked to the line just in time before it was filled with dozens of people.

We grabbed our seat by the end of the cafeteria, and I took the seat across from her so I could see her clearly.

Not sure why, but I don't like sitting beside someone. I'd rather sit across from them.

"Shocking. They're actually good this time," Erin complimented the fries as she took another three before putting them in her mouth.

"Agreed," I laughed as I put a few fries in my mouth.

After we both finished chewing, I looked at her and wiggled my eyebrows. "So are you thinking of asking Dean out?"

Erin nearly choked on a fry. "Why would I do that?"

I shrugged. "You're single. He's single. Go for it."

She scoffed, taking a bite from her fry before choosing to respond. However, before her lips could form a single word, two shadows loomed over us from the end of the table.

When I looked up, I smiled when I spotted both men. "Hey Tyler," I looked at the person next to him before nodding in acknowledgement. "Travis."

Suddenly, the whole cafeteria had gotten quiet, and I looked around with my brows furrowed, only to notice everyone's attention was on our table.

More specifically, me.

"What?" I asked loudly with a slight attitude, and that caused everyone to look away before resuming their conversation.

Tyler slowly moved into the seat next to me while Travis went next to Erin.

"What the hell was that about?" I hissed to Erin, and she looked around before pressing her elbows on the table before leaning in.

"You said his name out loud, Mandy," she whispered, and my eyes widened as the pieces clicked together.

People call him Evans. Not his first name, obviously. He once attacked this person from calling him it.

Claire's statement was once again lodged in my head as I slowly moved so I was facing Tyler, who was hanging his head low.

"Why?" I whispered. "Why don't you like being called your name? I've been calling you Tyler for weeks. Why haven't you said anything?"

He sighed, looking at Erin and Travis, who, right when Tyler looked at them, began a conversation so we could speak in peace.

Tyler turned back to me with a vulnerable expression. "The day of my accident, just a few seconds before the car... you know. You screamed my name. That was the last thing I remember hearing before everything went... black."

My heart ached and closed my eyes tightly as my head hung low. "After I left the hospital, hearing my name just brought me back to that moment. The same time the car was about to hit me and I just felt my whole body shake."

"After talking to my therapist, he suggested to my family to go by a middle or last name. Which is what they did. They talked to the teachers and principals in my schools so they were all aware," he explained.

Tyler shook his head as a harsh laugh left him. "But my classmates didn't know why. When high school came, most were aware not to call me by my name, but some fuckers still did," he glossy eyes met mine. "So I reacted."

"Do you want me to call you Evans?" I whispered softly, and he shook his head.

"With you, I'm not lost anywhere else. I'm just here. With you," he spoke with a whisper, and I bit my lower lip before slowly nodding.

Our eyes were still locked, but neither of us moved until the sound of Erin's voice caused us to look her way.

"Guys, you should eat," she said, reminding us that the food in front of us was getting cold.

We both nodded before turning forward, pretending whatever emotion I just felt wasn't real.

➸

When the last bell rang for the day, I pulled Erin aside and asked if she could take Travis home just for today.

But when Travis learned what she had offered to do, he immediately disagreed.

"No. I can't. I have my brother to pick up, and I need to grab some more cereal for him before dropping him off at home," he declared and Erin rolled her eyes as she began to drag him outside.

"I'll be your free taxi for the day, Beckett. Now calm down."

After they were safely driving down the street, Tyler and I walked to his car before he began his drive to my house.

"When are you gonna talk to him?" He asked, and I glanced at him before looking outside.

"When he gets home. So, around six-ish," I explained, and Tyler looked at me quickly before nodding.

We got to my house in less than five minutes, and I rushed to unlock the door so I wouldn't have to spend another minute outside in the chill weather.

Tyler followed close behind and in less than a minute, our shoes were off and I was in the kitchen, looking for something to munch on.

"When was this?" Tyler called out from the living room, and I quickly left the kitchen to see Tyler staring at a photo of me on a soccer field.

