Through to You (25 page)

She never asked me about that day at my audition, at least
not the part about Penn. And I never asked her why she told him where I was, or what he said to her to get her to tell him. The irony isn't lost on me. This whole time I was pushing Penn to talk about how he felt, telling him it was important not to keep things buried inside, and yet I refuse to talk about my breakup with anyone.

It's the last week of school and I'm standing at my locker before class.

Suddenly there's a tap on my shoulder.

I turn around.

My heart drops into my stomach.

It's the school nurse.

“Well, well, well,” she says, giving me a smile. “Harper Fairbanks. We finally come face-to-face.”

I swallow, not sure what to say. “I'm sorry,” I say finally, pasting an innocent expression on my face. “Do I know you?”

“Oh, don't pretend like you don't know who I am,” she says. “I'm the school nurse. And you, my dear, are overdue for your physical. I really have no idea how you managed to escape my clutches for so long.”

She holds up her clipboard, where she's printed out my yearbook picture from last year. Wow. Talk about psycho.

I sigh. “Listen,” I say. “I don't—”

“Well, you have to.” She cuts me off.

And then, suddenly, out of nowhere, a voice comes through the crowd. “Harper! There you are!”

I turn around. Penn.

My heart clenches when I see him, and the fact that he's saying my name makes my pulse race.

“Harper,” he says urgently. “Where the hell have you been? We have to get out of here!”

“What?” I'm confused.

He winks at me, and then I realize what he's doing. He's trying to get me out of this. “We're late for our interviews.”

“Oh, right!” I say. “Our interviews!”

“What interviews?” the nurse demands.

Penn gives her a reassuring smile. “We have interviews with a Yale recruiter,” he says. “We're going to be the first students in the history of this school to even get into Yale. Isn't that exciting? We're going to be in the newspaper.”

She narrows her eyes. “But Harper needs to come with me to the—”

“We have to go! The principal knows all about it. He'll tell you.”

Penn starts hustling me down the hall, leaving the nurse standing there, staring after us in bewilderment. I can tell she doesn't really believe us, but she doesn't know for sure.

“Thanks,” I say shyly once we're safely out of sight and standing by the cafeteria doors.

“You're welcome.”

This is the part where he should turn and walk away, but he doesn't. Instead he just stands there, looking at me.

“You do know that she's probably going to just try to find me tomorrow, right?” I ask.

He shrugs. “You've avoided her this long. You'll figure something out.” He grins, that same little grin that made me fall in love with him. It makes me sad that it isn't mine to love anymore.

“Yeah.” I know I should turn to go, but I can't. It's like my feet are rooted in one spot.

“You look good, Harper.”

“I got into the choreography program,” I blurt, because I don't know what else to say, and I have to say something, because if I don't, I'm afraid he's going to turn around and walk away.

“You did? That's amazing. Congratulations.”

“Thanks.”

“I might be going to Duke, or UNC.”

I swallow, then ask the question anyway. “Baseball?”

“We'll see. I have my surgery right after graduation.”

“That's awesome, Penn. I'm really happy for you.”

“Thanks.”

The bell rings then, and everyone starts to move toward their classrooms. The hall is quiet and silent now, and yet we still stand there, acting like we're not supposed to be in class, acting like it's not strange that we're talking.

“Harper,” he says. “I still miss you. I think about you every day.”

I want to say it back. But I can't do it. I can't let him back in again. “Take care of yourself, Penn.” I turn around before he can see the tears starting to run down my cheeks.

But he calls my name. “Harper?”

I turn around.

“My dad's an alcoholic. That's why you've never been to my house. My mom and my brother act like it's not happening, that when he disappears, he's just on some business trip or something and not out on a bender.”

I suck in a breath. “I'm sorry,” I say. “I had no idea—”

But he cuts me off. He crosses the space between us in two long strides, until he's so close to me, it hurts. “You once told me,” he says, “that I needed to take a chance. That I needed to let you in. And I did, Harper. It took me longer than I wanted it to take, and I'm still working on it. But I went to the doctor, and I just told you about my family. I'm a work in progress.” His eyes are burning that intense, sexy look that he always gets when he's being sincere about something. “And now I'm asking you to take a chance on me.”

He runs his hands up my arms, and a little shiver slides up and down my spine.

“Penn,” I say. “You hurt me so bad. You have no idea how much I cried and how much I missed you.”

He pulls me close, and this time I let him.

I close my eyes and inhale his scent—Axe body wash, peppermint, and laundry soap. I missed him so much.

“Take a chance on me, Harper,” he says. “And I'll never hurt you again.”

I know it's a promise he can't really keep. No one can promise they're never going to hurt you. But I know he's being
sincere. I know he's trying. He's asking me to take a chance on him, the way I asked him to take a chance on me, and on us.

And the truth is, I want to. I want to be with him.

He stands there in the empty hall with me, just holding me, rubbing my back and letting the emotions wash over us.

Finally I pull back. “Okay,” I say. “Okay, I'll take a chance.”

He smiles and takes my hand. Then he leans in close and whispers into my ear, “You want to get out of here?”

I smile. “Always.”

And then he's leading me through the halls, and past the boys' locker room, and out the side entrance. The air is warm, and the sun feels good on my face.

“Where should we go?” he asks once we have our seat belts on.

I smile at him. “Surprise me.”

He puts the car into reverse and pulls out of the parking lot and onto the main road. I think about the first day we met, how we drove out of this same parking lot and I had no idea where we were going. But that's how it is with the best journeys, I decide. You never know where you're going to end up until you're there.

I roll down the window and let the warm summer breeze blow through my hair. Our journey might be just beginning, but I'm already right where I'm supposed to be.

Also by Lauren Barnholdt

Watch Me

One Night That Changes Everything

Sometimes It Happens

The Thing About the Truth

Two-way Street

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

SIMON PULSE

An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division

1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

www.SimonandSchuster.com

First Simon Pulse hardcover edition July 2014

Text copyright © 2014 by Lauren Barnholdt

Jacket photograph copyright © 2014 by Jutta Klee/Corbis

Jacket floral design copyright © 2014 by Thinkstock

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

SIMON PULSE and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

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Jacket designed by Karina Granda

Jacket photograph copyright © 2014 by Jutta Klee/Corbis

Floral design copyright © 2014 by Thinkstock

Interior designed by Hilary Zarycky

The text of this book was set in Cochin.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Barnholdt, Lauren.

Through to you / by Lauren Barnholdt. — 1st Simon Pulse hardcover ed.

p. cm.

Summary: When bad-boy Penn reaches out to cautious Harper, a tumultuous relationship blossoms, and the two learn that their bond may not be strong enough to overcome their obvious differences.

ISBN 978-1-4424-3463-9

[1. Dating (Social customs)—Fiction. 2. Love—Fiction.] I. Title.

PZ7.B2667 Tj 2014

[Fic]—dc23

2013048226

ISBN 978-1-4424-3465-3 (eBook)