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I’ll be seventeen in August.
    Aaron : I don’t care. It doesn’t matter. I can’t help how I feel.
    Kelly : I know. I feel the same. But there’s nothing we can do.
    Aaron : Meet me.
    Kelly : You know I can’t.
    Aaron : You said she sleeps a lot, knocked out from booze or pills or whatever. Can’t you sneak out?
    Kelly : If she found out, I’d probably spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair.
    Aaron : Christ.
    Kelly : Aaron…
    Aaron : Sorry. Look, I just want you to come over here. Talk to my father. See if there’s anything at all that can be done. There has to be. People don’t get to just beat their kids anymore. There are laws, and my father will know what they are.
    Kelly : I’m sure there are, but all of them would mean getting my mother in trouble.
    Aaron : For fuck sake, Kelly, she DESERVES to be in trouble for this.
    Kelly : You don’t understand.
    Aaron : Maybe, but I know it isn’t right.
    Kelly : I have to go. I’m sorry.
    Aaron : Meet me, please. Even if it’s for the last time. I need to see you.
    Kelly : I can’t. Goodbye.
    Aaron : Please don’t go.
    Kelly : I have to. People are starting to stare. I guess nobody’s supposed to cry in a library.
    Aaron : Kelly wait.
     
    August 14 th , 2014 6.45 p.m.
     
    Kelly: Aaron?
    Aaron : Hi!
    Kelly : I’m glad you’re online :)
    Aaron : Me too :) How have you been?
    Kelly : Ups and downs. You know how it is.
    Aaron : Not really, but I can imagine.
    Kelly : I saw you yesterday.
    Aaron : You did? Where? Why didn’t you talk to me? I would have loved to see you.
    Kelly : I was in the car with my mother. And you were talking to a girl. :)
    Aaron : Oh, that’s Erica. We have English together. She’s just a friend.
    Kelly : She’s pretty :)
    Aaron : Not as pretty as you. Nobody is.
    Kelly : It’s okay if you’re more than just friends. I want you to move forward with your life. There’s no reason you should wait in the hope that my situation changes.
    Aaron : If I thought it would change, I’d be happy to wait. Being with you would be more than worth it.
    Kelly : Really?
    Aaron : Of course!
    Kelly : Well, then maybe I have a little bit of good news. Nothing too dramatic but it’s a start.
    Aaron : Tell me!
    Kelly : Tomorrow’s my birthday.
    Aaron : I know. I have it as a reminder on my phone. Wanted to send you a message but it’s been so long I wasn’t sure if you’d get it or not. Or if you’d want to, even if you could.
    Kelly : Of course I would. I’ve missed you.
    Aaron : I’ve missed you too.
    Kelly : My mother was sober yesterday for the first time in as long as I can remember. She saw you with the girl—Erica—and she saw how it affected me.
    Aaron : I’m sorry. I promise you it’s nothing, but I never want to hurt you.
    Kelly : It’s okay. Like I said, you have every right to move on. Point is, she changed.
    Aaron : Your Mom?
    Kelly : Yeah. Instead of going home, she brought me to Dairy Queen. We sat outside on a bench in the sun and had ice cream. We haven’t done that since I was a kid.
    Aaron : Wow, that’s awesome! I’m really thrilled to hear it.
    Kelly : It was wonderful. She was like her old self again. We talked for a long time, and at the end of it she asked me what I wanted for my birthday if I could have anything at all. She told me not to worry that whatever it was would make her angry. She told me to forget everything that’s happened, just for a moment, to forget the monster she knows she’s become, and to make a wish.
    Aaron : I can’t believe what I’m hearing. Sounds like she’s had a major breakthrough. Do you think it’ll stick?
    Kelly : I have no idea. I’m afraid to hope that it will. But even that little break is gift enough. And that’s what I told her. I told her having her treat me to ice cream on such a wonderful day and for her to just be her, the real her, was present enough for my birthday. And she cried, Aaron. She actually cried and said she was sorry.
    Aaron : That is amazing. I’m