Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 104151 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104151 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
Everyone was staring at me.
“I’m sorry, Eve,” Josh murmured in a weak voice.
I started to shake my head, but it only made more of the vomit slide into my dress. “It’s fine,” I said, trying to sound genuine, but I knew my smile was as stiff as the rest of my body. And the sour stench was making me nauseous.
Mom jerked her head, gesturing for me to follow her to the back of the church where she and Gabby hosed me off like a muddy pig.
“COLD!” I jumped and tried to get out of the direct stream, but Gabby kept the stream on me while grinning.
“Hold still, Eve, so she can get you cleaned off,” Mom said.
After the vomit was rinsed from my body, Gabby checked both sides of the church to make sure no one was coming while mom unzipped my dress, blotted me with paper towels and covered me with a choir robe.
Erin was going to be bummed her family left so quickly and she missed the big event.
“Guess what?” Gabby startled me when I opened the bathroom door after my shower.
I dried my hair with a towel. “What?”
She followed me into my bedroom. “Mom wants you to take dinner to Kyle and Josh so you can let Josh know that you’re not mad. Kyle called to apologize while you were in the shower. He said Josh was crying on the way home because he felt so bad.”
“It wasn’t his fault,” I said, putting on my bra and underwear.
“Check them well so you don’t put them on inside out.”
I glanced up at Gabby. “I need to know right now if you can keep this secret or if I need to tell Mom and Dad and risk getting kicked out. But I won’t let you hold this over my head. And let’s be clear; if you can’t be more mature about this, then don’t ever expect me to be there for you or take your side on anything.”
She narrowed her eyes and tipped up her chin before spinning the other way and exiting my room while slamming my door shut. I overreacted, and I knew it the second she shut the door. Fear made me nervous and irrational.
After eating a partial chicken leg and two bites of scalloped potatoes, I took the food my mom had packed to Kyle’s.
He opened the door, and a regretful smile marred his face. “I’m so sorry,” he said, taking the bag of food from me while I slipped off my shoes. My hair was still damp from my shower, but my jeans and red button-down blouse were clean, and that’s all that mattered.
“Stop apologizing. He didn’t get sick on purpose. Where is he?” I poked my head into the living room, but he wasn’t there. Kyle had a football game on the TV.
“I gave him a little ginger ale when we got home, and now he’s upstairs taking a nap. I told him you were coming over with dinner, but he couldn’t stay awake.” Kyle removed the foil-wrapped plates. “Did you eat?”
I nodded, sliding my hands into my back pockets. “Aren’t you going to ask me if I’m going to homecoming with Drew?”
He kept his chin down while removing the foil. “No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I know the answer.”
“How can you possibly know the answer? Because you built me a hut?”
“No, Eve.” He rested his hands on the counter’s edge and glanced over at me. “If you’re emotionally still in high school, that’s fine. Embrace your youth and enjoy your last two years as a teenager. But I’m out. You can be my babysitter, and I’ll pay you a fair wage, but that’s it.”
“Is that an ultimatum?”
“It’s a fact.” He pulled open the drawer in front of him and grabbed a fork.
“Why are you being such a jerk to me?”
Like I’d been to Gabby.
He set his fork on the counter next to the plate, and it seemed to take everything inside of him to control his response. I had that effect on people.
“Why are you so angry and confrontational with me?” he asked.
“Because I feel like …” My face scrunched as I shook my head. I didn’t know how to explain it, and that frustrated me. His insisting I try to explain my feelings bothered me even more.
“You feel like what?”
I shook my head. “I-I don’t know. Just … just like you’re waiting to see if I’m worth your time. I feel like I’m being judged, like you know I’m going to mess up, so you can say I’m too young for you.” My words came out faster and louder on a wave of panic. “And that’s a lot of pressure. I always feel like everyone around me is waiting for me to screw up because that’s what I do.”
“Just chill.”
“I CAN’T CHILL!”
He winced, and our gazes shot toward the stairs as we listened for Josh.