Page 23 of A Sky Full Of Stars

She bites back her smile before turning to face the screen, and I can’t help but smile to myself.

I miss this. I miss Summer. I miss our relationship.

I’m going to be better. I have to be.

The following Friday night, Luke throws another party, but this time I don’t make an excuse to stay away. In fact, I seek him out for information, wanting a chance to chat with Lainey again.

Luke stays by my side for most of the night, and I almost call him out on it, needing to know if he’s babysitting me. Trying to catch me sneaking away. But by eleven p.m., I have my answer.

“Come on. Just one shot,” he says, handing me said shot, not taking no for an answer. “I’m starting to stress, man. I haven’t heard from Heartwood U about next year, and I don’t want to go anywhere else. I need that scholarship. It’s my life.”

I pause with my fingers wrapped around my glass. Luke is one of the most optimistic people I know. If he’s telling me he’s worried then we’re beyond minor freak-out mode. He never lets the small things get to him.

“You’ve still got time. The offers have only just started going out and—”

“I know, I just… What the fuck will I do if I don’t get it?”

“If I got in, you will.” I push his drink closer to his hands and stare at him pointedly. It’s not a lie. He’s a great football player, but he’s also really smart. He’s that guy that finishes atest in record time without even having to try, and because of that, everyone assumes he’s failing. But I know the truth—he’s helped me multiple times. It seems we’re all a little messed up about our futures—Luke, me…Lainey.

Lainey.

I can’t sneak away from him now. Not after that confession. Not when I know what he’s going through. The unknown. The worry. I have to be there for him. No matter how badly I want to be somewhere else. So I stay, knocking back shot after shot, keeping Luke company. At least, I watch as Luke knocks back the shots. I only participate about every fourth glass.

We talk about a lot of things, but Luke doesn’t bring up college again, and by the time the party ends and his parents come home, he’s ready to pass out. Not wanting to leave him alone, I somehow manage some pleasantries with his mom, hiding Luke’s drunkenness, before walking us both into the living room and dumping him on the couch, almost falling myself. My eyes threaten to close, but I hold strong, and when the house finally falls quiet, I’m on a mission.

After heading into the yard, I stand below Lainey’s window, wondering how to get her attention. I’m about to call out when I kick a rock and an idea comes to mind.

It’s not until I miss my target twice that I have to admit I might be more drunk than I first thought. But the next few tries make that perfect littlepingsound against the glass, and all’s right in the world again.

I launch another rock just as Lainey peers through her curtains, making me freeze in place. She quickly closes them again as if startled, before slowly opening them wider, followed by the window. All while I just stare at her like a statue waiting for her to notice.

“What are you doing?” she whisper-yells the second she sees me, snapping me out of my weirdness as a smile lights up my face.

“I’m saying hi,” I yell back, louder than I should before covering my mouth. “Sorry,” I yell again, my eyes flashing to the stairs.

Her room sits above a flat part of the roof, next to a deck with stairs that lead to the yard. It’s how I got up there when I dropped off the present. It’s really an oversight by her parents. Although, maybe that’s why it’s Lainey’s room instead of Luke’s. He’d be sneaking girls in every night.

“Stay there.” She shakes her head as she flips her leg over the windowsill. “I’m coming down.”

“Don’t be silly,” I finally whisper, trying not to laugh. “I’m coming up.”

Chapter Eight

Lainey

Iclench my teeth as Thomas runs up the stairs to my parents’ deck before proceeding to jump the railing onto the roof under my window. When he’s standing in front of me, he smiles, and it’s so breathtaking I forget to inhale.

“Easy, peasy,” he says, bouncing his eyebrows as he leans against the house.

“You’re crazy.” I giggle quietly. “You know that, right?”

“Never. That was me being smart. If I’d kept yelling from down there, I would have woken your parents.”

He rocks slightly, and I realize he’s been drinking. His bold move to come up here should have given that away, but I was too caught up in the fact that he was here, wanting to see me.

“They’re more likely to hear you standing a couple of feet from their window,” I say, looking toward their bedroom.

“Then invite me in.” He stares at me like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. Meanwhile, my heart stops working as I consider having him in my room again.

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