TRIP Page 16

  Sure enough, her speech was warm and funny and really summed up everything that encapsulated our shared high school experience. She talked about our collective memories, everything from sporting events to our favorite teachers to our daily life at St. Norman’s. She even gave a nod to the time Rymer set a new school record by downing fourteen French bread pizzas in the cafeteria, which caused him to stand up and take a bow as everyone burst into laughter and applause.

  She was killing it up there. I knew she would. On top of being super smart, the girl was a born performer.

  As the crowd’s laughter died down, her tone turned serious, steering the conversation toward the future that awaited each and every one of us. She talked about our hopes and our goals and about how scary it was going to be to start anew all over again.

  I was reminded yet again what my father had been trying to tell me all year, and started to freak out about not knowing what I’d be doing come fall. The only thing I knew about myself was that I’d never be able to sit in some boring classroom every day.

  As if Heather could read my mind, she wrapped up her speech by saying, “We know what we are, but know not what we will be.”

  The words hit home and were kind of exactly what I needed to hear right at that very moment. The thing was, maybe I didn’t know who I was, but I had to hold onto the things that I did know. As far as the future, that remained to be written. It was reassuring to know I wasn’t the only one dealing with indecision.

  After the ceremony was over, I went in search of my family. I found them almost immediately out on the oval lawn mingling with all the other parents.

  “Congratulations,” Dad offered jovially.

  It was great to see him in such a good mood. A bonus considering I was just happy enough that he didn’t show up to this thing drunk. He took some pictures of Claud and me, a few more with a couple of favorite teachers.

  It was then that I saw Layla walking across the lawn, her flowing white robe making her look like Stevie Nicks in the “Edge of Seventeen” video. She had a hand in a salute at her forehead, shielding her eyes from the sun as she scanned the crowd.

  I waved my arms over my head, trying to get her attention. “Layla! Over here!”

  Her face lit up as she scurried toward me, causing a huge smile to split her gorgeous features as she wrapped her arms around me for a hug. I lifted her up and spun her around before planting her on her feet again.

  We were laughing as I looked over at my family and caught the sidelong smirk Claudia was aiming at me. She knew too damned much.

  “Hey, come meet my sister,” I said, directing her toward the Wilmington brood. “Layla, you remember my parents. And this is my older sister Claudia.”

  Lay’s jaw dropped as she greeted Claud with an enthusiastic, “Oh my gosh! It’s so nice to finally meet you!” before throwing her arms around her for a hug.

  My girl was so charismatic and sweet, even my cynical sister wasn’t immune to her charms.

  Layla knew Claudia’s secrets; Claudia knew mine. Thankfully, aside from a suspiciously knowing smile at their introduction, nobody said a word.

  My father asked the two of us to take a picture together, so I put on an evil grin as I lunged for her. Lay was already laughing her head off as I scooped her up in my arms and Dad snapped the shutter.

  I put her down and turned toward my family. “Hey, guys, do you mind if we take off to say hi to a few more people? I’ll pit stop back home when we’re through.”

  “Of course, honey,” my mother offered magnanimously. “Your father, sister, and I are going to have dinner in the city. Would you and Layla care to join us?”

  Lay and I met each other’s eyes as she bit her lip. “Actually, Ma, we have a party tonight.”

  “But thank you,” Layla added.

  We said goodbye to my family and went to find the Warrens. Layla’s brother and father were only a few yards away, talking with Lisa’s parents. I shook hands with the dads before they launched into a paparazzi-level photo shoot, every combination of the five of us: Lisa, Pick, Layla, and me. Layla and Lisa. Layla and Bruce. Me and Pick.

  Finally, Lisa declared, “Enough!” and we all made our escape.

  We all started to make our way down to the parking lot as Layla and I lagged behind, our slack allowing us to run into Heather. Lay basically jumped on the poor girl to give her a hug and compliment her awesome speech. I was practically beaming while Layla convinced Heather to go to Rymer’s party. I kinda loved that she felt it was important for her to be there. Heather hadn’t ever hung with our circle before, but better late than never.

