Him by Carey Heywood (reading strategies book .txt) 📕

help or anything. Once we’re both dressed, we leave the room, Will locking the door behind us. I hold his hand as we make our way back downstairs. The party is still going strong, and we get a few knowing looks as we pass people, making it clear everyone knows what we were doing. We go outside and walk over to where Will's car is parked. Even in the dim light from the houses we can tell his car is not in the same position it was when he parked it. There is another car parked crookedly on the other side of the street. The back passenger side, behind the door, is dented.

"I am so sorry, Will." Claire Warner approaches us as we get closer to his car.

I can see now the other car is hers and has a similar dent, only on the driver side. Looks like she backed right into him. Will tells her it's fine, and they exchange insurance information. Will unlocks his car for me to sit in when I start getting eaten alive by bugs again. I'm sitting in the front passenger seat, messing with my phone when Jessica opens the driver's side and gets in.

"What are you doing?" I jump, dropping my phone between the console and the seat.

"Just felt like chatting. So Will popped your cherry, didn’t he?"

I put my hand on the handle, ready to just get out.

"He told you about Italy, right?"

I pause, looking back at her. "What about Italy?"

"I'm going with him. He didn't tell you?"

"You're making it up."

She pulls out her cell phone, holding it up so I can see a text message from Will.

So happy you are coming to Italy with me. We never should have broken up. I'm breaking up with SM before we leave.

I stop breathing. My head feels really heavy, and for a moment, I think I'm going to faint.

"I don’t believe you. You faked that somehow."

She passes me her phone. "You don’t think that's from Will? Why don't you press call?"

It's still on the text. There’s no way. I hit the menu button and press call. I hold the phone to my ear. I turn. I can see Will through the window. Two rings. I see his phone isn’t ringing. I knew she was— wait, he’s reaching into his pocket. He looks at the caller ID. He fucking smiles.

"Hello?"

I hang up the phone and drop it on the console. I'm frozen until I see her phone light up. Incoming call. Will. I look up at her, and she's smiling at me. God, I feel so stupid. I grab my purse and jump out of the car. I hear Will call my name, but I'm running towards Bravo's house. I see a couple kids I know getting into a car.

"Are you guys going home?"

"Sarah Miller?" Christie asks.

"Yes, are you going home?"

"Ah, yeah. Are you okay?"

"I have to get out of here. Can I get a ride?"

Chapter 19

Present

I look up at him. "Remember how the bugs kept biting me so I sat in your car while you were exchanging insurance info with Claire?"

He nods, chewing on the side of his bottom lip.

I take a deep breath, lifting my hand to spin my ring. "Jessica got in the driver's side and told me about Italy, showed me a text you sent her."

Will shakes his head. "She lied. I didn’t even know she was going until we got to the airport."

I glare at him. "She showed me a text from your number that said how happy you were she was going. That you made a mistake breaking up with her."

I go to push his hands from my knees, but he grips them tighter. "Sarah, I never sent her a text, and I sure as shit did not regret breaking up with her. I didn’t know her family was going to Italy until I saw them at the gate. I swear."

"Her family? She never said her family was going, and I saw the text and then she had me call the number from the text, and you answered and when I hung up you called back."

"Yes, her mom, dad, and little brother. I have no clue what to tell you about the text. I know I didn’t send it, and I don’t remember a call that night, but I was freaking out about what my parents were going to do when they saw my car. If someone, anyone called, I probably answered, and if they hung up, I probably called them back."

We sit in silence, looking at each other. He seems so upset. I start to wonder if maybe Jessica somehow faked the text. Also, she had said nothing about her family going. That doesn’t seem as bad as just her going by herself with Will's family. Maybe if I had known that I never would have left the lake house that night.

"Was there anything else?"

I close my eyes, trying to block out the memory of what really made me run.

"Please, tell me what happened."

"I need a drink, maybe two."

"If I go get you drinks, will you still be here when I get back?"

I nod. I have lived with this for too long. I’m finally going to get it off my chest. He's back with my drinks, or rather shots, in no time, and I see he has a couple for himself. He hands me one, and we lock eyes before throwing them back. Rum. I put my hand out for the second shot once the first is down.

"Where did you go that night?" he asks, taking the glass and setting it with the others on a table behind his chair.

"Christie Howell and some other girl were leaving. I had my purse and got a ride home with them."

Will looks angry. "I was losing my mind when I couldn’t find you. I thought maybe someone had taken you, or you had fallen into the lake or, I don’t know." I pale as he drops his head into