Series: Like Us Series by Krista Ritchie
Total pages in book: 241
Estimated words: 236417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1182(@200wpm)___ 946(@250wpm)___ 788(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 236417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1182(@200wpm)___ 946(@250wpm)___ 788(@300wpm)
“You don’t know what for,” I say, trying to cool him off.
“I do know what for. I know exactly what for,” Ben says, pulling out the safety pamphlet in the back of the seat as something to do. It’s better than him scratching a hole in his arm. “He’s told me what he’d like to do to Winona and Vada and my own sister in graphic detail—to piss me off, to get under my skin. He’s not the only one in Dalton who’d say this stomach-turning shit to me, and I tried to befriend them so they’d stop. But that…that was…” He looks sick.
Luna told me Ben did something to stop the T-Bags. To stop Tate from harassing Winona. She wasn’t sure what exactly.
Instead of prodding, I might break the seatbelt rules and go grab him a water from a flight attendant.
Then he says, “I couldn’t be their friends. So I made a deal with him.”
I let go of the seatbelt buckle.
Ben closes the safety pamphlet. “I knew he wanted Adderall. So I lied to my therapist, got a prescription, and supplied Tate with it throughout my senior year. I did the one thing I stopped talking to Xander for.” He swallows hard. “And Xander—he was giving antidepressants to someone who needed them. What I did—was so much worse.”
“Intentions were good,” I mention.
Ben lets out a pained sound. “Yeah. Tell that to Rose and Connor. My parents would be mortified to know their hypocrite of a son dealt drugs in prep school.” He picks at the peeling corner of the pamphlet. “I’m the worst Cobalt, and it’s by a landslide.” He says it like a fact.
“Nah, you’re not that bad,” I say lightly. “I think Charlie actively fights for that title.” It’s a risk bringing up Charlie with Ben, but he drops his gaze, thinking.
He slips the pamphlet back in the seat pocket. “I stopped,” he says. “After graduation, I was done, and I figured that I was the reason the girls were being harassed in the first place. It was all to provoke me.” His nose flares, his eyes welling. “But it wasn’t.” He bows forward, his face in his hands.
I put a palm on his back.
“Sir,” the flight attendant whispers. She mouths to me, Everything okay?
“Can I get a water?”
“Of course.” When she returns with one, I twist the cap and hand it to Ben. Sitting up, he takes a few swigs and tries to calm down. Hopefully talking about it helped some. I tell him he shouldn’t blame himself for something so far out of his control.
He mutters something about cause and effect. I dunno.
My worry shrinks when his breathing steadies.
“Why’d you bolt to the airport?” I ask him when we’re both relaxed back against the seats. He’s taking out his AirPods again.
“I just need to get home.”
Yeah. I nod.
I know the feeling.
Turbulence rattles us for a long extended five minutes, and I stare up at the ceiling. Please, plane, don’t let me die. I just wanna see her one more time.
75
PAUL DONNELLY
Luna is dead asleep when I’m finally back in PA. Don’t want to wake her. I could probably stomp around like Fred Flintstone, and she still wouldn’t stir. She’s cute, hugging a pillow to her body, and I imagine she’s wishing it were me.
My smile fades. Yeah, that hurts. We won’t be sleeping in the same bed when I move to New York. Hugging a pillow will be her new normal.
And my new normal.
Sharing a bed with Luna brings me comfort too. But to stay in Philly with her—it means I’d have to ask for a transfer off Xander’s detail or I’d need to end my career in security. I can’t. This time in Xander’s life—I feel called to be there for him.
I can’t quit on her brother. I’d regret it, and who knows, maybe this long-distance thing won’t be so terrible. We’ll make it work.
Orion is whining at me, so I take him for a nighttime stroll out in the gated neighborhood. I’m wearing the same gray Moody Blues tee from Vegas and the airport. Haven’t showered yet, but I bought a stick of deodorant during the layover. I don’t stink. I smell like a bouquet of honeysuckle. Like Luna. I’ve still got her scent all over me, and I hope long-distance won’t ever wash her off.
It’s a warm May. Crickets echo in the motionless quiet. I’m scrolling on my phone for websites that sell body pillows with printable photos. Orion sniffs the curb, then trots ahead.
We pass the Cobalt Estate. I dropped Ben off there for the night. I’d rented a car so we wouldn’t have to take a rideshare. One of his aunts or uncles would’ve picked us up at the airport, but the whole brood is in Vegas.
Did what I could. Got him home safely. Five gold stars to Donnelly.