Page 19 of It's Not Home Without You

Freya’s lower lip wobbled. “I made a mess of things, didn’t I?”

At that moment, I wanted to punch Mrs. Newton for taking the light that usually shone in Freya’s bright eyes.

“Nah, Mrs. Newton is a bitch to everyone. You did good, and besides, introducing you to the Newton’s was only a formality. Now let’s go. I’m suddenly famished.” At that, she finally smiled at me. God, I wanted to tell her I loved her; it had been nagging at me for some weeks now, but what if she thought it was too soon?

“Max!” She pushed me, but not before I caught her blushing.

“Close, but the way you say it is softer, almost like a gasp,” I taunted her, trying to get her to relax, even though my aching dick was not finding the humor in it.

“Max!” She punched my arm but laughed.

It was always about her. She was my priority. If she was happy, then I was too.

FREYA

Maybe I had worried for nothing. I mean, his mom was polite, but then again, weren’t all rich people polite? Max was on me like gum stuck on a shoe, and I was grateful. I was waaay out of my element. As I looked around, I couldn’t help but compare the difference between Max and me. It must be nice to have grown up as he did. Two loving parents, being fortunate to have everything, and not wanting for anything. His parents couldn’t be all bad if they raisedhim. Max was kind, thoughtful, and caring, and that was just the tip of the iceberg of all the things I… I loved about him.

God, I had no idea what I would do without him when he left. Sunny Pines had always been my home, but I had a feeling, once he left, it would not be home without him. I was scared. I didn’t want to let it show. Max had enough on his plate. I didn’t need to add to it. I would sound childish. My biggest fear was that he would forget me. He would go to his fancy college and meet girls his age.

Girls who were nothing like me.

Girls with big dreams, while the memory of me faded.

“Freya, baby, are you okay?” Max pinched my cheek to get my attention. Shoot, I had spaced out on him.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I really need to pee though.” I smiled through my lie. I needed to get over my little freak-out. Graduation was coming, and fast. I needed to enjoy my time with him without creating drama. When I was in the bathroom, I splashed water on my face, took deep breaths, and calmed down. When I came out, Max was not waiting for me in the hallway like he had promised.

“It’ssocute watching you and Max together.” Abigail was leaning at the end of the hall with a coke in her hand. “Enjoy the time you have with him while you can. You don’t honestly think he’ll stay with you after he leaves for college, do you?”

My face must have given me away, my feelings out in the open for her to pick apart. Abigail laughed.

“Oh God, this is so sad. You actuallybelieve he will staywith you. Tell me, skank, what do you have tooffer him? You have a ratty, old trailer to your name—sorry, your grandfather’s name. You still have two years left before you graduate. And two years is a long time. The only thing you give him is sex, and in college, that won’t be hard to come by. So, tell me why he would stay with you when he has the world at his feet? You come from different worlds. You’ll never fit.”

Each word was like a kick to my stomach. It was one thing for me to think about it but another for Abigail to point it out. She looked me up and down, and with her perfectly manicured nails, she flipped her blonde hair. Then she walked away like she hadn’t just blown away my perfect, little fairy tale.

Max and I weren’t even having sex. She was right; I had nothing to offer him. He would go out there to see the world, and I would be that girl he dated in high school.

Was I going to become the girl who was a mistake?

Trailer trash girl?

Those three words haven’t been said, but I knew deep in my bones Max felt the same way about me as I did about him, but my insecurities weren’t letting me see past it.

When Max finally found me, I smiled at him and pretended like nothing was wrong.

Max wanted me, and that had to count for something, right?

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The Sunday crowdwas no freaking joke. The coffee shop got packed, and I’m talking about a line all the way to the door, tables filled with teenagers and families, and kids running around making lots of noise. Since I was new, and in training, I felt like I wasn’t much help.

Maybe Emma was testing me to see what I was made off?

I was a fast learner, but not that fast. The safest option for me was on register duty while Emma and Jess got the orders ready. Safe to say, the heels came off after forty-five minutes. I had lots of people give me the whole “Freya, it’s good to see you” standard bullshit.

Oh, I bet. I pretended like I didn’t feel their pity stares.

Some people were bitchier and said how surprising it was that I didn’t turn out like they predicted, while most were happy to have me back.

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