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"Yeah? What’s that?" I ask

"That you’re beautiful," he says, and I lie down on htly tothat," I say

"It’s only the truth," he says, and somehow, my face turns even redder

"Do you think, maybe…you can just stay on the phone? You knohile I fall asleep? It’s been kind of a shitty day And…I don’t know I just sort of need you tonight," I say I feel vulnerable and helpless and foolish at first, but Ty annihilates those fears in an instant

"I’ll be right here," he says, andeases

He reads some sports scores to me from his phone, then I listen to him watch Sports Center and oooh and ahhh over top plays My eyelids grow heavy, and I only perk up to react when he speaks more than a feords as the half-hour show closes The last words I reht and the way he calls me baby

Ty

Cass drifted off, and eventually so did I But I never, not once, ended the call She one fro

I love Thanksgiving in our house My h to s we really want, and h for a week’s worth of leftovers This year is eggrolls and lasagna The entire house stinks, but in a good way--e I think that extra stench tacked on is frorolls

I treat myself to a handful of shredded na tray back into the fridge, so she can tirolls She slapsher hands at the sink, I go in for onewith pride that she can’t stop me

"I need the keys," I say, and Dad tosses them to me from his spot on the sofa He’ll be there for most of the day

"You make sure you’re home in an hour You know your brother won’t want to wait to eat," Mo," I tease, and Nate reaches over the counter to the sink, flinging a handful of water at er-free holiday, for Pete’s sake?" Mom says

"I don’t knoho Pete is, but tell hih as I push backward out ofwater at me next, but it’s too late So instead, she just flips me off "Gosh, Mom You’re such a hypocrite," I joke

"I’ot it" I cross h the front door and head down the ra the van is always easiest, because I can load my chair and lift myself to the driver’s seat The hand controls are better on this thanfor me She lives only a few miles from my parents’ house Jared is home, and her parents are at the house I had to pro today, but I’ selfish, even if he isn’t using He’s being selfish with his tiet to their house quickly, but as I’ the corner, I see Jared bound down the driveway, his keys dangling fro to the store to get so somewhere else

Paused at the corner, I wait for him to back out of the driveway and speed down the street in the other direction before I turn and stop short of Kelly’s house She won’t want me to do this But I have to Kelly deserves answers, and I’m her friend I realized recently that I’m her best friend And as that, I need to do this

Instead of pulling in, I keep driving I follow the path Jared took down the street to the end of the block I catch his cara left turn, so I speed around the corner to catch hiht as I round the last corner he took, and I speed forward again, saying a silent prayer for the cops to be on my side today, to be lenient, and not to be anywhere I aht on the busier road, and I position myself a car or two behind him so he won’t notice me We drive for about ten minutes, several rocery stores and convenience stores--all open for holiday hours He’s not running an errand Or, at least, that’s not his real reason forthis trip