Page 11 of About Time

“Well, thank you for coming to get me. I always feel bad to have Martin or Elisa come out in the middle of the night because they are responsible for Wren.”

He looks at me with sympathy, something I hate more than anything. “They are supposed to take care of you too, but you’d have to let them.”

“I can take care of myself,” I mutter.

Donovan knows better than to start this conversation with me. I’m fiercely independent. I’m okay with being needed, but I can’t let myself need anyone. I’ve taken enough medical and psych classes now to know it’s lingering trauma from my father taking off on me and my mom dying when I was too young to lose my only parent. Being a burden to someone is my worst fear.

That’s why I chose to go to college in Florida right after graduation. Technically, I attend Central Valley University in Centralia, but for the last year, I’ve participated in an exchange program with our sister university in Florida. It gave me the space to figure out who I am without our small town defining me as that poor little orphan girl being raised by her sister. In Florida, I got to be myself; I only had to figure out who that was.

I can’t say that I’ve completely figured that out yet, but I’m further along than when I left here nine months ago. Now, I just have to make sure I don’t lose myself over the summer.

Nine months should be plenty of time to get over a crush. It’s enough time to grow an entire human being, but the moment I see Charlie inspecting tomatoes at the grocery store, I’m right back to dealing with butterflies swarming in my gut.

“You don’t want that one,” I say coming up behind him.

He jumps and drops the tomato on the floor. It bursts open on impact, spilling juice and seeds all over the floor. The stock boy starts to glare in our direction until he sees Charlie, then he just shrugs and walks away. There are very few people in Harriston who haven’t been charmed by Charlie Storm.

“Don’t you know not to sneak up on old people? I could have had a heart attack.”

I roll my eyes. “Whatever, you’re what, thirty?”

“I’m twenty-nine,” he corrects me, somewhat affronted I gave him an extra year.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize heart disease was prevalent in your late twenties.” I reach around him, test a few of the tomatoes until I find a firm one, and hand it to him. “Better make sure you get some lycopene to fight aging.”

“All right, smart ass. Don’t bust my balls this early in the morning. You’ve been gone a while, I’ve gotten rusty.” Charlie sets it in his basket and looks up. He freezes and swallows hard.

I’ve changed a lot while I was gone. My long blonde hair has grown past my shoulders and has streaks bleached out by the Florida sun. My already slender body is more toned thanks to my new group of friends teaching me how to surf. The biggest change isn’t really how I look so much as how I see myself. When I look in the mirror, I don’t see the insecure teenage girl who hid inside the pages of a book. Now, I see a woman who knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to go after it.

“Martin said you were away at school. Are you back for the summer?” Every word he speaks sounds slightly strained.

I bite my lip and let it slide through my teeth before I answer him. “Maybe. Depends really on whether or not I find a way to keep myself busy.”

“Hmm, yeah, it’s good to keep busy. I know Martin and Elisa have been looking forward to having you back home.”

I lean forward, aware that this position gives him a perfect view down my shirt. At first, I don’t think he’ll give in, but then slowly, his eyes leave mine and slide down to my exposed flesh.

He chuckles and shakes his head as he meets my gaze once again. “Tell your brother I said hi.”

I give him a tight smile and nod. Looks like I just found something interesting to do this summer.

Bring Charlie Storm to his knees.

On the outskirts of town is a popular lake. For some reason, everyone calls it “the pond,” even though it’s way bigger than a pond. It’s surrounded by trees, and the beach is really just where the lawn disappears into the water. There’s a rope someone tied up in a high branch of a tree that people use to swing out into the water. Mostly it lets the guys show off for whatever girls are hanging around.

I’ve been back in town for about a week, and I’m already running out of things to do. Sitting by the pond with the same people I’ve hung around for years makes me wonder sometimes if I imagined being away in Florida for most of the last year. In just a few minutes, I am caught up on all the gossip. Nothing changes around here, not even the drama.

I groan and roll over to my stomach.

Mandy nudges me with her elbow. “What is going on with you? You used to love hanging out at the pond.”

Used tois the operative word, as in something that is no longer true but was at one time. I can’t exactly tell my best friend that I’ve grown past lying around watching guys strut around, trying to catch our attention by being the biggest dumbass.

“I’m just ready to get back to school,” I reply lamely.

“Ugh. You need to learn to enjoy life a little bit. You take life way too seriously. Be nineteen, not ninety,” she chides me.

I am not really sure what to say to that, so I say nothing. The good thing about Mandy is that she’ll eventually fill any silence with chatter, and she never digs too deep.

---