Milo had to be pretty upset that I wasn’t around, especially since he’d had to deal with Mom first thing in the morning, but even he’d been relieved to see that I was still alive. (And there was becoming a very real threat that I wouldn’t be for much longer.)

“Why didn’t you answer any of my texts?” Milo blurted out. I’m sure he’d been texting me and warning me of Mom’s impending tirade.

“Sorry. My phone was on silent.”

“That doesn’t tell me where you were!” Mom snapped.

The sun had finally peaked over the building next door, and light glinted in through the window, revealing the furious expression on her face. She took a long drag from the cigarette, waiting for an answer good enough to explain where I had been until after seven in the morning on a school night.

“I was at Jack’s.” I crossed my fingers, hoping that she still had an infatuation with him that could buy me at least one more Get Out of Jail Free card.

Unfortunately, her scowl only deepened, so I knew I was completely out of luck.

“So you’re out all night having sex with a boy that’s way, way too old for you, and I’m just supposed to turn a blind eye to that?” As she spoke, her words kept getting louder and louder until she was shouting by the end of the sentence.

“Yeah,” I replied blankly.

There would be no way I could soothe her anger, so I didn’t even bother trying. Milo looked at me questioningly, although I’m not sure if he was questioning my suicidal tendencies or if I’d actually had sex with Jack. Knowing him, it was probably both.

“Alice!” Mom got to her feet, pointing her finger at me. “Go get changed and get ready for school!”

“No!” I protested. “I’m tired! I’m going to bed!”

“Alice, I really think you should listen to her,” Milo whispered plaintively.

“I’m tired, too, but I had to wait up for you! And if you think that you can go gallivanting around just because you finally found a boyfriend, then you are sorely mistaken! When you’re under my roof, you abide by my rules!” Her eyes were so angry they were bulging from her skull, but after what I’d seen in the past few days, she no longer seemed all that scary.

“Fine. Then I just won’t live under your roof,” I shrugged.

It was only a matter of time until I moved in with Jack’s family or died, so I didn’t really need to keep this address anyway. I was hardly ever home anymore. I hadn’t actually consulted Jack or Mae about this, so I wasn’t really sure how the idea would go over, but I plowed ahead with it anyway.

“Alice!” Milo hissed.

“You are still under eighteen, missy!” Mom didn’t even miss a beat. “You are not going anywhere, and if you even think about, I’ll have your little boyfriend turned in for statutory rape.”

“It won’t stick,” I said. “Why do you even want me here? I’m gone all the time, and I just cost you money. I mean, you only saw me for like five minutes all of last week. What exactly do you want me around for?”

“You’ve got it all figured out then, do you?” Mom shrugged at me. “You got a boyfriend with a little bit of money? He’s gonna take care of you now? Is that what you think? Yeah, well maybe you’ve forgotten, but I had a boyfriend like that once. You know what I got? Two ungrateful kids and not a damn cent from him! So don’t try and tell me things you know nothing about!”

“I’m not trying to tell you anything! I’m just saying that I’m a burden to you! You don’t want me here, I don’t wanna be here, so why am I here?” I asked her emphatically.

She looked hurt at that, but nothing I had said wasn’t true. We barely saw each other, and she didn’t know anything about me. The only one that would be hurt was Milo, and I’d still see him.

“Go. Go ahead,” Mom said evenly. I started walking towards my room, and she held up her hand. “Don’t even think about! That room is full of my stuff. You never paid for a damn thing in your life. So when you leave, you take what you got on your back, and that’s all.”

“Fine, whatever.” I tried to act like it didn’t bother me that I’d be leaving all my personal belongings behind. Like CD’s, diaries, underwear, and everything I had ever owned. But I had made up my mind, and that was it. “I’ll see you… maybe never.” Then I turned and waltzed out of the apartment.

“Alice!” Milo burst out of the apartment after me before the elevator even came. He dragged his half unzipped backpack and raced towards me. “Why did you do that?”

“It just seemed really pointless to stay there any longer.” I tried not to look over at him, so I wouldn’t have to see the pained expression his face. Leaving home meant that I was leaving him, too.

“You’re really gonna go live with Jack?” He sounded simultaneously surprised and resigned by the idea.

“I don’t see what choice I have.” The elevator doors opened and there were several passengers on it, which I was kinda grateful for. Milo would be less likely to press me for answered, so it’d be easier for me leave details out.

“You definitely have a choice!” Milo insisted, ignoring the crowd in the elevator. “I know Jack and his family are super amazing, but you haven’t really known him that long. I mean, they’re almost too good to be true. There’s got to be a dark secret hidden there.”

“You just might be right.”

I bit my lip to keep from smiling, and I realized with the surprise that it didn’t hurt. Running my tongue along my bottom lip, I searched for any bump or scratch from when I had bit it earlier, but there was none. Jack’s saliva must’ve healed it.

“Come on, Alice,” Milo pleaded when the doors opened. “Be reasonable.”

“When have you ever known me to be reasonable?” I shot him a look while stepping out of the elevator, and he just rolled his eyes.

We walked outside into the cold, and I wrapped my sweater more tightly around me. All I had on me were the clothes on my back and my cell phone in my pocket, and there was a very good chance that my only rides anywhere were a pair of vampires that had just gone to bed.

“So what?” Milo was walking to the bus stop, and since I had nothing better to do, I walked with him. “This is it? This is like the last time I’ll see you?”