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hospital parking lot till my mom calls. We don’t have to wait long, but the few minutes of Zak rattling off things he hopes Stan Lee talks about on Friday—while I hold back all my geek knowledge—calms me down. Even after our falling out, my nerdy, sexy next-door neighbor makes things better.
    I wish I deserved it.

Chapter 3
    I’m too tired to pretend today.
    “Zoe! Get down here!”
    An audible “ugh” escapes my lips. I know what’s coming. The parade of questions.
    What happened?
    Why weren’t you watching your sister?
    Why didn’t you wait at the hospital?
    I really don’t want to get into it, but better get this over with.
    My dad is a large man. When I say large, I mean like six-foot-seven and three-hundred-plus pounds. The look on Cody’s face was priceless when I introduced him.
    Ugh. Let’s not think about that perv right now.
    Dad’s leaning against the fridge, which has tilted off the ground slightly. His face is scrunched, and it looks like he’s been holding his breath for the past few minutes. Mom is elbow-high in soapy dish water. They’re more upset than I thought. We have a dishwasher so Mom only hand washes when she’s pissed about something. Or when she’s really hurt.
    And Dad only gets purple when Mom is hurt.
    Crap.
    “Care to tell us what happened this morning?” Dad’s voice is calm, though his stance tells me he’s trying to keep his anger in. Mom slops around in the sink.
    “I don’t know what happened,” I say to the floor. “Sierra sent me this text and I didn’t want to be late for class, so I thought if I sent Zak—”
    “Gibbons?” My eyes click up to see my dad’s furrowed brow. “You were skipping class with him?”
    His confused expression slaps onto my face now. “Huh?”
    He rubs his hand across his forehead. “Zoe, I won’t tolerate being lied to. Give it to me straight please. Don’t you care at all about what you did to your sister?”
    “What?” My high-pitch screech was probably heard a hundred miles away. “What I did? I didn’t do anything!”
    “Don’t lie to me!” I cower under his tone, and I know I’m about to go into hysterics. Dad, like, never yells.
    Mom whimpers over the sink, and my dad stops leaning against the fridge. It slams against the floor as his weight leaves it. He curls his arms around Mom’s waist.
    I hate seeing her like this, and I know my dad hates seeing her like this, but I’m so confused I don’t know what to say.
    “Zoe.” It’s Mom’s shattered voice that sends the tears cascading from my eyeballs. “I trust you to look after your sister, and you let her drive your car? What were you thinking?”
    I feel the blood rise in my face. I’m probably as purple as my dad now. I ball my fists up and suck in a small wisp of air. Sierra!
    “I didn’t let her,” I growl through my teeth. “She stole my car and took off before I even woke up. I had to get a ride with Zak today. You can check with him if you don’t believe me.”
    My parents look at each other, eyes swapping questions. After a minute or two of this silent conversation, my dad snaps the phone off the wall. I hear Zak’s house phone ring through the window.
    “I need to speak with your boy, if that’s okay, Maddie.” His voice is kind, but you can totally tell he’s in a hurry.
    I plop down on the bar stool and wait. Even though I know there shouldn’t be anything to worry about since I’m telling the truth, my heart still whacks against my breastplate.
    “Zak, this is Mr. Livingston… thank you, that’s why I’m calling. Did Zoe go to school with you?” My dad’s eyes burn into mine as he waits for Zak to answer. He’s quiet for a while.
    “Thank you. You’ve helped clear up the issue. Have a good night.” Dad clicks the end button and stands frozen for a minute. Both Mom and I hold our breath.
    Then without warning, Dad takes two long steps and wraps me into a hug. He never apologizes… never. So I’m not expecting him to