Page 104 of Until You

“Please. Everyone gets drunk and pukes at some point in their life.” She smiled. “Hopefully this is your one and only.” She knew that was unlikely. He was a seventeen-year-old boy. He had lots of drinking in his future. But the difference was that most teens and college students drank with their friends. They didn’t end up alone.

What was the story there?

“Once, when I was in college, I got drunk off this Kool-Aid punch my friends had made after I’d eaten several pizza slices. Let’s just say I’ve never had drinks with red dye since.”

He grinned.

“I can assure you that even your cool drinking friends puke their guts out when they drink too much, but they must not be very cool if they’re driving. They could kill themselves or innocent people. At least you had the good sense to be responsible.”

“They don’t see it that way.”

She shrugged. “Obviously, they’re idiots. But you’re not. Tyler told me you’ve been an A student until this year.”

His gaze jerked up. “He’s talked about me?”

“He’s proud of you. How smart you are. How you have your head screwed on straight.”

“He probably doesn’t think so now.”

“Hey, everyone screws up. Even me. Even Tyler. But too many people don’t learn from their screw-ups. They just keep repeating them.” She looked him in the eye. “But you’re smarter than that. I can see it in your eyes.” She hesitated, worried she was about to push him too far. “Why are you hanging out with the guys you were with tonight?”

“Kids think they’re cool. I need to up my status at school.”

“Why?”

“I did something…embarrassing this summer.”

“Everybody does stupid things,” Lanie said in a soft voice. “When I was in high school, I walked into homeroom with my dress tucked into my underwear. It doesn’t get much worse than that.”

He hesitated then said, “I wrote a poem. To a girl I liked. She showed it to everyone and now I’m a huge joke.”

“Wow.” Lanie was being generous. She wanted to say that bitch, but it didn’t seem appropriate.

“And now…I just want people to like me again.” He closed up, and Lanie could see he was done talking. But at least it was a start. Hopefully, Tyler could get him to open up more.

When Tyler came back, Lanie and Eric were discussing their favorite music artists, and Lanie promised she’d check out a group called Hands Like Houses.

Eric recovered enough to eat a giant stack of pancakes, and even though he refused to talk about what had happened with his so-called friends, he talked about his classes and his favorite teachers. Tyler kept sneaking glances at Lanie, and the look in his eyes—a mixture of contentment and happiness—confused her.

It was nearly midnight by the time they dropped Eric off at his house, and Lanie felt better that he’d sobered up.

“I hope I see you again, Lanie,” he said as he got out of the car.

“Yeah,” she said feeling guilty. With three weeks left, it didn’t seem likely. But then again, if she took the VP job, maybe she would. She smiled. “Yeah, me too.”

Tyler waited until Eric was in the house before he pulled away from the curb, then he reached over and squeezed her hand. “I’m sorry.”

“Why? I love your brother.”

“Eric likes you too.”

“He talked to me while you were in the bathroom. Something embarrassed him this summer—he wrote a poem for a girl and she showed it to everyone. I think kids are giving him a hard time. He said he was hanging out with those kids tonight so people will like him again. I suspect he’s so upset by it he’s not doing his work.”

“Dammit.” He turned to her. “How’d you get that out of him?”

She shrugged. “I just talked to him. Maybe he felt comfortable talking to me since I’m just a friend.”

She thought about Tyler’s life—his friends and his family and how lucky he was to have them. She barely spoke to her parents. The only family she had was Britt, and she wanted what Tyler had. The thought of moving to Atlanta brought tears to her eyes.

---