could pretend.
“It was a long time ago, Callah.”
She nodded. “Yeah, it was. But for that one month, I was someone different. I liked that someone until you pushed me away.”
Riley was spared answering immediately when Glenda dropped off their orders. Once they were alone he watched Callah pop a tatertot in her mouth and figured she deserved the truth. He just wasn’t sure he could tell it the right way.
His dad was harping again. School. Grades. Clothes. His room. His job. Whatever he could focus on. Always negative. Always.
Riley let the words bounce off him. No sense arguing with a man who wouldn’t even listen.
Eighteen. Clueless. He had no idea what he wanted out of life. His old man kept asking, but it didn’t make a difference. It couldn’t change the way he felt. The emptiness he saw when he thought about the future.
“Your Momma’s sick, Son, and you’re nothing but a disappointment….”
Tired of hearing the same old you’re nothing but a disappointment nonsense he’d been listening to the last three years, Riley grabbed the keys to his bike and took off out the door.
The cloudless night was warm and humid. They’d predicted rain, and off in the distance, he could see a building storm light up the sky. But it was hours away. Maybe he’d ride to the storm. It matched his emotions.
He turned onto the dirt road that would take him to the school or to the lake depending on which direction he chose.
And there in the distance he saw her.
Callah Crenshaw.
Ethereal in her long white dress. Her blonde hair pulled on top of her head, long curls arranged around her head in a crown with a sparkly tiara resting atop it all.
He pulled the motorcycle up next to her and stopped.
“Going somewhere?”
She narrowed her eyes at him as if he’d suggested something entirely inappropriate.
“No. I’m out here walking down a dirt road in high heels and a prom dress and I’m not going anywhere. You should just mind your own business.”
He thought about doing just that. Callah Crenshaw wasn’t a friend. She wasn’t even an acquaintance. She was one of the group of kids on campus who made it their business to be better than everyone else.
But common sense and a sudden bout of chivalry stopped him.
You never knew what might happen around here, and Callah had never treated him with anything other than common courtesy. She wasn’t like the others.
“Hey, if you need a ride, I’m your man.”
She laughed. “I just bet.”
He shrugged. If she was going to be rude, he wasn’t going to hang around. He started the bike and prepared to leave but something in her eyes stopped him.
In that second something changed. He didn’t know what exactly. He only knew the normal wariness was gone.
“You change your mind?”
For the longest time she didn’t say a word. And then she did. “Yeah. I think I have.”
They spent the night riding around the lake laughing, sitting on a picnic table watching bugs on the water, talking about what they wanted out of life and where they were going.
Away tended to be the common theme. She wanted fame and fortune in California, he just wanted to escape. And then he’d ruined everything by asking her the question he’d been wondering all day.
“You going to tell me why you were walking down the road in your prom dress instead of dancing the night away.”
She looked at the dirt under the bench and then shrugged. “I don’t think I’m going to.”
He waited while she sat there watching him and he knew. Suddenly, inexplicably, he knew.
“Let me guess. Your hot shot boyfriend left you there.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Hardly. I left him.” She stopped talking when he smiled at her.
“How come?”
She shrugged. “He wasn’t interested in dancing at the prom with a party on the Hill. So I danced and he partied. And then I left.”
“He was looking for some hot prom night sex, huh?”
“He was looking for something all right.”
“You
“It was a long time ago, Callah.”
She nodded. “Yeah, it was. But for that one month, I was someone different. I liked that someone until you pushed me away.”
Riley was spared answering immediately when Glenda dropped off their orders. Once they were alone he watched Callah pop a tatertot in her mouth and figured she deserved the truth. He just wasn’t sure he could tell it the right way.
His dad was harping again. School. Grades. Clothes. His room. His job. Whatever he could focus on. Always negative. Always.
Riley let the words bounce off him. No sense arguing with a man who wouldn’t even listen.
Eighteen. Clueless. He had no idea what he wanted out of life. His old man kept asking, but it didn’t make a difference. It couldn’t change the way he felt. The emptiness he saw when he thought about the future.
“Your Momma’s sick, Son, and you’re nothing but a disappointment….”
Tired of hearing the same old you’re nothing but a disappointment nonsense he’d been listening to the last three years, Riley grabbed the keys to his bike and took off out the door.
The cloudless night was warm and humid. They’d predicted rain, and off in the distance, he could see a building storm light up the sky. But it was hours away. Maybe he’d ride to the storm. It matched his emotions.
He turned onto the dirt road that would take him to the school or to the lake depending on which direction he chose.
And there in the distance he saw her.
Callah Crenshaw.
Ethereal in her long white dress. Her blonde hair pulled on top of her head, long curls arranged around her head in a crown with a sparkly tiara resting atop it all.
He pulled the motorcycle up next to her and stopped.
“Going somewhere?”
She narrowed her eyes at him as if he’d suggested something entirely inappropriate.
“No. I’m out here walking down a dirt road in high heels and a prom dress and I’m not going anywhere. You should just mind your own business.”
He thought about doing just that. Callah Crenshaw wasn’t a friend. She wasn’t even an acquaintance. She was one of the group of kids on campus who made it their business to be better than everyone else.
But common sense and a sudden bout of chivalry stopped him.
You never knew what might happen around here, and Callah had never treated him with anything other than common courtesy. She wasn’t like the others.
“Hey, if you need a ride, I’m your man.”
She laughed. “I just bet.”
He shrugged. If she was going to be rude, he wasn’t going to hang around. He started the bike and prepared to leave but something in her eyes stopped him.
In that second something changed. He didn’t know what exactly. He only knew the normal wariness was gone.
“You change your mind?”
For the longest time she didn’t say a word. And then she did. “Yeah. I think I have.”
They spent the night riding around the lake laughing, sitting on a picnic table watching bugs on the water, talking about what they wanted out of life and where they were going.
Away tended to be the common theme. She wanted fame and fortune in California, he just wanted to escape. And then he’d ruined everything by asking her the question he’d been wondering all day.
“You going to tell me why you were walking down the road in your prom dress instead of dancing the night away.”
She looked at the dirt under the bench and then shrugged. “I don’t think I’m going to.”
He waited while she sat there watching him and he knew. Suddenly, inexplicably, he knew.
“Let me guess. Your hot shot boyfriend left you there.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Hardly. I left him.” She stopped talking when he smiled at her.
“How come?”
She shrugged. “He wasn’t interested in dancing at the prom with a party on the Hill. So I danced and he partied. And then I left.”
“He was looking for some hot prom night sex, huh?”
“He was looking for something all right.”
“You
Similar Books
