Page 11 of Carter's #Undoing

When she dropped her hand from my face, her eyes growing angry as she muttered, “I’ll never forgive you for this,” I felt her truth in the syllable of every word.

I didn’t say anything as I watched her walk back in the direction of the cabin. What could I even say? I hadn’t apologized. I hadn’t explained everything I could. In fact, I’d shown up in her life, creating a hurricane of emotions, and then removed her from the life she knew to bring her to a remote wilderness with the only explanation being that I was here to save her life.

I was a bastard for what I was doing to her. The pain I caused leaving her. I knew it. She knew it. And for that reason, and that reason alone, she didn’t owe me shit.

Twenty years ago…

“Who are you waiting for?”my dad asked, watching me eye the window.

“Serenity,” I told him. “She’s coming over to watch the countdown.” It was New Year’s Eve and I was anxious for her to get here even though I saw her a couple days ago.

“You’re not hanging out with your brothers tonight?”

I shook my head. “No. Just us.” And I was glad for that. Caden was hanging out with his friends, and Crayson was doing whatever it was that Crayson did when he left the house with a smirk and a head nod.

Instead of leaving to finish getting ready for the party he and my mom were going to, my dad came and sat beside me on the couch.

“You’ve been spending a lot of time with Serenity. Are you just friends?”

“Yes. She’s my best friend. You know that.” I kept my eyes pinned to that window, because if I looked at my dad, I knew he’d see right through me. I’d had a crush on Serenity before I even knew who she was and my crush only grew the longer we remained friends.

I watched Serenity approach my house, trying my best to maintain my excitement. Clearly, I wasn’t doing a good job because my dad started joking around all the way up until I opened the door to let her in.

“Dad, chill with the teasing.”

Instead of responding to me, he just held up his hands in defeat. I almost stumbled over my feet to get the door, worried my dad was going to try and beat me to it and tell her something I definitely wasn’t ready to tell her.

“Hey, Carter,” she said, her voice sounding as happy as I felt.

“Hey, Serenity.” My eyes quickly went up and down the dress she was wearing. Serenity wore dresses to school all the time, but this one was different. It was sparkly and she looked really pretty in it. Then again, she always looked great in anything she wore.

“Hi, Mr. Madden,” she said after she stepped into the house and saw my dad.

“Hello, Serenity. I hear you and Carter have a fun night planned.”

I rolled my eyes at my dad before giving him a death glare. “We’re just watching the countdown in different states,” I explained. “That’s all.”

My dad smiled. “Sounds fun.”

“Mason, leave those kids alone,” my mom yelled from somewhere in the house.

I didn’t stay in the living room long enough to continue to provide entertainment for my parents, but instead, I dragged Serenity to the basement where I had already set up snacks and Gatorade.

“Are you sure your parents are okay with me being here while they are gone?”

I shrugged. “Why wouldn’t they be? You’re over here all the time. New Year’s Eve isn’t any different.”

She gave me a funny look that I couldn't quite figure out before she went to sit on the couch. I sat down beside her and cut on the television, laughing over how crazy this Y2K thing had gotten.

“I bet it won’t be any different than any other New Year’s,” I stated. “But what do I know.”

“Not much,” Serenity teased. “Can’t believe I used to think you were one of the smartest people in our grade.”

“I am one of the smartest.”

She rolled her eyes. “Humble much?”

“Around other people, yeah. But you know me, and considering you’re one of the other smart people in our class, I know you understand.”

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