  We said our goodbyes to Heather, and as Lay climbed into her car, I told her I’d pick her up in an hour. I didn’t even think about it. It was just understood that we’d go together.

  Chapter 23

  LOVE AT LARGE

  I made a quick stop at home to ditch my graduation gown and change into jeans. I’d been tipped off that it was tradition for all the kids at St. Norman’s to wear white on grad night, so I switched out my blue button-down before barreling back down the stairs.

  My parents were waiting to see me before taking off for their dinner in the city. The TRU Times Square was only weeks away from its grand opening, and my father wanted to be there for the restaurant’s dry run. Thank God I wouldn’t be home until late, when hopefully, everyone would already be asleep. Let Claudia deal with the old man’s drunk ass tonight. She owed me for all the years I’d been doing it alone.

  Just as I was getting ready to cut out, Dad’s voice boomed through the house. “Terrence! Don’t leave yet. Come in here first.”

  My posture deflated as I turned in the direction of his command, and rounded the corner to find both of my parents sitting on the leather couch in the library. Dad was still nursing his first drink, but I knew his sobriety wouldn’t last very long. It was nice while it lasted, though.

  “Glad we caught you. Your mother and I wanted to give you your graduation present before you took off. Here.”

  He handed me a small package wrapped in silver. I tore off the paper, opened the box... and was met with an American Express credit card.

  Platinum.

  With a Sky Miles logo stamped in the corner.

  And my name embossed along the bottom.

  “My own credit card?” I asked, stunned.

  “That’s a no-limit card, you understand,” my father offered proudly. “Accepted everywhere.” He and my mother shared a guarded look as he added, “And at every airline.”

  “Just be careful with it,” Mom added.

  I was kind of speechless as I turned the thing over in my fingers. “Thanks, Dad, Mom. This is...” I didn’t have the proper words to show my gratitude. I couldn’t believe they were finally on board with my travel plans, with my quest to find myself. Not only that, they were volunteering to fund it.

  I gave them both a humongous hug before tucking the thing into my wallet and beating a hasty exit out of there. I was a little choked up by their gesture, and needed a minute alone to pull myself together.

  I checked my hair in the hall mirror before grabbing my keys and hopping in my truck, pulling into Layla’s driveway three minutes ahead of schedule. But before I could go to the front door and retrieve her like a goddamned gentleman, she came bouncing down the front steps.

  And Jesus. The sight that greeted me stopped my heart.

  She was wearing this knockout white dress that made her look like an angel. The gauzy fabric danced around her legs, tickling the skin just above her knees. She didn’t have her usual big crunchy hair going on, and the brown mass floated in bouncy waves over her bare shoulders.

  The sight paralyzed me. So much so that I didn’t realize I’d forgotten to open her door until she was hopping into the passenger seat. She met my eyes timidly, swiping her fingertips through the left side of her hair, tucking the strand behind an ear studded with three sparkling diamonds.

  I couldn’t contain the goofy grin on my
face as my eyes traveled up and down her body.

  My girl.

  “Hey Chester,” she teased.

  I swallowed hard, giving myself an extra second to find my voice. “That is one hell of a dress.” She blushed, lowering her gaze to her lap as I added, “You look good. Like, real good.”

  I hoped I wasn’t overdoing it, but I was sick of tip-toeing around this. We’d done it for ten months.

  Ten months too long, if you ask me.

  She returned an embarrassed “You too” before I threw the truck in gear and navigated us back up the hill toward Rymer’s.

  The lawn was littered with a million cars. I parked in an empty patch of grass before we both got out and met at my front bumper. But before we could make our way toward the house, I stopped her with a hand at her elbow. “Hey, Lay-Lay?”

  She looked at the spot where I’d lain my hand, swallowing hard before asking, “Yeah?”

  “We’re okay, right?”

