Page 57 (1/2)

A place where maybe I didn’t blame myself I’m not sure if I would ever really not blame myself for what happened that day, but I was one foot in that direction, which was one foot farther than I’d been

Who knew that all it would take was a southern boy and a meteor shower?

I relaxed a bit My face felt tight, and I was glad it was dark because I was pretty sure I looked awful My eyes felt swollen, ot when I was upset

I felt Nate’s war on his chest with my eyes closed I never wanted to leave here If I could stay in his arht now, his forever was safe

Several long htened and then released as a wave of es from that day crashed into me I had only talked about it once, and even then, all of the little things—the things that mattered—I’d kept to myself

But I didn’t want to do that anymore

“Malcolm was full of summer, you know? He looked likeblue eyes that pretty ot aith a lot He had dimples, freckles across his nose, and he bit the inside of his cheek sometimes It used to drive my mom batty”

That was an understateet hi worked

“It was hot that day”

Nate stiffened, inhaling deeply and then exhaling as he continued to stroke my head and hold me

My eyes were squeezed shut, and though I was here with Nathan, in Louisiana, in , relentless sun and felt the heat on my cheeks as I hurried down the sidewalk so fast Malcolm could barely keep up He’d worn a Bato shorts

I se fro for the trucks to drive by and collect

That afternoon, I’d been full of resentment and annoyance, and it killed s But I had to I needed to get it out I needed for Nate to understand even if I didn’t

Because Nate’s pain was as real as et to the place where I had been

“It icked hot in the city, like record heat, and he wanted to go to the park He’d bugged ht he was doing it just because he kneanted to stay ho Dead marathon on, and I hadn’t seen the show yet I just wanted to chill and watch it with my best friend, as in the Hamptons with her family”