My foot was on top of the soccer ball and a tight smile was on my lips as I wore my soccer jersey.

"Grade nine," I mumbled. "I thought I could try playing without you in the picture, but I never could. I was on the team for a week before I left."

"You haven't played since?" He whispered in shock and I shrugged pathetically.

"I think about you, you know?" I admitted, and laughed softly with a shake of the head.

"That's why I play, baby. Because it connects me to you," he confessed and I couldn't help but smile.

I took a seat on the couch and Tyler moved so he was sitting next to me. "When mission eggplant is done, we'll play a game. Just like old times," he smiled.

I couldn't help but grin. "Deal."

For the next few hours, we both spoke about their mission before watching a movie we found on cable.

By the time it was six o'clock, the front door opened, and Tyler and I quickly stood up from the couch just as my dad entered the house.

"Hey," I breathed out, eyeing the license plate that's on the coffee table that I took from his vent a few minutes ago.

Dad eyed the both of us slowly before settling his eyes on me. "What's going on?"

Tyler cleared his throat, glancing at me quickly before facing his attention on my dad. "I should head out," he looked at me with a small smile. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Once Tyler was out of the house, dad slowly took off his shoes before setting his brief case on the kitchen table.

When he came into the living room, he froze when he saw the license plate on the table.

"What's that?" He asked, voice thick with emotion.

"I found it in your room, dad," I stated slowly, waiting for him to admit something. Anything.

He didn't.

Dad laughed. "Why was that in my room?"

A sigh left me as I patted the seat on the couch next to me before sitting. "Dad. I'm giving you a chance to be honest with me."

He laughed again. But more nervously than the last. "Honest about what?"

My jaw clenched as I turned back before pulling out the old newspaper that Tyler gave me last week.

I threw it on the table so it was next to the plate. "Sit," I demanded.

Dad slowly took the seat next to me, but made sure he wasn't looking at me. "I want you to be honest with me."

He closed his eyes tightly. "Amanda," he whispered. "Please don't hate me."

Tears threatened to leave me as those words left his mouth. "It's true, isn't it?"

Dad didn't respond, so I continued. "You crashed into Tyler?"

His silence only answered my question. "Oh, my God," I breathed out, covering my mouth.

I was about to leave him sitting on the couch, but the hand that grabbed my arm caused me to look back to see my dad staring at me pleadingly. "Just, listen. Please."

Deciding to give him a shot, I sat down on the spot next to him.

"That day, I was working on Travis' case. He was charged for stabbing his father," he sighed. "At 10. But it worked out in the end because it was self-defense," he explained quickly before continuing.

"I was supposed to pick up his dad from the hospital that day, so I decided to take a short cut into the neighborhood to avoid traffic, but as I was looking at the GPS, Tyler... he was just on the road... I couldn't stop it."

My eyes widened. "Your eyes should have been on the road the whole time, dad! Or you should have at least admitted to your crime!"

Dad chose not to respond, so I continued. "You were involved with a hit and run, dad!"

"I know!" he shouted loudly, and I was taken back by how harsh his voice was. "I know," he whispered more to himself.

"How did you not get caught?" I whispered, mostly to myself, but he still chose to answer.

"Greg," he sighed, reminding me about Dean's father. "He's a hacker. After the accident, he contacted a car dealership and got me a new license plate."

"Afterwards, he hacked into the Ministry of Transportation and changed the license plate so they could never connect his car with the crash," he explained slowly, and my heart sped up by everything he was saying.

"That's why you wanted to leave faster than we had to," I breathed out as tears slowly began to stream down my cheeks. "You didn't want to get caught."

Dad seemed to notice he was losing me, and looked at me pleadingly. "Please, Amanda. You have to understand—"

I scoffed. "Understand what? You crashed into my best friend. Making him suffer tremendously. You lied to everyone. Him. His family. Me," my jaw clenched before a harsh laugh left me.

Without waiting for him to stop me, I got up from the seat and ran to the front of the house to put on my shoes before leaving the house.

I can't be there right now.

➸