When Ginger changed behind her cracked door after her workout, I silently looked through the gap, taking her in.
The air nearly caught in my lungs when I saw her scarred, yet shapely thighs.
The scars on her back and legs explained everything about her behavior.
Right then, I decided to move in with them—partly to keep a closer eye on her, and partly to find out exactly what had happened.
“What did you find out about Ginger’s brother?” I asked Leo back at my place on a day I skipped school.
“He’s been in a coma for four years,” Leo said.
“Just like the girl said, he fell down the stairs during some kind of struggle.”
“Who pushed him?” I asked.
“We don’t know, Cas,” Leo said.
“All we have is rumors, and the whole thing happened four years ago.”
“Then take your time and dig deeper,” I told him.
He nodded.
“And find out how much his medical bills are.”
“You planning on paying them?” Mike asked, surprised.
“I’ve paid for a few things for you guys, haven’t I?”
“We’re your friends,” Leo said.
“And Ginger is my friend, too.” I replied in a tone that left no room for argument.
After I moved in, Dominic snuck out a lot at night, only returning at dawn.
If Ginger noticed, she didn’t say anything.
One night, I woke up to Ginger having a nightmare.
She was shouting and screaming, so I went into her room and stroked her hair until she calmed down.
It was already dawn by then, so I didn’t bother going back to bed.
I was browsing her bookshelf in the living room—where she had all my books in chronological order, except for the very first, a middle volume, and the latest one—when I found a photo album.
I opened it to find pictures of the three friends.
They’d taken a group photo for every new school year and every New Year’s Eve.
In the very last photo, I was there too, looking terminally bored.
I chuckled softly.
Based on the pictures, they’d been friends for years.
There was a period when Ginger wore short dresses, bikinis, and sleeveless tops.
She’d been a stunning teenager, gorgeous with long, curly, flame-red hair.
I’d never seen such a striking mane in my life.
Looking at the photos, she hadn’t changed much physically; she looked exactly the same at seventeen as she did now.
Flipping through, I hit a photo from one school year where her hair was dyed black and pulled into a bun.
She was wearing baggy, dark clothes.
She looked thin and haunted.
From that point on, her hair remained black and scraped back into a bun for pages, only fading to brown much later.
She slowly ditched the black clothes, though she never moved past grays and browns.
I was still looking through the photos when Dominic returned, quietly closing the door behind him.
“Eventful night?” I laughed, looking up.
He just nodded.
“Another nightmare?” Dom asked, gesturing toward Ginger’s room.
I nodded.
“How often does it happen?” I asked.
“It’s getting rarer,” he replied.
“That photo was taken four years ago,” he said, pointing to the first one with her black hair.
“Back then, she could barely sleep.
She couldn’t sleep alone, but she hated anyone touching her.
Eventually, she could only sleep if Anna was beside her, but she still woke up screaming all the time.
It wasn’t easy, but it’s much better now.”
“What was she like before?” I asked.
“Aside from being kind and helpful, she was confident, assertive, and strong,” he laughed.
“She used to give us an earful all the time.” He smiled, then added softly with a sigh, “I miss that Ginger.”
“What happened?” I asked.
“I didn’t watch out for her enough,” Dom replied, heading toward his room.
“Keep her door cracked, and don’t trap her in tight spaces.”
“I won’t,” I promised.
I still only went to college twice a week.
I usually sat in the very back row working on my new novel, sending Ginger pictures of me making faces to show how bored I was.
She always replied.
I’d just text back pointing out which word she’d misspelled, but she usually blamed her phone.
Yeah, right.
We didn’t always see each other during the day, but the four of us had lunch together, and they studied with me in the library.
Since I’d moved in, Ginger was the one who studied with me the most.
Anna usually headed home early because of Connor, and Dominic had practice.
That Connor was a total prick—he had at least two other girlfriends besides Anna.
I didn’t tell anyone yet; they’d just think I was a drama-starter.