Sunkissed by Kasie West (popular e readers .txt) 📕

“That boy gets more visitors than the Pope.” She opened the door wide, resigned. We stepped inside, walked down a short hall and to the only room in the small building. A half-closed curtain left only a foot visible at the end of the bed.

“Hello,” Lauren called out.

“Hello? Come in,” Ian responded.

We stepped inside and around the curtain.

“Hey. How are you feeling?” I asked.

Ian now had a more professionally bandaged head, but his eyes looked sleepy and his face was a bit gray. “I’m okay. You guys didn’t need to come.”

Lauren shook her head. “We were worried. And we brought you some get-well chocolate.” She pulled a candy bar out of her back pocket. She must’ve gone to the camp’s general store or the snack hut sometime that morning.

“Thank you.” He seemed genuinely touched by the gesture. He took the candy and put it on the table next to his bed. Then he cringed like it hurt to move.

“You okay?” I asked.

“Headache.”

“That’s what happens when you go hitting rocks with your head,” I said.

“I know. Not smart.” He settled back into his pillow, then pointed to a folding chair that was leaning against the wall. “I guess only one of you can have a seat.”

“We don’t want to bother you,” I said. “You probably want to sleep.”

“No, I don’t want to sleep. I’ve been sleeping so much.”

The door creaked open and the nurse grunted. “Grand Central station.”

“She can’t wait for me to leave,” Ian whispered.

Brooks came into view. He took in the room: the curtain that hung from the ceiling, the glass jars of Q-tips and cotton balls, the blood pressure machine quiet in the corner. Then his gaze shifted to me and Lauren, like he was surprised to see us.

“Are you here to break me out?” Ian asked.

“How are you feeling?”

“Good enough to leave sick bay.”

“Nora won’t let you out until Dr. Casablanca clears you.”

“That sucks.”

For the first time since I’d met him, Brooks looked uncomfortable. Like he didn’t know how to stand or where to put his hands. He ended up leaning carefully against a counter, knocking over several boxes of gloves and then quickly righting them. “She’s coming from town, so it will be a while. Plus, Nora’s trying to get ahold of your parents.”

He sighed. “Great. My mom will demand I spend the rest of the summer in a layer of Bubble Wrap.” Apparently that wasn’t a joke because when I laughed, he turned his attention to me. “Your parents aren’t overprotective?”

“Not too bad.”

“Are you sure about that?” Brooks spoke up. “They brought you here of all places. Far away from home, no way to communicate with anyone.” His eyes were smiling, so it caught me off guard when he added, “Who were they trying to get you away from? Crappy friends? Bad boyfriend?”

I flinched a little without meaning to.

“Are you kidding?” Lauren said. “This is supposed to be a reward for her. Avery’s last big trip before she abandons us for life, apparently. They’re already mourning her inevitable departure. She’s always been their favorite.”

“Not true,” I said, a clear replay of how Dad had bragged about Lauren repeating in my mind. But was Brooks right? Was the “epic adventure” narrative my parents had been feeding me just a cover for the real reason we were here? This trip had been planned months ago. Had they not liked Trent? Shay?

“Totally true,” Lauren said. “I mean, look at her puppy dog eyes. She gets everything she wants.”

“Yes,” I said, straight-faced, knowing the longer I resisted, the longer Lauren would insist. And I was ready to be done talking about this. “That’s why I have a barn full of ponies and a convertible Porsche back home.”

“What would you ask for?” Ian said thoughtfully. “If you could have anything in the world?” I knew he wasn’t posing the question to me specifically, but to the room.

“Fame,” Lauren said without hesitation.

“Money. Lots of money,” Brooks said. That would definitely solve a lot of his worries.

Ian hummed as if thinking, then said, “I guess I’d want to hear myself on the radio once. Or be recognized in some way for my voice.”

“Like winning a music festival?” Lauren asked.

“That would be nice,” Ian said.

Now it was my turn. Everyone was waiting for me to say something. But wasn’t that the whole issue I was having this summer? That I had no clue what I really wanted? That I had zero passion for life? “I already said mine: ponies and Porsches.”

Before anyone called me out, the big voice of Kai was at the door. “Hey, nobody told me there was a party happening.”

Lauren laughed louder than the statement justified. Then the nurse was in the room, saying, “This is too many people. All of you out. He needs to rest.”

Brooks freed the walkie-talkie from his waistband and set it on the table next to the chocolate Lauren had brought. “Let me know if you need anything, Ian.”

“Okay.”

“I hope you get out soon,” I said.

“Me too.”

“Bye!” Lauren called. “See you at band practice once you get cleared.”

He nodded.

Kai smacked his leg and smiled. “Stop faking it. We have a song to finish.”

As we left the building, Kai and Lauren fell into step side by side, Brooks and I walking behind them.

“You’re sunkissed,” Brooks said, his eyes traveling my face.

“What?” Hearing Brooks say the word kiss in any form made my stomach flutter.

“My mom always tells me that’s the nice way to say sunburned.” He held his suntanned arm next to my pink one.

“Oh yes, me and the sun totally made out.” I poked at his arm, making a white fingerprint appear. “You get that tan from here?”

“Hours outside every day.”

“You should wear more sunblock.”

“Another thing my mom tells me.”

“I think I’d like your mom,” I said.

“Yeah…” His expression went dark with some unexpressed thought. “Yeah…”

When he didn’t go on, I nodded over my shoulder. “Have you spent a lot of time in hospitals with your dad’s illness?”

“Why do you ask?”

“You seemed…jumpy in there.”

“Huh,” he said.