Page 2 of Crossed Lines

“You too. You’ve grown like a foot or something, haven’t you?” he asks.

I laugh. “I’m pretty sure I stopped growing like three years ago.”

“Well, something about you is different. You look… older. Where did my little sister go?”

“She’s still here. Don’t worry.”

He messes up the top of my hair, and I shove him away playfully. Goofing off just like old times.

“You ready to load up?” he asks.

I look around the dorm. “Yep. Let me do one last walk-through, but I think I’m all ready.”

Sawyer starts taking my boxes downstairs to his truck while I check for any missed items. When I walk out of my room, Macy is standing there with her arms outstretched, waiting for a hug. “Don’t forget your best friend,” she says as she wraps me in a hug.

“I could never.”

“Good!”

She releases me, and I smile at her. “I’ll see you soon, ok? And I’ll call or text every day.”

“You better!”

I grab my last suitcase and make my way down to my car. Sawyer has everything loaded into either my small car or his truck. He tosses me my keys once I’ve shoved my last suitcase in.

“See you at home, Wills.”

“See you at home.”

Home.

I hate this place. I can’t really identify where my hatred stems from, though. The people of Blue Haven have always been friendly, but maybe it’s the pity in their eyes when they look at me that I can’t stand. The memories of the family I once had.

Blue Haven, Georgia, is one of those towns that you see in the movies and think it couldn’t possibly exist anywhere for real. But it does exist, and this is where I grew up. There’s only one way into town, so you have to drive through Main Street to get to my brother’s house. Nothing has changed in the entire twenty-one years that I’ve called this place home. Sure, a few shops have come and gone, but the original brick buildings and overall vibes have remained the same. It’s comforting and depressing all at once. For someone who went through so much grief at such a young age, I have a hard time associating happiness with this town.

This is the same town my parents fell in love in. These are the same people who knew them. The same people who grieved their death alongside Sawyer and me. The same people who watched me grow up. The town is exactly how my parents would remember it, which makes it a little easier to swallow down my hatred of it.

There was a time when I felt like I couldn’t wait to get away from here. When I graduated from high school, I knew I would be leaving. Sawyer knew it too. He never tried to stop me, and he’s never asked me to come back. He was the only reason I was here anyway. On holidays, he’s always come to me, and during the summers, I usually kept myself busy with a class or two so that I could stay in the dorms.

Sawyer was surprised when I told him I wanted to come back home this summer and already asked me at least twenty times if I was sure. I’ve been away for three years. To me, this trip home has the potential to be a fresh start for me. And worst case, I end up still hating it and leave at the end of the summer with no return date. Once I’m officially graduated, the world is my oyster. I can live wherever I want. I’m pretty sure Sawyer wants that for me as well, and his opinion is the only one I really care about anyway.

It’s late by the time I follow my brother’s truck through Main Street, but with summer quickly approaching, the sun leaves just enough light for me to take in the town.

I roll my windows down and let the small town air cleanse me. I immediately smell vanilla and sugar coming from the ice cream shop. They’ve got their door open, and a family is walking out with huge waffle cones stacked with scoops of ice cream. Blue’s Diner gives me a whiff of French fries and coffee. I could definitely use one of their burgers right about now.

By the time we get to the end of downtown Blue Haven, we’re passing by the hole-in-the-wall bar that’s been here for longer than most of the people have. Roadside is packed as usual, and the neon lights in the windows and the loud music will attract even more people before the night is over. I haven’t spent much time inside there. One of Sawyer’s rules. He only took me in there a few times when we met up with his best friend, Beck. But I wasn’t allowed to go without him. Now that I’m twenty-one, I might have to make a trip there this summer. Maybe a few trips.

We pass a few more streets before Sawyer makes the familiar left turn onto the street where we’ve lived since I was ten.

Sawyer was living with Beck when my parents died, but as soon as he got custody of me, he used all of his savings to buy a small two-bedroom house. It wasn’t in the best shape when we moved in, but over the years, he’s really put a lot of work into it. It looks so good now.

When we pull into the driveway, I see he’s finally put some effort into the landscaping. He’s even planted a garden out front.

“Are those… dahlias?” I ask, stepping out of my car.

He shrugs. “Uh, yeah, I think so. The lady at the plant store recommended them to me.”

“The plant store? You mean the nursery?”