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in my head.
    “Look. Call him. If he wants to go out with you, fine. Thanks for the ravioli. We don’t need anything else right now.”
    “Ok,” she said warily. “I’ll check on you in a bit.”
    She walked away and Kyle looked at me sympathetically.
    “She’s such a ditz. Some people have no couth.”
    “No, really it’s fine.” I had an epiphany. A revelation that made my cheeks spread in a smile. “I don’t care. For the first time in a year...I don’t care about Chad.”
    “It’s the imprint.” He shook his head. “You won’t care about anyone but Caleb now,” he said almost grudgingly.
    “So, there’s no way to break it or stop feeling it... or whatever.”
    “No. Why, do you want to?”
    “No,” I answered too quickly and he grimaced.
    “Yeah, didn’t think so.”
    “So,” I sang, sensing a need to change the subject. “What are you gonna do at Tennessee?”
    “Architecture.”
    I remembered Caleb telling me that’s what he was doing.
    “Is that a family business?”
    “Mmhmm,” he mumbled around a bite.
    I pursed my lips and waited but he didn’t say anything further. So we ate. He asked me about school, why I’d dropped out of everything. Why I hardly came to school anymore and stopped eating lunch with them. This whole time, he thought it had been because of my dumping Chad.
    I told him everything. I don’t know why. I just did. Things I didn’t even tell Rebecca and she was the closest thing to a best friend I ever had but I even felt withdrawn from her lately. I told him how my mom left, taking everything of value with her: all our plates and dishes, the money, our savings, my college fund, my parent’s bed. My dad had slept on the couch in the den for ten months. I told him how she used to call me and try to explain how much she had hated her life and everything in it. I told him how my dad was bitter now and spiteful, his life just spiraling down and he was slowly taking me with him. I told him how I had to get a job to help out because my dad lost his.
    He listened quietly as he ate. He waited to see if I was done, watching me closely.
    “I’m sorry, Mags. Everyone just assumed you’d ditched Chad and just didn’t want to hang out with us anymore. No one knew- I mean, we knew your mom left but the rest...you should have said something.”
    “I didn’t know what to say. How do you tell someone that your boyfriend dumped you three days after their mom left and their dad sits in his room and doesn’t even speak to you. No one wanted me around anymore,” I said softly and stared at the ravioli I no longer wanted.
    “I wanted you,” he admitted just as softly. I looked up and caught his hazel brown gaze. “I’ve always wanted you. But it was always you and Chad. And now, it’ll be you and Caleb. And not only that, but I’ll have to see you together, everyday, because you’ll be family.”
    “Kyle.” I pushed my plate away and began to toy with my hoop earring. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say.”
    “No.” He sighed roughly and grunted. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I still want to be your friend, Mags. Now I get to be your cousin too.” He forced a grin. “The Jacobson’s are a weird bunch, I’m warning you now but, they are fiercely protective. You don’t have to worry about anything anymore. Your mom and dad are idiots for leaving you, but you have a new family now.”
    I didn’t know whether to smile or run at his comment so I just bit my lip and chuckled under my breath.
    “So, you ready to get out of here? Wanna see a movie?”
    “Sure. We can’t go back to your house can we?”
    “No. Not tonight. There’s gonna be a lot of crap going down tonight at my house with the whole family there. Believe me you don’t want to be there anyway.”
    I could beg to differ. Caleb was there and whatever this imprinting this was, it wasn’t a joke. I could still feel his heart beating if I thought real hard about it.
    “Ok. What