I can’t believe what just happened.
I hit a little girl. Jessica Hanson. I hit her with my truck. I swore it would never happen. No one should go through what I went through . . .
She doesn’t remember it. That has to be a good thing. Jessie doesn’t remember being hit. She slipped - probably on some oil - and hit her head. And I just happened to be driving down the street . . . I couldn’t see because my eyes were filled and everything was swimming . . .
It’s Trevor’s fault. He hit me and I couldn’t see. I had to get away from him and . . . I hit Jessica. That’s my fault. Not Trevor’s.
Oh, god, I hate him. I give. No more. I’m not going back to him again. Not after this. Because I know I wouldn’t have hit Jessie if I was able to see.
The Hansons are staying at my house. It seems that me running over their daughter was only one of their problems today. They got the wrong Rent-a-Car and their hotel reservations were lost. But at least I can help them out a little.
Jessie likes me. For the life of me I don’t know why, but she does. Diana seems to like me too. One of those motherly things, I guess. Taylor is just too nice - I don’t think he could hate anybody. But then there’s Isaac

“What’s that?”

Maddie turned around to see Isaac standing less than five feet behind her. Did he enjoy sneaking up on her? “It’s nothing,” Maddie said quickly.

Surprisingly, Isaac didn’t press the subject. Instead, scratching his temple with his middle finger, he said, “I was wondering something.”

Saving the file and quickly closing it, Maddie asked, “What’s that?”

Isaac was silent for a moment, as if thinking of how to word what he was going to say. Finally, he asked, “How did you not see her there? I mean, someone laying in the street is pretty hard to miss.”

Maddie didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t tell him what had really happened; that her boyfriend was cheating on her yet again and had smacked her across the face for being upset about it. What would he think? But what else could she tell him?

Fortunately, she didn’t have to come up with anything. Just then, Zac walked into the room. “Um, Maddie?” he asked, sounding a little unsure, eyeing his brother suspiciously. “Is there anything to drink around here?”

“Yeah,” Maddie said quickly, jumping up from the computer chair and heading for the stairs. “Down here. I’ll show you.” She led Zac down through the kitchen and into the basement. “I’ve got Pepsi and stuff down here in the pantry,” she said.

Zac nodded and walked into the little room. “Thanks,” he said politely as he searched the shelves for the perfect beverage.

“Um, Zac,” Maddie began slowly, watching as he carefully eyed each can. “Could I ask you something?”

Zac looked up at her momentarily. “You just did.”

Maddie rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean,” she insisted.

“Yeah, yeah,” he agreed, glancing up at her once more and smiling. “Shoot.”

Maddie stared at her fingernails. “Do you . . . Do you, um, you know . . . hate me?” she asked carefully.

Zac looked up. “Jessie doesn’t,” he replied.

“But what about you?”

Zac was still looking at her. “I try not to hate anyone,” he said softly, seriously. “Besides, Jessie’s okay and you seem like a really nice person.” He paused chewing on the inside of his lower lip. Finally, he added, “We all make mistakes.”

Swiftly, Maddie leaned over and kissed Zac’s cheek. “Thank you,” she whispered. With that, she ran upstairs and out the door wall in the back room, not wanting anyone to see her cry.