“No, that’s okay.”
The bell rang before I could find out why.
Twelve Years Old
Sadly,Laura and I slowly stopped being friends.
At first, I would see her on the weekends, but then I’d either have plans with Joss, or she had plans with her new friends, and one day we just stopped calling each other. I was sad, but Joss was a good friend. My best friend. We were inseparable.
I’d come to learn that her mom was so mean. That first day of sixth grade, Joss hadn’t forgotten her lunch. Her mom hadn't made her one. It was weird. My parents always made sure I had a lunch before leaving the house. One time Joss slipped and told me they had no food in the house to eat except cans of Vienna sausages. That quickly changed because Mrs. McKenna—who I love because she plays card games with us—made sure she had something to eat. I can’t recall, but I think Mrs. McKenna found out Joss wasn’t eating lunch because she always came home starving. Some days, I would go over to Joss’s after her mom went to work, and we’d do homework or play with her little brother Bryce. I didn’t mind being in their trailers instead of my two-story house with a pool. It gave me an escape from my brother that was only into girls and football. Plus, if Joss and I were really lucky, Mrs. McKenna let us eat cake before dinner. She made the best chocolate cake.
“I can’t wait for tomorrow,” I exclaimed as Joss and I sat on her steps, painting our nails.
“Why?” she asked.
“Because I get to meet thefamousSeth.” All school year she talked about Seth, and I couldn’t wait to meet him.
She laughed. “He’s not famous.”
“You talk about him all the time.”
“I don’t talk about him all the time.” Joss rolled her eyes.
It was my turn to laugh. “Yes, you do.Seth knows how to play poker, Seth makes the best grilled cheese sandwiches, Seth—”
“You’re jealous.”
“I am not!” I lied. Joss was my best friend now, but tonight her other best friend was coming into town for the entire summer. What if she didn’t want to play with me anymore? What if she didn’t want to spend time with me?
“Don’t worry. You’re gonna love him.”
“What time doyou want Mom to pick you up?” Dad asked as we stopped in front of Joss’s trailer.
“Um … ten?” I knew we had plans to hang out with Seth, and Mrs. McKenna was cooking us dinner.
“Eight,” he affirmed.
If he knew the time, then why did he ask?“Yeah, whatever.” I got out of the car and walked between the two trailers that faced each other. As I got closer to the front doors, Mrs. McKenna’s opened.
“We’re in here. My mom is sleeping,” Joss called out to me.
Of course she was. It was ten in the morning, and Joss’s mom required no less than eight hours of sleep or she’d be even meaner to her. I’d met her a few times, and that was only when she was leaving to go to work. She always seemed annoyed with Jess. I didn’t understand it.
I walked up the two steps and into the trailer. As I passed Joss—who was holding the door open—I expected to see a boy sitting on the couch watching TV. But I didn’t see a boy. I saw aman. And not just any man, but the most gorgeous man I’d ever seen.
“Seth, this is my best friend, Cat.”
“Hello, Kitty Cat,” he said looking away from the TV.
His gaze met mine and I couldn’t speak, couldn’t say hi back. I’d thought Seth was fifteen. Fifteen-year-olds looked likethat? Seth had short, dark brown hair that wasn’t styled. It looked as though he’d just rolled out of bed.And his eyes …
His eyes were like the shallow water of a tropical ocean that was green, not blue. Ifor surecould stare into them for hours. My heart started to beat faster in my chest. God, he was dreamy.
3
Seth
Eighteen Years Old – Three Years Later
