Page 27 of Secondhand Smoke
Her eyes snapped up to him.
They both knew that wasn’t true. The misshapen pages were a clear reminder of the stormy day she had unsuccessfully tried her hand at shoplifting.
“I can’t.”
“You can. And you will.” He would not take no for an answer. He’d considered this book hers since the minute she’d dropped it. He’d just been terrible at remembering to return it to its rightful owner. “But if you want my advice, a book will only get you so far. What you need is real hands-on practice to fully learn an instrument.”
The idea seemed to be growing on her. She nodded slowly, then paused and shook her head. “I don’t have a guitar.”
“I do.” Barrett grinned. “I’ll be your teacher.”
She jumped, her eyes blinking at the pace of his heart, which was sprinting. “You’ll what?”
“Be your teacher. I play guitar. You want to learn. I’m more than happy to volunteer my time.”
She huffed a soft laugh that twitched her lips up in an unsure, minuscule smile that showed she couldn’t tell if he was being serious or not. “Well, uh, thank you but—”
“You want to learn your friend’s song, right?”
Her mouth snapped shut, and her eyes grew so big he could see her entire irises. “Yes.”
“Great. When are you free?”
Once again, her lip sucked into her mouth, and Barrett glanced at it then back to her eyes. He couldn’t make up his mind on which was his favorite.
But then he got an even nicer surprise.
Her nervous smile lifted, and he was greeted with a peek of the girl he’d seen the other night. It wasn’t forced or with the help of anything else.
It was just her, smiling softly at him. “Okay then.”
11 - Nell
* * *
Nell didn’t make the same mistake of sneaking out again.
Since that day, her parents had been checking on her through the entire night. She’d be half asleep, and the door creaking open would wake her up.
So instead of leaving through her window at 6 p.m., she decided to tell them to prevent more panic-inducing police cars in her driveway. “I’m going out.”
Her father looked up from his newspaper, and her mother paused her cross-stitch.
“Going out?” Her mother’s eyebrows furrowed. “Where to?”
Nell held her hands behind her back and picked at her ragged, chewed-down nails. “To a friend’s house.”
“A friend?” Her mother gasped, then caught herself by clearing her throat. Neither of her parents excelled at hiding their surprise.
To their knowledge, it had been a long time since she’d hung out with a friend.
Correction: it had been a long time since she’d had friends.
Not that Barrett was a friend, but she could say they were friendly acquaintances now, caught somewhere between complete strangers and friends.
But he did know her secret, and she his, so that counted for something.
“Yes.” She felt the need to answer when they both stared at her with wide, unbelieving eyes.