  Her warm eyes met mine. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t we be?”

  I considered getting into everything right then and there, this Big Unspoken Thing between us that we still needed to address. But then I thought better of it. Rymer’s front yard wasn’t exactly the place to get into any sort of in-depth discussion.

  “Never mind. It’s nothing. Let’s head inside before Rymer drinks all the beer.”

  She laughed as we made our way around the house to the backyard and onto the deck where all our friends were already partying away.

  I said hello to the guys hovering around the keg while I grabbed a couple of beers.

  When I handed one to Layla, she took a quick sip before saying, “I’m starving. We should have stopped at BK or something on our way here.”

  Rymer whacked his forehead in a V-8. “Oh yeah! I forgot, I bought a shit-ton of chips.”

  “I’ll get them,” Lay offered as she disappeared inside the house.

  Lisa had a wicked smile on her face as she said, “Not charging for beer... you bought snacks... Rymer, I’m impressed. Did you get a heart transplant or something?”

  “Yeah, DeSanto,” he snapped. “Same place you got your lifetime membership card to The Bitch Club.”

  We all just stopped and stared at him for a beat before we exploded in laughter at his stupid comeback.

  Lisa flipped him the bird and headed inside.

  I was left to talk with the guys. They were all acting like not a day had gone by since I was part of their inner circle. I was grateful for that.

  Rymer gave me a nudge. “Some new tail at this party tonight, huh.”

  “Yeah,” I said. “Good luck getting any. They may be new to the scene, but you’re still you.”

  He snickered at my dig. “I don’t know, man. Margie has been eyeing me up all night.”

  “You think everyone’s eyeing you up.”

  While I was recovering from his friendly-though-not-entirely-painless punch in the arm, I spotted Heather Ferrante standing a few feet away with Becca Bradley. “Hey Heather!” I yelled, drawing her into our circle and running down the introductions. “You guys all know Heather, right?”

  Sarge immediately stepped up. “No, but I’d like to.”

  Damn. Smooth.

  Within minutes, Sarge had hijacked Heather’s attentions, Cooper took over wingman duties with her friend Becca, and Rymer was busy playing Man of the Hour, leaving Pick and me to play DJ.

  He threw on a Zeppelin CD and held his cup out to me in a toast. “Good riddance, Saint Norman’s.”

  “I’ll drink to that.”

  We took a swig before he asked, “So. Did you figure out what you’re gonna be doing next year?”

  “Not sure yet.”

  Pick shook his head. “I can’t believe you didn’t even apply anywhere.”

  I shrugged and explained, “I knew if I got in somewhere it would be too hard to turn them down. I don’t want to burn any bridges for next year.”

  “I guess that makes sense.” He mulled my words over before asking, “So what’s the plan? Cross country trip? Backpacking through Europe?”

  The AmEx card burned inside my wallet. “I told you. I don’t know yet. Travel, yeah, but who the hell knows where I’ll decide to go.”

  “My vote would be Tahiti.”

  “Tahiti, huh?” I asked absently, glancing past him in the hopes of spotting Layla.

  He noticed.

  He gave a quick scan behind him before facing me with a smirk on his face. “So, I see you two came together tonight. You uh... You hittin’ that yet or what?”

  “Like I’d tell you if I was.”

  “That means no.” He erupted into a full belly laugh as he clapped me on the shoulder. “You two have been dancing around this all year. It shouldn’t be this hard.”

  I huffed out a breath that was half-laugh, half-sigh. “When it comes to the two of us, it sure as hell hasn’t been easy.”

  * * *

  After a few too many hours of signing yearbooks, reminiscing, and exchanging addresses, I finally caught up with my girl out on the deck. Sneaking up behind her, I wrapped an arm around her middle, nudged my lips against her ear, and asked, “Having fun yet?”

  She giggled as she returned, “At a Rymer party? Oh sure. Fun, fun, fun!”

  I laughed as I released my hold on her. With all these people surrounding us, I didn’t want to spark any rumors.

