Chapter 5 My legs buckled. I grabbed the wall before I hit the floor. After everything Noah had pushed through, his trash dad was really gonna wreck it all? Hadn't he suffered enough? I was still shaking when his messages popped up: [This is a scheduled message. If I don't make it to the test, don't worry. I've already been admitted to Harven. I just wanted the SAT for a shot at the state's top scorer award-heard there's a cash prize.] [Andrea, good luck on your exam. You've got this.] Harven University. World-class. The real deal. The way he worded it, he'd been ready for Albert's stunt from the start. And he hadn't even told me. Almost gave me a heart attack. I burst out laughing through the tears, wiped my face, and bolted into the test center. Reading and Writing was my jam, and this year's section felt like a breeze. The second it ended, I went straight for Noah. After twisting through alleys and backstreets, I finally landed at this run-down housing block on the edge of town. Took me forever to track down his place. I knew his mom couldn't hear or speak. I knew his dad was a gambling mess. But I hadn't realized it was this bad. The place looked like it had been collapsing for years-inside was even worse. Windows shattered ages ago, never fixed. Furniture either busted or about to be. Not one decent thing left. The "bed" was just bricks and planks stacked together, with a couple of ragged coats and a torn mat on top. No TV. No fridge. No appliances. Nothing. Albert had pawned off anything worth cash. Even the money Noah scraped together from collecting junk-gone. Tuition money, stolen by his own dad. By the time I showed up, the cops had just gotten Noah out. 1/2 +30 Bonus He was covered in bruises, one eye swollen shut, barely standing. Albert was still yelling as they dragged him away. He was headed to prison for locking Noah up. I hauled Noah straight to the hospital, forced the staff to patch him up. The sight of him wrecked my chest. I couldn't stop crying. When I went to lift his shirt, he caught my hand. "Don't cry. Just looks bad. Doesn't hurt." I pressed his leg lightly. He hissed, face twisting. "That's not pain? You knew your dad's trash-why go back?" My tears slipped down again. He panicked, fumbling to wipe them away. "Why are you crying more than me?" I sniffled. "I like you. You know that, right?" He froze, ears going red, silent. I narrowed my eyes. "Just tell me-you knew he was shady, so why'd you go back?" Noah sighed. "Did you know illegal gambling doesn't even count as a crime? Just a fine, maybe a few days in lock-up?" I blinked. "What?" "But unlawful detention's different," Noah said. "It's a criminal offense-up to three years. Add violence or humiliation, and it gets worse. I provoked him on purpose. I'm done with him." Noah was always the calm one. Even when people at school went after him, all he ever did was frown. Now? The hate rolling off him was unreal. I'd never seen him like that. It left me stunned.