Free Straight Laced by Jessica Gunhammer Page B

stand on the opposite side of the bed as Tori and Brent because they didn’t know about everything that was going on between Nate and I and I wasn’t sure if I was ready for them to know yet.
    “Well, I’m getting hungry . I saw a food court downstairs, so Summer and I will go check it out and let you get some sleep. Do you want us to sneak you anything back up here?”
    “No , I’m good, thanks for asking.” I gave Nate one last smile before I turned to follow Tori out the door. “Summer,” I heard him say my name. The sound of my name leaving his lips gave me butterflies. I turned to him. “Thanks again, for everything.” I wasn’t sure what the “for everything” meant. I had only stayed with him that one night that he knew of, and all I did was sleep next to him. I wasn’t sure what to say to that, so I kept it short and sweet.
    “Of course.”
     
    ***
     
    “So how do you think your brother is doing?” I asked Tori when we fi nally had our food.
    “Good now that Nate’s awake. I was really worried about him there for a while.” We made ourselves comfortable at one of the small round tables. “I wanted to tell you thank you for making him promise to get some sleep the other night. I know that’s the only reason he actually stayed home. He was turning into a walking zombie and my mom or I could hardly say two words to him without him lashing out at us.”
    “Yeah , I could tell he was getting pretty worn down.” I took a bite of my salad. “How are you doing?”
    “Bett er. It still freaks me out to think that could have been Brent. It even freaks me out to think about Nate lying there in the ditch, but I think it’s slowly started to fade away and that whole night is starting to feel more like a dream, ya know?” I could see Tori’s eyes staring at me as I was zoning out.
    “Are you okay?” she asked. I saw the concerned look in her eyes. I didn’t realize that mine were filled with tears. I swallowed the lump in my throat and looked up at the ceiling in an attempt to make the water in the rims of my eyes disappear.
    “Yeah , I’m fine.”
    “No , you’re not.” She scooted her chair closer to me and gave me a hug. “Tell me what’s wrong.” I was relieved I was able to make the tears disappear.
    “I don’t really know. I guess I just feel kind of…guilty?”
    “Guilty? Why do you feel guilty? Nothing that happened that night had anything to do with you.”
    “I didn’t tell anyone , but when he woke up that night, one of the first things he said to me was that he was sorry. He had just been through all that and almost lost his life and the first thing he wants to tell me is he is sorry.”
    “Sorry about what?”
    I proceeded to tell her what was said and what had happened that day at the restaurant. Then I told her about the fight with my parents after telling them I wasn’t going to school. She just stared at me. So much had happened that I had forgotten to tell her anything about what was going on in my life. But that didn’t seem important to me anymore. None of it did. All of my problems seemed so little compared to someone almost losing their life.
    “I…I don’t understand it , Tori. I don’t understand how one person can come into my life and change everything. The weird thing is that he’s encouraged me to finally have that life I’ve always wanted but have always been to afraid to go after. But…” I paused and looked down at my food.
    “But?”
    “But I want him to be a part of it. Do I sound crazy? I do, don’t I?”
    “Yes.” I looked up at her and she smiled at me. “I’m totally kidding with you! No , you don’t sound crazy and I’m like super excited right now!”
    “What? Why?”
    “Because! You and Nate would be the perfect together!” Just as she said it, I saw Brent behind her. He turned around and left the room. “I’ve told you this before and I’ll tell you again and again. You need to go after him! Especially after all