  Didn’t mean I was happy about letting her go, however.

  Then again, putting a little distance between us allowed me a better view. I scanned my eyes down her body, leering at her like a depraved lunatic. “Jesus, Lay. I still can’t get over this dress. I almost feel like I should take you out of here to ah, you know...” I darted my eyes around the crowd before I leaned in, buried my face against the hair at her ear, and whispered, “go dancing.”

  She smacked my arm and chastised me for that one. “Tease.” Then she raised sheepish eyes to mine as her tone turned serious. “Actually, I was hoping we could find a private place to ah...” she leaned in to whisper, “go talk.”

  I would have busted her chops for giving me a hard-on right there in the middle of the party, but instead, I registered the weight of her request. There was still a ton of things that had gone unsaid between us. “Yeah. You’re right. I figured we’d be having this conversation sooner or later.”

  She scrunched her nose to answer, “No time like the present, right?”

  I snickered and gave her hand a quick squeeze. “Let’s make the rounds to say goodbye and I’ll meet you back at my truck.”

  “Sure thing, pal.”

  Chapter 24

  HEART CONDITION

  We’d debated the best place to go, but I figured we’d have the most privacy at my house. When I pulled in the driveway, however, my father’s car was there. I could only hope against hope that he was already passed out.

  “Shit. They’re home.”

  “So?”

  “So, I brought us here for some privacy. We’re not gonna have that if my whole family is here. You want to hit the diner instead?”

  We got out of the truck and headed up the front walk as Layla teased a look over her shoulder. “I’m sure we could find one empty room in this place, Chester.”

  “You really need to stop calling me that.”

  She was in the process of trying to stifle her giggles as I unlocked the front door and ushered her inside. The whole house was dark. Good sign.

  Layla’s mouth gaped open as she swiveled her head around the space. I got it. The first sight of this house pretty much stunned me speechless, too.

  “This place is a real shithole, huh?” she asked, causing me to snicker. I could tell by her face that she was impressed. Money can’t buy love, but it improves your bargaining position.

  Just then, the hall light flicked on upstairs and my old man’s voice echoed through the foyer. “Terrence? Is that you?”

  It was imperceptible to most, but I heard the fucking slur in his voice. I shu
ffled Layla into the sitting room off the foyer, blowing him off with, “Yeah, Dad. Just me and Layla.”

  Lay shot me a guilty look as Dad boomed, “Kate Warren’s girl? What are you doing bringing that whore’s daughter into my house?”

  I don’t know how long we stood frozen in that foyer, Layla’s jaw dropped wide open and my eyes practically bugging out of my head, but it felt like an eternity. It felt like shit. I turned toward her, embarrassed and empathetic, but before I could even attempt to apologize, she darted out of the house and bolted down the driveway. I was torn between wanting to run after her and wanting to run upstairs to beat the shit out of my father. I chose the former.

  I booked down the length of the driveway assuming she was already halfway down the street, but I spotted her sitting on the curb near our entrance gate. She had her face in her hands and her shoulders were shaking.

  Seeing her like that infuriated me. My hands clenched at my sides, fighting the urge to go back in that house and give the old man what he had coming to him. But doing so wouldn’t help Layla, and right now, helping her was more important.

  I never knew how to deal with a crying girl. I didn’t know what to say, so I just avoided saying anything as I sat down on the grass next to her and let her cry.

  “It’s true,” she said.

  Her pronouncement startled me. “What is?”

  “What your father said. About my mother. That she’s... that she’s a...”

  “Layla, stop it.” It ripped my heart out to hear her talking like that.

  “No. I told you that my mother wasn’t around, but I didn’t tell you the whole story. She left us, Trip! She was cheating on my father with some loser before she just up and left us for the guy. I haven’t seen her since. And everyone knows about it. Including your father.”

  Bullshit. What the hell did my father know anyway? What did anyone know?

  “My father is an asshole.”