“You think I'm beautiful?” she whispered softly. Of course, that would be what she heard.“Yeah.” I turned her face up to mine. “I do. You are beautiful, Sandra. Inside and out.”And I was being completely fucking honest. She was not hot, or fit, or bangable. She was beautiful, she was sexy and she was sweet.She closed her eyes and, when she opened them, they were glistening with tears. Oh fuck.“Did I say something wrong?”She shook her head and spinned in my arms, sliding her arms around my waist. Her cheek pressed against my chest and I felt her take a deep breath. I held her to me tightly.“No,” she whispered. “No you didn't.”“Then why are you crying?”Her shoulders shook, and she looked up at me, a smile on her face even though her eyes were filled with tears. “Because it makes me happy.”“Good,” I whispered and kissed the corners of her eyes, kissing the tears away. “I like making you happy, Sandra.” And I did. For some reason, I did.I pulled her over to my bed and climbed in
I remembered it. I remembered it like it was yesterday. Every detail was etched into my mind, and when I let myself remember – like now – it played out like an old movie strip. The memories were cracked, a little fuzzy in some places, and sometimes the sound went, but I still remembered. I still knew. I knew it all.“We'd been out for a girls night. It wasn't anything unusual. Once or twice a month, Mom insisted we had some girl time, and we headed for dinner and a movie, maybe some shopping. It was our time where we caught up on life. We talked boys, music, clothes. Everything.”“It sounds like you were close.”“We were.” A small smile graced my lips. “She was my best friend.”“Tell me about her.”“Everyone says I look like her, but I don't think so. Mom was beautiful. Sure, we had the same hair and the same green eyes, but she had this inner goodness that radiated out of her. She was always happy and smiling, always ready to lend a hand. She worked at a local youth center with young
I hated Sundays. There was something so fucking dull about them.So maybe that was why I was at the beach. Contrary to popular belief, I was not the biggest fan of sun, sea, and sand. Nor was I the next champion surfer.But Sandra wanted to come, and the rules of the game state that what Sandra wanted, Sandra gets. So, here I was. Getting sand up my shorts and, if I was not careful, a crab pincer around my balls.“You didn't have to come with me. I'm capable of sunbathing by myself,” Sandra said, lying on her back on the sand.I rolled onto my side and proped myself up on my arm. “And why would I not come? I like spending time with you.” I dragged my finger across her flat stomach, and she squirmed.“Because.” She shrugged a shoulder.“Because?”“Yep. Because.”I flipped over and straddled her. She squealed and pulled her sunglasses off, flinging them to the side. She looked up at me, and I grinned wolfishly.“What?”“Why are you sitting on me?”“I felt like it.”“You felt like it.”“
I smiled absently to myself as I made my way out of class. I hugged my books to my chest, and my hair fell to the side, hiding one side of my face. Ever since I spent the afternoon at the beach with Jack yesterday, I had felt better than I had in a long time. I'd like to believe it was the mix of sun, sea, and sand, but I'd be lying.I was pretty sure he was the main cause of my happiness.“Hey, Sandra.” Carl fell into step beside me.“Hey. How are you?” I glanced up at him, thinking – not for the first time – it was a shame I didn't see him as anything other than a friend. Though he was not as built as Jack, his chestnut-brown, wavy hair and equally brown eyes were captivating, all the same. He was taller than me, shorter than Jack, but he had a good heart and I knew he'll make someone a great boyfriend one day.But why was I comparing him to Jack?“Good. Look, I'm sorry if you guys ended up fighting on Friday. I never realized Jack was so.... So....”“Protective?” I offered dryly, e
“No, Mom. She's not a 'weekend buddy', as you put it,” I groaned into the phone.“Well Maggie told Grace you were dating, and when Grace told me this morning over breakfast, I told her that was silly, that my boy isn't a dating kind of boy. She was adamant though, Jack, that you were dating this Sandra girl.”“That's because I am.”My mom has never been speechless before now. She had an answer for everything, and I guess that was where I got it from.“You are?” she shrieked, delighted. “Oh, Jack! Tom, Tom! Grace was right! Jack has a girlfriend!”I cringed at how high she was squealing to my father. I heard his baritone voice declaring, “That's lovely, darling, I'm so happy for him, but could you possibly turn down the strangled cat a notch or two?”I snorted into my fist.“Oh, what's she like, Jack? I must meet her. Oh, I'm so happy for you,” Mom babbled.“Honestly, Mom, I'm dating her, not marrying her.”“I know, I know, but she's your first girlfriend!”“No she isn't.”“Yes, darlin
If Patrick was telling me the truth, I should see him at some point today.I didn't think it will be quite the brother-sister reunion he was hoping for.Since Maggie explained the situation to the girls – and I thought she also told Jack, even if she wouldn't admit it – I was constantly surrounded. If there wasn't Maggie at my side, Kayle was, or Jack, or Leila. Even Josh walked me to class. That was creepy.My body was warring with itself. My gut told me that Patrick would be here while my head told me it was not possible. After all, if he had the money to travel across the country, he had it to pay off his debts. Right? Not in his eyes. As much as I wanted to ignore it, I knew he'll show.I fidgeted all the way through my classes. I barely listened to anything any of the professors said, and even Jack didn't joke his way through English like usual. He spent the hour running his fingers through my hair. Strangely, it relaxed me. A little. Sort of.When dinner approached and I still h
When she was lying in my arms, like she is now, she was vulnerable.Only, I didn't realize just how vulnerable she was until last night. I also didn't realize how strong she was, how much fire was in her.I looked down at her. Her hair was fanned across my pillow, and her lips were parted slightly, her breath crawling over my bare chest. She looked peaceful when she was sleeping, like there weren't a thousand demons running around in her head and her heart. Like she wasn't protecting herself from anything and everything.My hand moved from its resting place on my stomach, and I smoothed hair away from her face. She sniffed and moved closer to me, causing me to pull her even closer. My lips pressed against her forehead, and she slid an arm across my stomach, her fingers brushing the bare skin above the covers.I was not sure when I started to care for her so much. It could have been the day at the beach when she told me about her Mom, or it could have been when she went crazy at that g
“I remember finding her. Her parents were out of town on business, and her Mom hadn't heard from her so she asked me to check on her. I went.” My hands shook, and my voice was flat, my body numb to the emotions as the night I discovered her played in my mind.“Abby? Abby, are you in there?” I had knocked on the door frantically. “I'll break in if I have to! C'mon, Abs, your mom is worried about you.”Nothing. She didn't reply. I banged harder. “You have five seconds to reply or I'm coming in!”I counted in my head using the Mississippi numbers. One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. Three Mississippi... We might not have talked in a month, but she was still my best friend.“Okay, I'm coming in!” I warned one last time and stepped back, kicking the lock on the door a few times. The wood splintered, and I held it open. I stopped dead at the sight before me.Abby was lying in the bath fully clothed, the tub half full with her arm hanging over the side. Blood dripped from numerous lines and sc