Never Let Me Go (9 page)

“I get Skylar back from her mother’s on Sunday.” He sounded a bit uncomfortable, like he was afraid that he’d run me off. “I work all day and then I pick her up in the afternoon—I’m sorry. I just think it’s best if I don’t introduce her to someone right away.”

I nodded, understanding his reasoning. I could remember meeting a bunch of my dad’s girlfriends as a child, and how much it fucked me up inside when things didn’t work out between them. Besides that, my mom always moved
way
too fast with guys—six men had lived with us in ten years, and she’d gotten married to two of them.

“I totally understand.”

“How’s Monday for you?”

I shook my head. “Monday’s no good. I have an interview with Pat at Buck and Doe’s and if things go well, I could be starting work that same day.”

I felt his chest rise and fall as he huffed in frustration. His lips were on my hair as he kissed my head. “So then when can I see you?”

I turned around, using his knees to push myself up to my feet. I stood in front of him, taking his hands. He got to his feet as well, pulling me flush against him. “How about this? You get Skylar back on Sunday and I have to work Monday. I’ve
no
idea what my schedule is going to be like
if
I even get the job, so how about after the interview—which is at noon—you give me a call. I’ll let you know how everything went, and then we’ll go from there. If I got the job, we’ll go over my schedule and make plans. If I didn’t get the job, then I’ll be free anyway.” I laced my fingers at the base of his neck, grabbing a tuft of his slightly curly hair. “Whatever we have to do, I don’t care. I had a
wonderful
time with you, Hayden, and I would love to do this again sometime.”

He leaned forward, resting his forehead against mine. “Is that so?” When I nodded against him, he placed his hands at the small of my back. “I’m glad you had a great time, Michele.”

He leaned forward, and, unsure about whether he was trying to kiss me on the lips or on the cheek, I pulled away immediately.

I closed my eyes as I recalled the last time that I’d been kissed.

“I love you,” I said, my hands tugging at tufts of Brody’s sandy brown hair. His arms encircled my waist, holding me close as we swayed to the song that was playing. “I couldn’t imagine a more perfect way to spend this night.”

“Me too,” he said.

The words were like an iron fist in my gut. We’d been together for two years and I’d tried to get past the fact that he’d never told me that he loved me. It hadn’t bothered me too much at first, because I knew how hard it was for him to admit how he felt about people. However, we were about to start our senior year, we were going to graduate soon, and I needed to know how he felt. I needed to know if he saw a possibility of a future with me so that I could make a decision about our relationship.

“Brody, seriously, tonight has been perfect. Thank you so much for everything.” I rested my head against his chest.

I stopped talking immediately as the music stopped playing and someone tapped on the microphone. I removed my arms away from him, turning so that I was beside him, my arm draped lazily around his waist.

“Ladies and gentlemen, could I please have your attention for the crowning of junior prom king and queen!” Mr. Matthews, our vice principal said. “This year’s junior prom king is—Brody Durham!” I turned to Brody, a giant smile plastered on my face as his eyes lit up in surprise. “This year’s junior prom queen is—Michele Taggaro!”

I squealed loudly, grabbing Brody’s hair and kissing him on the lips. His arm circled my waist, pulling me closer as our lips embarked on a lover’s dance. It only took a few seconds for me to realize that his fervor wasn’t matching mine.

He was stopping.

Why was he stopping?!

His hands moved from my waist to touch my shoulders. He pushed me away just as the spotlight descended upon us. His eyes were wide and searching, his expression far away, as though he was there with me, but he wasn’t really there. “Michele, I can’t do this. I’m sorry—it’s—it’s over.” He turned and walked away from me without another word, leaving me standing there in the spotlight, mascara streaking my face, all alone as I cried.

“Michele,” Hayden said, waving his hands in front of my face. I blinked twice, registering where I was. “Hey, where’d you go?” The expression in his eyes was one of absolute concern.

“I’m here.” I shook my head, trying to shake off the memory of prom night. “Just…I’m not ready for that yet.”

He smiled, leaning forward and kissing me on the top of my head. “S’okay,” he replied, never once making me feel bad for it. “I’ll call you on Monday, alright?”

I nodded, feeling incredibly embarrassed that I’d spaced out in front of Hayden and
then
rejected him. I watched as he descended the front porch stairs, walking to his car and opening the door. He was about to climb in when I stopped him.

“Hayden!” I exclaimed, cupping my hands around my mouth. His head popped up and he folded his arms over the top of his car as he looked directly at me. “Just because we can’t schedule another date until Monday, it doesn’t mean that we can’t talk until then. Don’t be afraid to text me okay?”

He nodded, getting into the car. “Okay.”

I walked inside the house, closing the door behind me. I placed my hand on the door as I peered out the peephole, watching as Hayden drove away. Once his car was out of my line of sight, I slid down the door and buried my head in my knees.

“Don’t screw this up, Michie,” I said to myself. “Don’t screw this up.”

Chapter Six

“Let’s go in here!” I exclaimed, pulling Nickayla along, her hands already full of bags.

We’d been shopping for hours and outside of Bath and Body Works, I still hadn’t found a single thing that I wanted. My sister gave me five hundred dollars to start off my trip while I searched for a job, and Nic’s dad had given her three hundred until she started her internship at Vixen Magazine.

Shopping was my favorite thing to do, especially with Nickayla.

We walked into Victoria’s Secret, and the minute that we did, Nickayla’s face turned bright red. I nudged her as I headed for a black lacy bra, and she stood at the front of the store, looking as though she didn’t want to come any closer.

“I think I’m gonna go look at the perfumes,” she said, backing out of the store.

“Well I need a new bra, so I’ll meet you there later.”

