After that, they were always together. Whether it was at his house, at the mall, the movies, or anywhere else, it was Hilary and Greg. She spent little time at her house, in order to avoid her dad. She had never told Greg that she knew how her mom died. The cops thought it was suicide, which is what it was meant to look like. That’s what everyone thought too. Only she and her father knew the truth.

One night Greg was taking Hilary to a fancy restaurant. He picked her up at her house while her dad was out; he wouldn’t be back until much later.

Greg walked up to the run down house and knocked on the door. Hilary came downstairs looking beautiful. She wore a dark jacket over her shirt to cover up bruises.

Yet she looked amazing. Greg kissed her cheek, grabbed her hand and he led her to the car. Hilary had a confused look on her face, wondering why he was acting so intimate. They were in the car on the way to the restaurant talking what they were going to do after high school.

“So have you thought about what you’re doing after graduation?” Greg started a conversation.

“Nope. Well, sort of. I can’t really do anything. I’ll probably get a part time job somewhere like as a waitress or something. Why, have you?”

“Well, I applied to a couple schools up in New York. I’ve gotten and letter back from one of them, but I’m waiting still for NYU.”

“So… you’re leaving?” she was anxious for his answer. In the back of her mind Hilary knew something so good couldn’t last forever, nothing great lasted in her life. But the thought of Greg leaving hadn’t crossed her mind.

“Well nothing’s for sure yet, but I have to get out of this small town, and I want to go to college.”

No one said anything else after that. When they got there, they were seated.

Greg took her hand.

“Hil, I’ve been thinking.”

“About what?”

“You and me. I know this may seem really forward, but I really like you Hilary, and I care about you so much if anything ever happened to you, I’d die. And, I…I want you to be my girlfriend.”

“Oh my god Greg, wow. Ever since you walked back into my life, you’ve done nothing but help me. Yes, I’d love to be your girlfriend. But I want to say thank you though.”

“For what?”

“For everything. Everything you have helped me with. Staying away from my dad. Taking me places. Being my friend, and now this…” she was speechless.

“I wouldn’t be doing it if you didn’t mean anything to me.”

After dinner Greg took her home. He walked her to the door step, and they shared a long kiss. Her dad was surprisingly home early that night so she quietly walked up the stairs and to her room, where she closed and locked the door.