Page 18 of Can't Text This

He felt…off limits.

Forbidden.

All kinds of wrong, andsoright.

“Hey, a—”

“Ahhhh!”

My phone goes flying from my hands at the unexpected interruption. I bend down to quickly retrieve it and inspect the damage—a chip in the corner.

And of course, I just got it.

I let out a frustrated groan as Brandon crosses the room, taking four long strides to reach me.

“Oh, hell. I’m so sorry, Monty. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

“It’s fine.”It’s not.“No big deal.”It is.“What’d you need?”

“I-I…” he sputters, nervous now. He clears his throat, stands straight, and tries again. “I wanted to invite you out to dinner tonight.”

He must see the fear in my eyes because he’s waving his hands and launching into a pitch within seconds.

“It’s a group thing, you know, drinks downtown—nothing too crazy.”

I tilt my head. “So our weekly luncheon, just for dinner instead?”

He looks nervous again. “Um, no. It’d be with my buddies and their, uh, girlfriends. I figured you might want to meet some new people, you know, not just the staff here at Wayward Elementary…”

Oh.

The polite girl my parents raised me to be knows I should say yes, should accept the invitation. I should be friendly, social, engaging.

But I don’t want to.

The whole reason I moved out here to live with Denny was to leave my “yes” life behind, because that’s all my life has ever been.

Yes, I’ll take care of the baby at three AM.

Yes, I’ll go to the college you pick.

Yes, I’ll marry you even though you cheat on me.

I almost did too, was so close to it. Then one day I woke up and realized I wasn’t livingmylife. I was living for everyone else and I couldn’t keep doing it. It was wearing me ragged, something a twenty-three-year-old shouldn’t be feeling.

Denny was the smart one out of the two of us. She left the moment we graduated and didn’t return for her entire four years of college…or after. I wish I was brave enough to do that, but I couldn’t leave Chuck, our younger brother, behind. I was too chicken.

After what happened with my ex and me almost walking intothatkind of future, though, I knew I had to do something.

So, I called my twin, packed my bags, and was gone a week later.

My parents have called every day for the four months I’ve lived here, demanding I return home.

I refuse.

Just like I’m about to refuse this invitation to dinner.

“Thank you for thinking of me, Brandon, but I have plans this evening.”

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