I waited until she left the store and then I continued looking through the racks. When I found two matching bra and panty sets that I liked, I prepared to go and pay for them. I found a small, black, lacy negligée that I thought would look perfect on Nic, and then I grabbed a pair of underwear in her size to match with it. I took it up to the register, pulling out my debit card and handing it to the person who rang me up.

“Hi, how are you?” she asked; she was a perky blonde with a wide smile.

“I’m really good, thanks,” I said, returning a smile.

She rang up my items, and I examined the price. It wasn’t too bad, considering that I hadn’t made a purchase only for myself.

She started to put everything in a bag for me, and I shook my head. “Could you put that nightgown and the matching panties in a gift box for me? It’s a gift for someone.”

She complied and I swiped my card. “I really hope you found everything okay, and I hope you come back soon!” she exclaimed as I grabbed my bags.

“Thank you!”

I left the store, finding Nic sitting on a bench in the middle of the mall. She had her legs crossed, her cell phone in her hand. She appeared to be texting someone, so I walked around to the other side and came up behind her. I leaned forward and grabbed her shoulder where I knew she was incredibly ticklish, making her squeal and jump.

“Jesus Christ, Mich!” she exclaimed, putting her phone in her pocket and standing up. She grabbed her bags up off the floor and started walking.

I skipped so that I was behind her, grinning at the fact that I was able to tickle
and
surprise her at the same time. “So, who were you texting?” I asked, my eyebrows wagging up and down. “You sending flirty dirty text messages to Colin? I promise I won’t tell anyone.”

She averted her eyes, and then pointed at the Cinnabon sign.

“Let’s split a cinnamon roll!” Nickayla walked right over to the stand, ordering a large Cinnabon and two bottles of cold milk.

It wasn’t lost on me that she had avoided my question. That either meant that she
was
sending dirty text messages to Colin, or she was talking to Brody. It didn’t matter to me one way or another—I just enjoyed teasing her.

I pulled out my cell phone and pulled up the Facebook app. I had about two notifications and one message. It was from my dad, and I opened it up to read it.

From: James Taggaro

Hey, princess. I heard from Alyson that you’re in North Carolina for the summer. I’ve been thinking about you, Michele, and Gemma and I wanted to invite you over to visit with your brother and sister. Call me when you get the chance so we can talk about when you’ll be back in California and we’ll arrange a weekend stay or something. Love you. My number is (714) 555-6785, and if you can’t reach me there, Gem’s is (714) 555-0943. I hope to hear from you soon!

I typed out a response to the message. I had to admit, I was surprised that he’d messaged me, and that his wife actually wanted to invite me over to see the kids.

Gemma and I hadn’t exactly gotten along in…well, ever. And when the twins, Charlie and Rose, were born, she did everything in her power to keep me from seeing them. I didn’t know why she disliked me, but she did. I didn’t know what to think about the invitation.

Not to be rude, but if you and Gemma want me to come visit, I need to hear that from HER. She’s always had a problem with me and I won’t go somewhere that I’m not welcome. You have my number.

I closed the messenger app and then I posted a new status.

Spending the day at the mall with my bestest; this summer is going to be amazing!–with
Nickayla Quinn

I looked up from my phone to see that Nic was coming toward me with our Cinnabon and milk. I put my cell phone in my pocket, and crossed my legs.

“God, this looks so good. I don’t know if I want to share.” Nickayla laughed, setting down the tray. She opened up the container and handed me a fork, taking a bite of the warm roll. “So I was thinking that after this, we could head over to See’s. I want to get Colin a pound of his favorite candy.”

I nodded, taking a bite of the cinnamon roll for myself. “Okay, sure. Who were you talking to?”

I was pulling out all the stops. If she was talking to Brody, I wanted to know about it. I was worried about him. I of all people, knew what his home life was like, and summers were the worst, especially if he couldn’t succeed in getting his siblings out of the city while they were out of school. No matter how I felt about him, he was still, first and foremost my friend. I had no doubts that we’d get back to that eventually.

“No one special,” Nic said, her voice dripping with nonchalance. “Maybe after we finish shopping, we can take the bags to the car and see a movie or something? What’s out in theatres right now?”

I rolled my eyes. “Nickayla, stop that.”

“Stop what?” She flashed me her most innocent expression.

“Stop avoiding my question.”

“Avoiding what question?”

“You
know
what question.”

“I know nothing.” She shrugged, and I threw my hands into the air.

“Nickayla!”

I watched as she took a sip of her milk, flashing me nervous glances every few seconds. “Fine. I was talking to Brody. Are you happy now?”

I grinned, taking another bite of the cinnamon roll. “Ecstatic, actually.” I paused. “So how is he?”

She rolled her eyes, pushing the container away and sitting back in her seat. I could tell that she was slightly exasperated with me, but I couldn’t help myself. From childhood, it was me, Nic, and Brody, all the time. I couldn’t just turn any of that off, no matter how I tried.

“Are you sure that you want to talk about this?” she asked.

God, I loved that girl. She was always looking out for me. “Yes. I promise, hearing how he’s doing isn’t going to break my heart all over again.” I averted my gaze, pretending like I was looking at the design on the table. “I’ve been worried about him, Kales. I know we’re not together anymore, but shit like that doesn’t go away after a few days in a new town and one date with a new guy.”

She sighed, her gaze softening. “He’s fine. He, Cason, and Dalis are at their aunt’s house in Frisco. They’re fine, Mich. And if they weren’t, you know I’d tell you, whether you and Brody are together or not.”

I breathed a sigh of relief, glad to know that Brody was okay after all. I knew his history with his dad, and the best thing for him was to get himself and his brother and sister out of there as soon as possible.

“What happened between you two, anyway?” Nickayla asked cautiously. “I know Colin came over the night it happened, and I know that you and Brody are broken up. But what I don’t know is how, or why.”