Page 22 of Solitude

“But nothing. We’re all adults here.” And I smile at Ben and Gus who look just as uncomfortable as I feel. Clearing my throat, I tilt my head to my house. “I should get inside.”

“Winnie…”

“Maybe we’ll see each other again before the end of summer.”

Gus looks confused. Bless his heart. “It’s a small town, so I think we’ll see each other everyday of the summer.”

Keeping my grin plastered on my face proves to be a feat, but I manage even when it begins to feels more like a grimace. “Right.”

Beck swallows, flicks his eyes towards his friends then angles his body in front of me so he takes up all of my focus. “We should exchange numbers.”

“We should?”

Beck grins, lopsided and boyish. He scratches the back of his head as I stare at the dimples on his cheeks. “If you want. Here, give me your phone.”

I’m operating on autopilot as I slide my phone fromthe waistband of my shorts and pass it to Beck. He taps the screen then holds it out to me for the password, and I type it in quickly, still trying to catch up my brain up on what’s happening.

When he holds it out to me again, his smile is brighter, a little more confident and charismatic, and my heart feels too loud, thundering in my chest obnoxiously to see him looking at me that way.

“There,” he says. “Now you can text or call me anytime you want.”

“Why?” The question sounds utterly confused even to my own ears, and Beck’s smile drops slightly. “I mean… Do you want me to text or call you?”

Beck stares at me. His blue eyes roaming over my face like they did in the park, and I shift on my feet, squirming under his attention.

“Yeah,” he finally answers. “I do.”

A door bangs open behind me, and I startle, a gasp falling out of me as I spin around to see my mother’s angry face staring at the group we’ve formed at the fence. I watch her brown eyes take in my pajamas and disheveled appearance, the boy’s lack of clothing, and Beck’s proximity to my body. Her eyes darken in anger as she tightens her robe around her body and steps out.

“Winifred Hart,” Lorelai hisses, my back going ramrod straight at the use of my full name. “Get in this house right now.”

Without a backwards glance at Beck, I murmur out a quiet goodbye to the boys and hightail it into the house. Imove toward the stairs quickly, hoping I can get to my room, and to safety before she can say anything, but I only make it to the second step before she’s grabbing my wrist in a painful grip and spinning me around.

“Why the hell are you talking to those boys? Have I not made it clear that you are not allowed to speak tothatfamily?”

I nod quickly. “Yes, ma’am.”

Lorelai pulls me down the steps, her grip tightening slightly. “That family is no good, Winifred. You’ll leave those boys alone. Do you hear me?”

“Yes ma’am.”

My voice is quiet and resigned. It’s only when she finally releases me, and I’m tucked away in the safety of my bedroom, that I allow myself to inhale as I fill my lungs completely and let it back out shakily. My eyes drift down to my wrist, red and irritated where she’d grabbed me, and I rub my fingers over the sensitive skin.

I flop down on my bed, and pull out the clip hanging by a thread in my hair and toss it to the floor fighting tears that make me feel silly.

Pulling out my phone, I initially click on Sienna’s message thread then remember our little spat on the phone and decide to leave that one alone for the night. Instead, I scroll a little farther down and click on Gwen’s name.

You awake?

Finishing up a crazy new flavor that came to me in a dream.

What’s up??

Oh, yum… Nothing’s up. Can’t sleep.

Everything okay?

Is this about Beck again?

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