Untouched (Bay Falls High, #1)(3)

And then I waited for Mom to just die.





two





Mom didn’t die.

Thankfully?

But she refused to answer any questions as to what happened. In a sick way she was too good at it to take too much. Unless she wanted to take too much and end her life. That made me angrier. If I was sucking up living a life of shit then she could do it too.

There were a few problems lingering though.

First off, Mom was in the hospital. And from there…

I didn’t exactly know.

And that left me on my own.

I was too old to be thrown into the system, which was good. There was no way in hell I was going to be bounced from house to house. And if anything, maybe this was the big wakeup call for both of us. I could finish school online or something. Or maybe - and don’t judge me for this - I could use Mom’s sad life as a way to get into college too. I was already a year behind everyone. A lot of people I knew were begging to turn eighteen to buy cigarettes or get a tattoo. That was so last year for me. Even though I didn’t smoke and didn’t have any ink.

I should have taken up smoking though.

I stood outside the hospital and paced.

Back and forth.

Watching people come and go from the hospital.

It was amazing yet scary.

That people in the building were dying, undergoing surgery, getting casts for broken limbs, being rushed in from a car accident… all the way down to the craziness of babies being born.

A gigantic black SUV pulled up to the curb, stopped right at the no parking area, and sat there.

I scoffed.

“Asshole,” I whispered.

The back passenger door opened and a woman climbed out. She was dressed in white with black hair and large black sunglasses on her face. She was old but had that fake young look to her. Her skin an orangish leather from all the real and fake tans. She looked more injected than Mom… too soon?

Best part was she took her sunglasses off, looked at me, and smiled.

“Tinsley,” she said. “Look at how beautiful you’ve become.”

I curled my lip. “Who the fu…”

My voice trailed off.

I stepped back, wishing I had a seat behind me because my legs were about to give out.

I knew exactly who this lady was.





“Here. Not sure caffeine is the smartest thing since you’re already so jumpy, but I guess there are worse things.”

My eyes followed Claire as she put the coffee down in front of me. She pulled a chair out and sat down.

The hospital cafeteria was gross.

And so was the coffee.

“Tinsley Ditkiss.”

“Miss Claire,” I said.

“Claire,” she said with a smile.

“Claire,” I said.

“It’s been a while, huh?”

“I think so.”

“I remember you about this tall…” Claire reached for the floor. “Wearing the same dirty dress. Grape jelly around your mouth. But those eyes of yours. Bright blue. Always curious and always happy.”

“Correct me if I’m wrong but you kicked us out,” I said.

“That I did.”

“I remember it. Very clearly. Sitting on the sidewalk while Mom walked back and forth making phone calls to the guys she slept with that month, hoping one of them would let us stay.”

Claire nodded. “I know.”

“And those gross men had the nerve to sometimes look at me…”

Claire put a hand to mine. “I know.”

I ripped my hand back. “So what the fuck are you doing here right now?”

Without hesitation, Claire started to laugh. “I see you’ve got your mother’s fire.”

“Let’s hope that’s all I pick up from her.”

“That’s why I’m here, Tinsley.”

“Meaning?”

“I took care of you when you were a baby,” Claire said. “Not sure if you remember it or not. But your mother worked at a bar.”

“Big shock.”

“I owned the bar, Tinsley. I gave her the job. I made sure she was safe. And I made sure she didn’t do anything stupid. You know, I raised you for the first two years of your life. It was just you and me. All the time. You were my little buddy.”

I swallowed hard. “That still doesn’t tell me why you’re here.”

“I’m here to help,” Claire said. “Like I’ve always done. You may not know it, Tinsley, but every single time your mother has gotten into trouble I was the one who bailed her out. Including this time.”

“This time?”

“She’s going to get herself cleaned up,” Claire said. “Once she gets the okay to leave the hospital she’s going straight to rehab.”

I pushed away from the table and stood up.

I shook my head.

“Bullshit,” I said. “You’re just the land lady. That’s it, Miss Claire. The lady who showed up to collect the rent check from us. The lady who yelled all the time. The lady who put us out on the street.”

I swiped the coffee off the table and walked out of the cafeteria.

I stood in the corridor of the hospital where there were plaques on the walls. With pictures of doctors who made the hospital what it was. People with prestigious lives and purposes. And their kids were rich, spoiled, asshole brats and bitches.