Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 65683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 328(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 219(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 328(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 219(@300wpm)
I groaned. “God?”
“No. Worse. It’s me.”
Why did it’s me sound more terrifying?
“Tru?” I rasped. My head still pounded, and I was still confused as to how much time had passed between my hit from Brady at practice and now. “What day is it?”
“Are you that drunk?”
“No.” I tried to sit up, but my head wasn’t allowing it. I was so dizzy. “I think I’m dying.”
“Because you partied?”
“No.” I held my head in my own hands and turned toward her. “Because I got a concussion.”
She froze. “Who’s checking on you?”
“The guys, why?”
She got up and started yelling profanities. I didn’t really know who she was yelling at, but my head hurt worse and worse. A door slammed, opened, slammed again, more yelling. God, the yelling, why?
“You should have checked on him every few hours!”
“I did! I swear! I got distracted, my girlfriend—”
Was someone getting hit?
“No, dipshit! Someone could have died because you’re an idiot. God, how do you even survive on air?” She was screaming. It was shrill. Was she defending me? Protecting me? Or just trying to get them to leave so she could put a pillow over my face?
Did I hear any of that right?
“Yes, you’re right, I’m sorry, I’m an idiot, I’ll do better.” Brady’s voice was shaking. What did she do? Grab a machete and hold it too close to his precious tattoo sleeve?
“No!” she yelled. “This is serious, dumbass. Just go stay with your girlfriend. I’ll go to his room, hydrate him, wake him up every few hours… and you call yourself a friend. If you were a toddler, I’d tell you to write an apology letter and post it to the fridge, but I’m not even sure you could actually manage to grab a magnet and put it on the paper at this point, let alone sign your own damn name!”
Huh, her loud voice was nice. I forgot about that. About getting scolded. I kind of loved it. I never got yelled at growing up. Instead, they’d given me trophies for just showing up, but the yelling… yeah, I could roll with that.
Wow, I really was delirious… and those participation trophies had been shit anyway.
I smiled and turned into my pillow. So tired.
“Nope!” Tru smacked me across the back.
“Ouch!” I growled. “That actually hurt!”
“I used my entire hand.” Why did she sound so proud? “You need to open your eyes.”
Shit, my eyes weren’t even open? How? Why? Oh yeah, concussion. I managed to at least open one.
All I saw was her pretty gaze and her smirk. “Can you open two?”
“Two plus two is hard sometimes.” I groaned. “I’m so tired.”
She braced my shoulders. “Listen, you’re probably fine, but I need you to look at me and communicate. Have you puked? Are you good? Just lethargic?”
“Fucking love hot nurses.” I laughed.
“Gonna make you pay for that, dipshit,” she answered. “And if you buy me a nurse outfit to be funny, I’ll murder you.”
I laughed so hard. “I would never.”
“You would.”
“I would.”
“Honesty looks good on you.” She flicked me on the shoulder.
“And nurse outfits would look fucking hot on you…”
She grinned. “Everything looks good on me.”
“I look good on you.” I started laughing, then winced. “It hurts.”
“I’m only helping you because I can’t have your death on my conscience. Just wait here, and I’ll grab my shit so I can lay next to you and set alarms to yet again make sure you’re okay. At this rate, will you graduate?”
“Please.” It was all I had. “Please, just…” I yawned. “I’m so tired; the hit was hard. Didn’t deserve it, was thinking thoughts.”
She paused. “What sort of thoughts?”
“Beaches. A pretty girl who stole my heart. Left my soul to die. And the sunset.”
She said nothing.
“Oh, and… the best kiss of my life, but it was probably a dream, right? I have a concussion. No way that actually happened because if it did, how could you ever possibly let it go? Fuck.” I laid my head on the pillow and felt my eyes well with tears. “It would make no sense. Right? Right? I’m so tired… night.”
CHAPTER 15
TRU
He was hateful in the most annoying way because it was easy when he reminded me of all our mistakes, but when he was semi-unconscious, my heart hurt. It hurt because it brought me back to the time that shouldn’t have existed. It brought me back to then…
Then
“What do you think?” Vaughan looked up at the stars. We’d been lying on the beach for the past hour. It was one of our favorite things to do. “Is that the Little Dipper? The Big Dipper?”
I laughed. “Do you even care, Harvard?”
“Oh wow, that hurt. It really hurt.”
“Yes, if I look with a magnifying glass through all the money and privilege you have, I can see a tiny heart breaking.”
He shoved me. His hair was messy and full of sand as he flipped me over onto the blanket. “And now? Can you feel how much my heart is breaking now?”