She sat up and scooted all the way to the other side of the boat. "I was already embarrassed enough sitting there and then you added all of that on top of it."

"I tried talking to you," I said. "I asked you what was wrong, but, you brushed me off."

She lowered her head, but I raised her chin. "Stop. Running. Away. Talk to me. For Christ's sake talk to me, Everly."

"I can't talk to you! That's the problem. I can't say what's wrong because there's a barrier between us."

"I brought you here so you could tell me everything. Did you forget that?"

"Well I can't tell you in front of your family now can I?"

"We're alone, now. Tell me why you were upset."

"I can't eat in front of people. Just like I can't feel my hands being burnt. Just like I can't handle walking with you on the beach without boiling my brain. Do you see a pattern forming here?"

"Yes." I said. "A pattern of you constantly running away from me when it comes to dealing with what's wrong. You're not scaring me away. You're only pissing me off."

"Oh, you're pissed off?"

"Yeah I'm a little pissed off, Everly Anne."

"You were lying to everyone about who I am and then laughing with Tatum like you guys share some private joke about me, and apparently, you do. I only neglected to tell you that I can't eat in room full of people."

"We don't have private jokes about you," I said.

"Then what does she know about me that you couldn't say in front of everyone?"

But I deflected. "What should I have said? You're my teacher's daughter and we're here together to swindle your dad into giving up his conservatorship so you can give your heart to a kid who is dying? You expected that to go over smoothly and then everyone would continue eating and not want to ask a million questions neither of us are prepared to answer?"

"How about a simple Everly goes to school with me instead of Everly is a prodigy."

"It was a joke. You were playing along so I thought you understood that we were making fun of Amelia, not you."

"I was going along with you because I thought you didn't want them to know the truth."

"And what's the truth, Everly Anne? What do I call you? What do I tell everyone you are?"

"Nothing! You don't tell them I'm anything except lies. That's not supposed to hurt my feelings? That's not supposed to upset me? You can't even come up with a simple title for your friends and family? To the girl who's pining for you? Tell her what I am in your life?"

"I DO have a title for you," I yelled back, leaning closer. "It's a thing. That's the "private joke" Tatum and I share. She knows you're my thing. The thing I can't stop thinking about. The thing that's distracting me from everything I should be pouring my full attention into. The thing that is making me insane right now because I am so fuckin' over the moon about you, and believed that I was showering you with that truth, but no, you're still running away from me." I clutched her shoulders. "That's what I can't say in front of my entire fuckin' family downstairs when you're pissed off. I can barely even say it to you, Everly Anne. But there it is-you're my thing."

She stared at me for a moment before she softly said, "You could be crushing my shoulders right now and I wouldn't even know."

My hands loosened, but she clasped her hand over mine, holding me steady. "No, do it. Do it, Callum. Crush me. Crush me and then watch as I don't even flinch. It'll be like a magic trick."

"I'm not going to hurt you. Stop this."

"Hurt me? Now there's a private joke for you. Want to know the secret? Want me to lay bare for you? I can't feel pain. There you go."

I wanted to speak, but I was too awestruck to move.

"Is that me standing still enough for you, Callum?" Her hands fisted around mine, causing me to grip her harder, but I broke free.

"Stop."

"You asked for the truth," she said, turning away from me. "That's the truth."

I rubbed my face. "This swing used to bring a lot more happiness."

"You shouldn't have asked me to sit on it." She slid forward, but I reached for her arm. Everly's head hung as if she were crying. I pulled her to me, back up on the boat. "I wanted to believe in your hope, Callum Andrew. I really tried. But this is not our fate. Can't you see?" Her eyes were crying, but there no tears. "We could have been united once before, when your father cared for me, but we never met. Fate kept us apart on purpose."

"Then how do you explain you showing up in my life now, Everly Anne? Why did fate bring you back to me if you're only meant to hurt me?"

"I wanted to believe," she said. "I really did. I came here to find hope. I know I said I wanted you to help Truscott, but I needed you to help me, too. But not even for one day could we live. Not even for one, Callum."