Page 39 of The Chemistry of Us

“Nope!” Tru smacked me across the back.

“Ouch!” I growled. “That actually hurt!”

“I used my entire hand.” Why did she sound so proud? “You need to open your eyes.”

Shit, my eyes weren’t even open? How? Why? Oh yeah, concussion. I managed to at least open one.

All I saw was her pretty gaze and her smirk. “Can you open two?”

“Two plus two is hard sometimes.” I groaned. “I’m so tired.”

She braced my shoulders. “Listen, you’re probably fine, but I need you to look at me and communicate. Have you puked? Are you good? Just lethargic?”

“Fucking love hot nurses.” I laughed.

“Gonna make you pay for that, dipshit,” she answered. “And if you buy me a nurse outfit to be funny, I’ll murder you.”

I laughed so hard. “I would never.”

“You would.”

“I would.”

“Honesty looks good on you.” She flicked me on the shoulder.

“And nurse outfits would look fucking hot on you…”

She grinned. “Everything looks good on me.”

“I look good on you.” I started laughing, then winced. “It hurts.”

“I’m only helping you because I can’t have your death on my conscience. Just wait here, and I’ll grab my shit so I can lay next to you and set alarms to yet again make sure you’re okay. At this rate, will you graduate?”

“Please.” It was all I had. “Please, just…” I yawned. “I’m so tired; the hit was hard. Didn’t deserve it, was thinking thoughts.”

She paused. “What sort of thoughts?”

“Beaches. A pretty girl who stole my heart. Left my soul to die. And the sunset.”

She said nothing.

“Oh, and… the best kiss of my life, but it was probably a dream, right? I have a concussion. No way that actuallyhappened because if it did, how could you ever possibly let it go? Fuck.” I laid my head on the pillow and felt my eyes well with tears. “It would make no sense. Right? Right? I’m so tired… night.”

CHAPTER 15

TRU

He was hateful in the most annoying way because it was easy when he reminded me of all our mistakes, but when he was semi-unconscious, my heart hurt. It hurt because it brought me back to the time that shouldn’t have existed. It brought me back to then…

Then

“What do you think?”Vaughan looked up at the stars. We’d been lying on the beach for the past hour. It was one of our favorite things to do. “Is that the Little Dipper? The Big Dipper?”

I laughed. “Do you even care, Harvard?”

“Oh wow, that hurt. It really hurt.”

“Yes, if I look with a magnifying glass through all the money and privilege you have, I can see a tiny heart breaking.”

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