Anything Goes on a Friday Night (23 page)

We all swore to keep in touch after graduation, no matter the distance. But I knew how things changed. We all did. We couldn’t promise anything. But tonight, we did, and tonight was all that mattered. We could worry about the future later.

B
EING AT HOME WAS
getting harder than ever. I spent a lot of time at the library doing homework, picked up more hours at work, and was with Finn when he wasn’t working, which was almost never lately. Finn and I had been dating for three weeks, but it didn’t feel like it. We talked at school and on the phone, but since that night at my house with the pizza, we hadn’t had any alone time together. We hadn’t even kissed yet.

Thankfully, tonight Finn and I were going on a real date. Just us. I had just finished getting ready and was walking out of the bathroom when Nancy came down the hall. I didn’t talk to her anymore. She was always unhappy, and I didn’t have the patience for her bickering. I avoided her until moments like this when I had to look at her to keep from running into her.

“Where do you think you’re going?” she snapped, standing in my way.

“Out with Finn. I already talked to Dad. He knows.”

“I make decisions in this house too!” she yelled.

“Okay, but then you need to talk to my dad about that. If he tells me I can do something, I’m not going to check in with you to make sure it’s okay.”

She grabbed the front of my shirt and slammed me back against the wood paneling. “What’d you say, little bitch?” Her nose was almost touching mine.

I looked away from her and didn’t say anything. You had to be careful with Nancy. She was a walking fuse, and even the tiniest spark could set off.

She shook my body and slammed me back against the paneling again. “Speak, you fucking piece of shit!”

I closed my eyes and willed back the tears. She was hurting me, but I refused to let it show. “Let. Go,” I pleaded through my teeth.

She shoved me into the floor, pressing both of her hands down on my shoulders, and started to kick me, but I scrambled across the floor and got out of the way before her foot could connect with my ribs. I screamed when she grabbed my hair and slammed my face against the wall. She knelt down beside me, holding the back of my hair, and put her face directly in front of mine.

“I could kill you right fucking now! Right fucking now, Elena!”

“Do it! I dare you!” I screamed back.

She let go and reared back to hit me, but I got to my feet and took off for the living room where my purse and keys were. She grabbed the back of my jacket, and I let my arms go limp so I could get out of it. I wiggled until I was free, leaving her with only my jacket in her hands. I grabbed my purse quickly and ran out of the house.

I fumbled with my keys until I was able to unlock my car door. Nancy ran outside with her phone to her ear, crying. I knew she was talking to my dad. She was telling him a plethora of lies. Tears sprang from my eyes because I knew he’d never believe me.

I got into my car and sped off.

I DIDN’T WANT TO
meet Finn’s parents like this. But after going to Jane’s and seeing that she and her parents weren’t there, it was the only place I knew to go. I had left my phone in the bathroom, so I had no way of warning Finn that I was coming over.

Once I got to his house, I put my car in park and hurried to his door. I knocked repeatedly until the door opened. A woman, shorter than me, immediately let me in. Her eyes matched Finn’s. I knew it was his mom.

“I’m so sorry to come to your house like this, but is Finn here?”

I was bawling and a complete mess. I knew mascara was probably running down my cheeks, and my hair had to be a rats nest. Finn must’ve heard me because he came hurrying into the living room where I was standing with his mom.

“Ellie?” he said in shock.

I burst into violent sobs, and his arms found their way around me. I cried as I gripped the front of his shirt. His mom was going to hate me after this. She would probably tell him that he needed to stay away from a basket case like me.

After I calmed down, I was exhausted. My eyes burned, and my throat was sore. My whole body ached. Finn and I went out to his truck, and he drove around, with me in the middle, cuddled up next to him. My feet were under me, and my face was buried against his neck. His right arm was around my waist and his other hand was on the steering wheel. I didn’t know where to begin. There was so much I hadn’t told Finn, and I was scared he’d be mad at me for not telling him all of this sooner.

I felt the truck come to a stop and opened my eyes. I picked my head up and looked at the water moving at a fierce pace. I loved this spot at the river. It was a few miles down from Tryston’s house and a dead end. If you drove any farther, you’d be floating downstream. Not many people knew about it, which made it even better.

We got out of the truck and sat on the hood of his old blue Ford. I pulled my knees to my chest, and Finn sat quietly next to me.

“I might be too much for you to handle. I should’ve warned you about me, Finn. If you never want to talk to me again after tonight, I get it. I won’t hold a grudge; I promise.”

