Page 26 (2/2)

By the ti Tears pour down er overtaking host, distant e freedo away fro to stop flowing, whenand I wonder who the hell would be calling this early

Quickly pulling ether, I wipe my tears away, then lean over to pick upscreen When I see Nova’s naht be wrong "Hey, is everything okay?" I ask as I quickly answer it, worried she’ll be able to tell I’ve been crying

"No" She sounds strange Not necessarily sad, but like she’s repressing so it in her voice and i insidebe wrong

"A lot of stuff really, but I…" Her voice catches, her e out "I have to tell you soet mad at me"

"Okay… what is it?" I ask cautiously She doesn’t say anything right away and I can hear a lot of coround "Where are you?"

"At the airport" She sounds guilty "The Seattle airport"

A bundle of e up on her Nova’s here In Seattle This is bad Really bad I’m not prepared for this And I wanted to prepare ain Wanted to be co irlfriend down

"You’re here In Seattle Seriously?" I can’t conceal ain, just fro down the sketches and photos

"I know you said you didn’t wantupset "But soet away fros and headed to the first place I could think of"

"You ht?" I ask worriedly, not just because she’s sitting in the airport by herself, upset, but because soh that she just took off "Just up and left Just like that"

"Yeah I just really needed to get away before o to you or have a ht?"

"It was a pain in the ass," she promises me "I was on a plane for six hours and norht"

"I bet" I’ to process that she’s here Onlyat the airport now?"

"Yeah… I’ure out what to do next," she saysa taxi down and coet it if you don’t want me to do that"

I wonder what she’d do if I said I couldn’t see her Would she just hang around in the city or get on a plane and fly back home? That’s probably the best option, since I’ain

But the idea of her being so near andherto et you"

"Are you sure?" she asks "Because I don’t want to force you to do anything you don’t want to do"

God, she’s killing ood

"Yeah, of course I’ain, I’ to have to rip off the Band-Aid

"Thanks," she says, getting choked up "And Quinton, I’ myself on you like this"

"You don’t need to be sorry," I say, openinga shirt "Now stay put I’ll be there in about twenty to thirty o into my father’s room to ask him if I can borrow the car He’s hesitant at first, until I tell hiives me the keys and tells esture is, it means a lot to me, and I wholeheartedly thank him

I have to let the car thaw out for about five minutes and let the frost melt away from the windshield, so I cli up the heat After about four rings, he picks up, sounding extremely exhausted

"This better be really important," he says, and then he yawns "Because I a person"

"Nova’s here," is all I say, staring up at the gray sky as the sun begins to rise and kiss it with a hint of orange