Free That Summer (Part One) by Lauren Crossley Page A

it.”
    “Thank
God.” He exhales loudly, surrendering himself to the unyielding turmoil of his
emotions.
    It’s
clear for me to see how exhausted he is. God knows how many hours he spent in a
police cell before he got here and we both have school tomorrow. I realise with
a heavy heart that it is time for us to say goodnight and start to wonder if I
even have the strength to say goodbye to him.
    “You
must be so tired. You really need to go home and get some rest.” I advise him.
    He
interlaces our fingers and squeezes tightly, managing to encircle my entire
hand in his own.
    “I
don’t want to leave you… it’s not right you spending the entire night in the
house by yourself.”
    “I’m
used to it. It’s ok, I promise.” I lie, plastering an encouraging smile onto my
face.
    “What
if I stay the night? I can always sleep on the sofa down here or in a spare
room upstairs. I’m not trying to suggest that we…” He fails to complete his
sentence,
    “You
would really do that?”
    “Of
course.”
    “But
what about your mum? Wont she be wondering where you are?”
    “I
highly doubt it. She doesn’t give a shit where I am so long as I’m not bringing
trouble to her door.” He replies bitterly.
    “And
what about your dad?”
    “Same
thing. He doesn’t care. He walked out on me and my mum when I was a baby. I
hardly see him and when I do all I can focus on is counting down the hours
until I can get the hell out of there.”
    “It’s
the same with my dad.” I admit, lowering my gaze to the floor beneath our feet.
    I’ve
always found it uncomfortable talking about him. I guess it’s because I find it
so humiliating that my own father has no interest in me whatsoever.
    “Where
is he?”
    “He’s
far away from here.” I whisper softly, furiously blinking away my unshed tears.
“Remember that day we first bumped into one another at college and I dropped my
phone?”
    “Of
course. I’ve replayed that moment in my head a thousand times since then.” He smiles
softly, causing butterflies in my stomach.
    “Well,
the text message you saw from the person that I now refer to as ‘Him’ is my
dad. He doesn’t care about me so I decided to stop caring about him. He doesn’t
deserve to be known as my dad, let alone be called by it.”
    “I’m
sorry, baby.” He exhales deeply. “He’s one selfish son of a bitch for turning
his back on you. I don’t understand how anyone could do that.”
    “It’s
ok. We can’t choose who our family are, right?”
    “That’s
true. I certainly wouldn’t have chosen my parents if I had any say in the
matter.”
    He
wraps his strong arms around my waist and pulls me close, stroking his
fingertips through the brown strands of my hair.
    “Do
you have any brothers or sisters?” I ask, trying to change the subject as well
as put some distance between us.
    The
closeness between me and Cole is enough to make me tremble and I’m afraid that
if I stay in such close proximity to him, he’s going to realise what sort of
affect he has over me. A single smile from him is enough to turn me on and I
don’t know if that comes down to me being a virgin or the fact that Cole is
ridiculously gorgeous. Either way, I’m embarrassed when it comes to my body’s
physical response to him.
    “Nope.
I’m an only child.”
    “Same
here.” I mumble, willing my heart-rate to slow down.
    “You
see, we have more in common than you first thought.”
    “Maybe.”
I reply softly. “But that doesn’t change the fact that you can’t be here right
now. We both have to get up tomorrow and it’s nearly four o’clock in the
morning.”
    “Ok,
ok. You sure you don’t want me to stay?” He offers, glancing towards the couch
as though he’s seriously considering spending the night there.
    “No,
I’ll be fine. I’m just going to go straight to bed.”
    “Make
sure you lock all your doors and windows, alright? And I’ll come and find you
at school tomorrow. Don’t be worried or