The Chance: A Novel by Karen Kingsbury Page B

They stopped near a large bush, so if her dad was watching, he couldn’t see her saying good-bye. Again Nolan pulled her into his arms. “I hate this.”
    “Me, too.” She wiped at her quiet tears. “I have to go.”
    He put his hands on her shoulders the way he had earlier, and in the glow of the streetlight, they could see each other better. It was the first time she had ever seen Nolan’s eyes full of tears. His hands found their way to the sides of her face, and without either of them talking about it or questioning it, he leaned in and kissed her. Not a long kiss or anything, like in the movies. Just his lips against hers long enough that she had a hint of what he might have written in his letter. A hint of how much he cared.
    He held up one hand and mouthed, “Good-bye, Ellie.”
    Her voice was less than a whisper. “Good-bye.”
    As if each step physically hurt him, he backed away, andthen he turned and began running down the street, away from her and out of her life. Ellie dropped to her knees on the grass and buried her face in her hands. God . . . how could you let this happen? Her mother cheating, her father moving her away. And this last night with Nolan—when they could no longer pretend about being only friends.
    Her tears came fast and hard, the sobs as strong as they had been when she first heard the news about her mom, about the move to San Diego. They would miss their freshman year at Savannah High together, and she wouldn’t get to watch him play basketball. They wouldn’t sit next to each other at the school’s bonfires, and they wouldn’t go to dances together. They wouldn’t have another summer night beneath their old oak tree. It was all over, all behind them.
    The one thing that gave her strength to stand and make her way into the house, the only reason she could draw another breath at all, was the old metal box buried between the tree roots. The box and the letters and the possibility that remained eleven years from today.
    Their one last chance.

Chapter Four
    E llie had never run so far or so fast in all her life. Anything to get away from the terrible news.
    The backpack bouncing against her shoulder blades held everything she could ever need. Maybe she would never come back. Maybe she would go to Nolan’s and say good-bye and keep on running. Until she stumbled into someone else’s life. Anyone’s life but her own.
    Lightning flashed in the distance, and the air was hotter and more humid. Ellie’s breathing came in jagged gasps, but she didn’t care. With every stride, she felt herself move farther away from the terrible truth, her new reality. Her mom really was pregnant by someone else. Her dad wouldn’t talk about the baby’s father. But five minutes ago he’d told her the worst part.
    They were moving to San Diego in the morning. Which meant she wouldn’t get to say good-bye to her mom.
    There had been no time to get her bike. As soon as Ellie understood her dad was serious and this was her last night in Savannah, Ellie grabbed her things and started running. She hadn’tslowed since. Faster, longer strides. Her lungs hurt, but she didn’t slow down. Maybe she should run across the city to Ms. Lena’s house so she could at least hug her mother one more time and tell her good-bye. She had never loved and hated someone so much in all her life. Ellie felt tears slide onto her cheeks, and she slapped them away. Her mother wouldn’t care. She had cheated on her dad. All those nights when she came home super late she’d been with . . . with the other guy.
    When she could’ve been with Ellie.
    She felt faint, like she might pass out and die on the sidewalk. So what if she did? She would go to heaven, and she could skip this nightmare, the one she couldn’t outrun.
    Finally she reached Nolan’s front yard, just when she couldn’t take another step. Half crying, half gasping for air, she went to his front door and knocked. She didn’t think about how she must’ve