“What are you talking about?” He looked nervous, and he should’ve been.

He was a great guy, happy, and had plans for his life. I didn’t want to be a roadblock for him and cause him unneeded stress. I looked at the river instead of him.

“My life is messy.”

“Why, because of Channing and losing your friend Dillon?”

I laughed bitterly. “I wish that was it. No. There’s more. My mom went crazy after my dad left her. Long story short, we couldn’t get along, and she kicked me out by changing the locks, leaving a note on her car window in the carport, and not talking to me for a while until she needed to tell me she was marrying a man who’s in jail. My dad married Nancy who is a raging lunatic. She gets mad easily and at nothing most days. Tonight was one of those nights. When she gets mad, she gets destructive. If she’s not throwing and breaking shit, she’s cutting up my dad’s clothes with scissors, hitting and scratching my dad, and anything in sight. When there’s nothing else left to be her punching bag, I get to be.”

Finn’s sharp intake of breath caused me to look at him. His jaw muscles were tense. I looked back at the river and wiped my eyes. “I don’t like being at home when she’s there.”

“What does your dad say about all of this?”

“He doesn’t say anything. He takes her side and tells me to stop being a bitchy little teenager. He says it’s my fault. Nancy has her good moments, but they are very far and few between. I don’t know, Finn. I don’t know what to do. The only stability in my life is you, Tryston, and Jane. Everything else is such a mess that sometimes I wonder how I even stay sane.”

“You think because you’re broken and have a shitty life outside of me, Tryston, and Jane, that I wouldn’t want to be with you anymore?”

“No, because you’re the kind of guy that would want to do good and take on a charity case like me. It’s just who you are. What I’m saying is that you don’t deserve this. You deserve a girl who can take you home to her functional family and have normal dinners. Go do things with her dad or her brother that isn’t nonexistent. I don’t know what I’m trying to say exactly. I just want you happy and not caught in the middle of my hell.”

“Are you okay?”

I shrugged. “I am now.”

“What’s different about right now that makes you okay?”

I looked at him. “You.”

His eyes latched onto mine, and I knew that if I wanted to look away, I wouldn’t be able to; he wouldn’t let me.

“I’m not scared, Ellie. I’m not with you because of potential relationships with your family. I’m with you because I really care about you. I don’t care if I don’t have a normal relationship with you. I didn’t go into this with expectations that I’d have dinners at your house or some emotional attachment to anyone in your family but you. You can’t think like that, okay?”

I nodded. “I’ll try not to. I just want you happy, Finn. That’s all.”

“You are my happy.”

My lips formed a small smile. “Promise?”

“Cross my heart.”

Butterflies multiplied in my stomach. “Finn Kerr, you just might be the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

The corners of his mouth lifted into a full smile. “I’m damn sure trying to be.”

Happy tears trickled down my cheeks. “Thank you,” I whispered.

He had no idea how much hearing those words saved me. I scooted over until I was sitting right next to him. He nudged me gently, and when I looked at him, he pressed his lips against mine. His fingers knotted gently in my hair as he held the back of my head. His breathing matched mine, slow and steady.

I had never been kissed so carefully and tenderly in my life. I didn’t realize that until Finn kissed me. He wasn’t in a hurry, and he wasn’t kissing me like he wanted to get naked. He just kissed me. Simply and perfectly. When he stopped, he put his forehead to mine and laughed a little.

“What?” I asked, smiling.

“I feel like I’m floating.”

I laughed. “Looks like we have something else in common.”

He laughed, lifted my fingers to his lips, and kissed the tips of them. Then he moved back a little so he could look at me. He tucked my hair behind my ears and smoothed the back of my hair. He smiled and kissed my forehead.

“What do you want to do for the rest of the night?”

“What did you have planned before I ruined it?”

He laughed. “You didn’t ruin it. I finally got to kiss you. My night is made.”

“Okay, well… I’m hungry. Starving actually.”

He slid off the front of his truck and put his hand out to help me down. I took it and hopped off. I went to walk around to my side of the truck, but he grabbed my arm. I turned to look at him over my shoulder, and he gently pulled me until our bodies were pressed against each other. I looked up at him, and he kissed me again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

P
ROM IS GETTING CLOSE.
You and Finn plan on going?” Jane asked me while we soaked up some sun in my backyard.

“I guess. Who else would we go with? We haven’t really talked about it, but I’m just assuming we are.”

I was happy winter was over, and spring was here. One thing I appreciated about the South was that by April it was warm, a nice transition between the chilly winter and the scorching summer.