Free Live for You by Marquita Valentine

amazingly cool.
    Her chin tips up.
“Co-captain this year.”
    “ I’m so in.” I pull my
phone out of my back pocket and enter the information into my
calendar. “Do you have a car? I‘m not allowed to drive.”
    “ I’ll have one that
night.” She pushes the screen door open and walks outside, then
sits on the first step and puts on a pair of old school roller
skates. “Be ready at five.”
    “ You skated
here?”
    “ It’s only five
miles.”
    My jaw hits the porch.
“Only five miles? I ran half a mile yesterday and nearly passed
out.”
    She shrugs, then blows her
bangs out of her eyes. “Endurance training.”
    “ Thanks for inviting
me.”
    Next are her elbow pads,
knee pads and helmet . My eyes widen. Oh crap. Lacey wasn’t joking.
    “ See ya later.”
    “ Later.” I watch as she
carefully makes her way down the stairs and the gravel driveway.
Once on the road, she waves, then sets off.
    It’s not until she
disappears around a curve in the road that I check my phone again.
10:15. Forty-five minutes, until I see Cole. Anticipation curls
through me, warming everything inside and making me forget all
about the fool I’d just made of myself.
    I head back inside, locking
the door behind me. A quick shower and I’m standing in front of my
closet, deliberating what to wear. Running clothes says: Hey Guy,
I’m just here to work out and thought I’d take a break.
    I frown. Not sure if that’s
message I want to send.
    Pulling out a strapless
sundress, I bite my lip. This one says: Hey Guy, I’m just traipsing
through the forest and talking to my bird peeps. Picnic
lunch?
    I hang it back up, close
the door and look at myself in the mirror.
    My extremely short hair is
smoothed down on one side, the purple tips giving it an odd
patterned look that I’ve grown to love. The towel around my nude
body falls to the floor. In the past I’d had moments of thinking
I’m too fat or too skinny, like any other girl, only my moments of
doubt usually preceded television appearances, magazine shoots or
awards shows. Sometimes the pressure of being perfect, of looking
perfect and acting perfect had made me either want to starve myself
or gorge on junk food.
    But that jagged scar. I
press my fingertips to my stomach, then trace the line. It’s thin
and faded, with a little help from a plastic surgeon. My parents
had insisted; I hadn’t given a damn. A part of me is glad that Dr.
Fitzgerald couldn’t magically make it disappear.
    On my hip, I had a bluebird
tattooed as soon as I wasn’t under house arrest anymore. My
permanent reminder.
    Some things should be
carried into the future, with the woman I’m trying to discover how
to be.
    “ I love you,” Jaxon
whispers, his hands tangling in my hair before his mouth lowers to
mine. “It’s me and you forever.”
    And some things should be
left with the girl I used to know.

Chapter Ten
     
     
     
     
     
    Violet
    When Cole arrives, he’s
alone. I was ready to take a chance on him, but his sister’s
presence was my safety net. Now there’s nothing between us and God
only knows what I could allow to happen between us.
    Something in my face must
have given me away, because he says, “Kelly’s in
school.”
    “ Oh. I’d forgotten school
had started. Sorry,” I say straightening the blanket I’d laid on
the ground. Only moments before Cole arrived I had thought it to be
cute and perfect, but now as he stares at me, then the plaid
material, all I can think is this is an invitation for
seduction.
    “ Why are you
sorry?”
    “ Because I don’t want
Kelly to feel left out.”
    A look of appreciation
crosses his face before he sits down beside me and stretches out
his long legs. “I didn’t tell her about your… workout schedule.” Today he’s
wearing worn-out jeans and a dark green t-shirt that somehow makes
his eyes bluer. “Never seen anyone exercise wearing
that.”
    My face heats and I glance
down at what I’m wearing. A denim skirt and soft yellow