Chapter Eight

Kate

 

Was I really that tired? No.

But I needed a break from Sam. As fun as the vast majority of today had been, my stupid teenage heart felt like this was a date the longer we were alone together, and I needed to snap out of it! A hormonal rush wasn’t worth jeopardizing a friendship of six years.

Even if he was interested now, what could we do with it?

So, yeah—I needed a break from his handsome face and warm hands and everything wonderful. I needed to drop him off and clear my head before graduation on Wednesday.

“Hey, Kate!”

I turned at the sound of my name to see Melinda—and Wes holding her hand.

“A good day?”

She grinned. “We were heading to the buses before we get stranded. It’s shocking how little I’ve seen of our class today. You’d think five-hundred-fifty-two people would be hard to miss!” She picked up a tiny porcelain dog from a shelf.

“I know, right? We’ll be leaving soon, too.”

“Sam, do you know Wes?” she asked. “I’m going to pay for this.”

Sam nodded to the slightly-shorter boy. “Yeah, we’ve had a couple classes.”

We chatted until Melinda got to the cashier, then they left and we moved to the next shop. I wanted to find the right souvenirs for my siblings—good but cheap.

Sam was ever-indulgent as I searched.

It’d be easier if he was like most boys and complained about girl habits.

Finally, I’d grabbed a cute pendant for twelve-year-old Kristi and candy for eight-year-old Peter. My little brother was a quiet kid who only really liked books and Legos.

The zipper on my backpack moved. “Hey!”

“You never buy for yourself, so I did it for you. Look when you get home.” Sam tucked a small bag into the main compartment and resealed it.

“You didn’t have to—”

His finger landed on my lips. “I wanted to, so zip it, Miss Carson. Today was about memories, right?”

Though his touch was long gone, my skin burned. “Yes.” I nodded. “Thank you.”

We left the store and soon walked under the entry arch, then faced the exit gate.

The buses had pulled out, leaving empty space that made it easier to find my car. I unlocked the Toyota and sighed when I sat behind the wheel. It was good to sit down.

“Today was fun.”

“It was,” I replied.

“What are you doing tomorrow besides rehearsal?”

They’d walk us through graduation at the field. “I don’t know. Veg. Maybe a trim.”

He nodded. “I don’t start my job until Saturday.”

“Lifeguard…hope you’ve invested in sunscreen.”

“Now you sound like Mom.”

“Mama Jane is a wise woman.” We slowly rolled in traffic toward the nearest exit.

“Yeah…but she doesn’t need to hear it.”

I laughed. As mature as Sam often was, he was still a teenager when it came to his parents, a new adult who wanted to be seen as a grown man.

The Cords lived near the historic center of our town in a former farmhouse. I took the freeway the short distance to our exit and passed the street that led to my 1970s house in favor of climbing the hill. With our entire little city going to our one high school, the district would either have to start building another campus, or keep finding space for more portable classrooms. The population wasn’t going to stop growing any time soon.

I hoped we didn’t change too much. I liked the small-town feel with all the access to bigger exciting things. While I wanted to perform in Los Angeles, I never wanted to live there.

“The last time you’re driving me home as a classmate,” Sam said.

I turned onto his street. “Getting sentimental now?”

“Maybe. Yeah. Everything changes Wednesday.”

We stopped in front of his driveway. “Thought you were excited to go to college?”

“I am.”

But?

“Nothing will be the same anymore, though, and I’m aware of it.”

I shook my head at his forward thinking. “I’ll face that hurdle when I get there.”

He opened the passenger door, stood, then placed my bag on the seat like always and flashed me his typical grin. “See you at rehearsal.”

“Yup!”

“Drive safe, Kate.”

“Always.”