Page 1 of Crossed Lines

CHAPTER 1

Willow

MAY

“I can’t believe you’re leaving me!” My best friend Macy flops down on my bed.

I pull the shirt that she laid on top of out from under her and fold it before putting it in my suitcase.

“It’s only for the summer,” I remind her. “And when I get back, we get to go to…”

“Italy!” we say in unison. We’re both enrolled to study abroad next semester. It’ll be our last year in college before we graduate and are thrown into the real world. We decided that we might as well go out with a bang. When one of our professors told us about the study abroad program in Italy for Education majors, we knew we had to do it. The only problem is… I don’t quite have all the money for my share yet.

Macy is lucky. Her parents have covered the cost for her, no questions asked. While I have a few grants to cover most of my school costs, my older brother, Sawyer, makes up the difference. The study abroad program has additional costs beyond what my typical semester fees are, but there’s no way I could ask him to cover that on top of everything else he’s done for me. I drained what little savings I had for the deposit, and now I’m working on getting the other half. However, it’s proving to be extra difficult since I don’t have a steady income. I babysit occasionally for a few families near the university, but it’s not consistent. My schoolwork is too much for me to get a part-time job.

I haven’t told Macy yet, though. I don’t want her to stress about my finances. I’ll figure it out. Step one of my plan is to spend the summer back home in Blue Haven, Georgia: the one place I dread going. I’m hopeful I’ll be able to find a summer job there, but it’s a small town, so fingers crossed someone will take pity on me and offer me a seasonal job. I just have to make sure I get the other half of the study abroad paid by August 1st, or I’ll lose my spot. It would kill me to see Macy go without me.

“It’s only three months,” I tell her. “And you can come visit any time. Sawyer would love to have you. He’d probably be happy to not have to entertain me for a little bit.”

“I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing Sawyer.” She wiggles her eyebrows at me, and I toss a pillow in her direction.

“Gross. That’s my brother.”

“It’s not my fault he’s hot!”

“Gag. He’s too old for you anyway.”

Sawyer is technically my legal guardian. Our parents died in a car accident when I was ten, and since Sawyer was already an adult, he didn’t think twice before signing every document saying he would take care of me. It was a lot for him to take on at twenty-two, though. I think I was a bit more than he bargained for. On the cusp of puberty and grieving both parents, I made life difficult for awhile. But we got through it, and now I don’t know what I would do without him.

“I’ll definitely come visit, though,” Macy says. “It’s going to be so boring in South Carolina. My parents are both working, and my sister just moved even further away. I’ll be sitting around all summer doing nothing.”

“Well, good. Blue Haven isn’t that far from South Carolina. I’ll show you around town. We’ll have a good time.”

“We always do!”

“Now get out of here. I’ve got to finish packing. Sawyer will be here soon.”

She pouts but hops off my bed. We’ve been sharing a dorm room for the last three years at college. We started off in a one-room with two beds but have since been upgraded to a room with separate bedrooms. It’s been nice to have my privacy, and I’m going to miss this place.

I finish packing all of my clothes and tape up the last of my boxes. Next semester we won’t be in this same dorm, and if all goes as planned, we’ll be in Italy for most of the semester anyway. Because of this, I have to pack it all up. Sawyer is coming to help me take everything back to Blue Haven since it won’t all fit in my car.

I’m zipping up my last suitcase when there’s a knock on our dorm room door.

“I’ll get it!” Macy shouts from her room. I chuckle as I roll my suitcase out of my room. Her crush on my brother is ridiculous.

Sawyer stands in the doorway, his brown hair pulled back in a ponytail. I don’t know when he decided to start growing it long, but now I can’t picture him without his man-bun. He and I both have our mother’s green eyes and our dad’s tan complexion, although Sawyer is in the sun way more than I am, so he’s a shade darker than me.

“Hi, Sawyer,” Macy says. I can’t see her face, but I imagine she’s batting her eyelashes at him.

“Macy. How are you?” my brother politely asks.

“A little sad that you’re taking my best friend away.”

Sawyer chuckles. “Willow hasn’t been home in almost three years. We all miss her.” His eyes move from Macy’s face to find me. “Hey, Wills.”

I rush into his arms, and he wraps me in a big bear hug. We’ve had our tough times, but nothing and no one feels like home quite like my big brother.

“It’s so good to see you,” I tell him as he releases me. I didn’t realize how much I missed him until this moment.