forward to getting home and riding Rusty
across the silent desert.
Matt took her hand on the table. “I’m really
going to miss you, Selena. I haven’t enjoyed myself this much since
New Mexico.”
Selena had finally worked up her nerve. “Do
you think I’ll ever see you again?”
Matt threw back his head and laughed. “I
guarantee it. One way or another, we’ll see each other again.”
Selena smiled, the tension easing from her
shoulders. She really wanted to believe him, but she knew there
would still be eight hundred miles separating them.
They chatted quietly for a while, their
heads close together, until Selena knew she had better go. She
still had to get through security and find the correct gate.
Matt still hadn’t got around to asking her
his question. He hadn’t found the right time or the right way to
phrase it and he didn’t want to embarrass her, but still he
wondered…had she been waiting for the right guy and, if so, did she
think he was that guy? He didn’t think the airport was the right
place to discuss a girl’s virginity, but still…he had to wonder.
And, if she had been waiting for the right guy, he felt honored
that she’d chosen him. He held her tight and kissed her lips
repeatedly before he finally let her go, a gloom of sadness
settling onto his shoulders as he watched her walk away.
Chapter 17
Selena graduated with her class the
following day, smiling in her cap and gown while her parents
snapped pictures. She wished she could tell them just how much she
didn’t want to have her picture taken ever again, but she knew how
much it meant to them. A lot of the kids were having parties that
night, but Selena turned down the invitations. She only wanted to
sit at home quietly, without the noise and crowds. And besides, she
was hoping to hear from Matt. She sat alone in her room all night,
thinking of Matt and their night together. She paced her room for a
bit, then finally sat down in front of her old computer. She
wondered if she should just give up writing after all those
rejection letters, but she felt somehow compelled to write, as if
it would clear her own muddled thoughts. She began another story in
her anticipated mystery series, with her smart, strong lead
character, Trish off onto another adventure. She felt free as she
wrote, her mind quickly escaping into a fictitious world of her own
choosing. She wrote for hours, escaping into the life of Trish,
which was much easier than dealing with her own confused
feelings.
Selena loaded Rusty into the horse trailer
the following morning and set off to the west mesa for a ride. She
breathed a sigh of relief when she topped the hill of the mesa in
her dad’s old truck and looked out across miles of empty desert. It
looked serene and beautiful after the noise and crowds of L.A. She
parked the truck and then saddled Rusty as she enjoyed the
stillness of the desert. There was nothing as far as the eye could
see, except for a few rangy beef cows, and the silence almost hurt
her ears. She could hear a buzzing in her ears as the silence
engulfed her after all the noise she’d been subjected to. She rode
for hours across the desert, allowing Rusty to pick his way slowly
between clumps of sagebrush. She had no destination in mind and no
agenda for the day. Just her horse and a canteen of water. She
could feel all the stress and tension easing from her muscles as
she rode. No crowds, no pictures, no racing through traffic. That
made her think of Matt and the way he drove through traffic and she
felt a sharp pang in her chest. She missed him horribly and she
hadn’t heard from him at all since arriving home. She was still so
afraid that he was only using her and she prayed that wasn’t the
case. She hadn’t meant to give herself to him, at least not until
she felt more sure of him—it had just sort of happened.
She rode for most of the day, wandering
quietly across the desert, through canyons and washes. She took in
the
across the silent desert.
Matt took her hand on the table. “I’m really
going to miss you, Selena. I haven’t enjoyed myself this much since
New Mexico.”
Selena had finally worked up her nerve. “Do
you think I’ll ever see you again?”
Matt threw back his head and laughed. “I
guarantee it. One way or another, we’ll see each other again.”
Selena smiled, the tension easing from her
shoulders. She really wanted to believe him, but she knew there
would still be eight hundred miles separating them.
They chatted quietly for a while, their
heads close together, until Selena knew she had better go. She
still had to get through security and find the correct gate.
Matt still hadn’t got around to asking her
his question. He hadn’t found the right time or the right way to
phrase it and he didn’t want to embarrass her, but still he
wondered…had she been waiting for the right guy and, if so, did she
think he was that guy? He didn’t think the airport was the right
place to discuss a girl’s virginity, but still…he had to wonder.
And, if she had been waiting for the right guy, he felt honored
that she’d chosen him. He held her tight and kissed her lips
repeatedly before he finally let her go, a gloom of sadness
settling onto his shoulders as he watched her walk away.
Chapter 17
Selena graduated with her class the
following day, smiling in her cap and gown while her parents
snapped pictures. She wished she could tell them just how much she
didn’t want to have her picture taken ever again, but she knew how
much it meant to them. A lot of the kids were having parties that
night, but Selena turned down the invitations. She only wanted to
sit at home quietly, without the noise and crowds. And besides, she
was hoping to hear from Matt. She sat alone in her room all night,
thinking of Matt and their night together. She paced her room for a
bit, then finally sat down in front of her old computer. She
wondered if she should just give up writing after all those
rejection letters, but she felt somehow compelled to write, as if
it would clear her own muddled thoughts. She began another story in
her anticipated mystery series, with her smart, strong lead
character, Trish off onto another adventure. She felt free as she
wrote, her mind quickly escaping into a fictitious world of her own
choosing. She wrote for hours, escaping into the life of Trish,
which was much easier than dealing with her own confused
feelings.
Selena loaded Rusty into the horse trailer
the following morning and set off to the west mesa for a ride. She
breathed a sigh of relief when she topped the hill of the mesa in
her dad’s old truck and looked out across miles of empty desert. It
looked serene and beautiful after the noise and crowds of L.A. She
parked the truck and then saddled Rusty as she enjoyed the
stillness of the desert. There was nothing as far as the eye could
see, except for a few rangy beef cows, and the silence almost hurt
her ears. She could hear a buzzing in her ears as the silence
engulfed her after all the noise she’d been subjected to. She rode
for hours across the desert, allowing Rusty to pick his way slowly
between clumps of sagebrush. She had no destination in mind and no
agenda for the day. Just her horse and a canteen of water. She
could feel all the stress and tension easing from her muscles as
she rode. No crowds, no pictures, no racing through traffic. That
made her think of Matt and the way he drove through traffic and she
felt a sharp pang in her chest. She missed him horribly and she
hadn’t heard from him at all since arriving home. She was still so
afraid that he was only using her and she prayed that wasn’t the
case. She hadn’t meant to give herself to him, at least not until
she felt more sure of him—it had just sort of happened.
She rode for most of the day, wandering
quietly across the desert, through canyons and washes. She took in
the
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