Chapter Thirty-Eight

“You don’t have to say it. I don’t think you have admitted it to yourself yet. But you know you do. You like him. And it’s okay. Almost all of us who went to school with him fancied ourselves in love with Nick at least once in our lives. We were a few years younger than him. He was the most popular boy in school then. He was the hottest and the smartest too. Every girl in school wanted him.

“He was charged with destruction of public property. That wall by the beach was old—and too white! They painted a mural on it overnight. It was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. Going to juvie didn’t make Nick less popular with the girls. Actually, it made them want him even more. And to think, he covered up for all his friends? Admirable.

“Up to this day, nobody knew who vandalized that wall with Nick. He didn’t tell a soul who worked with him even when the police offered him a deal to let him off completely. My family will forever thank Nick for that.”

“Why?”

Terry smiled thoughtfully. “Because o