Page 159 of Stay With Me
“Oh my gosh, Vada’s in love with her poetry teacher. That’s adorable.”
He coughs. “That’s a felony.”
I give him a side-eye for trying to ruin my vibe.
The way they say the Pledge of Allegiance after they share their first kiss has me cackling.
“I dunno what the hell you’re talkin’ about. This movie is adorable.”
He clasps his mouth shut, glances over at me, and remains quiet.
“Aw, he went back to find her mood ring.”
Tripp’s body tenses beside me.
“Oh no, the bees are back.”
He glances at me again.
“Why isn’t he running away?”
Okay, that was weird…
The scene just ends with Thomas J surrounded by them, and now we’re back at Vada’s house.
“Wait…what happened?” I smack Tripp’s arm, who’s unsettlingly quiet.
Now the sheriff is at the house, and her dad’s walking up to Vada’s room.
Her dad looks like he’s about to cry…and I don’t like where this is going.
“What does he mean he was allergic? No…there’snoway.”
My chest squeezes as I fight back the tears when I realize Thomas J died from too many bee stings.
And then the dam breaks when Vada runs to the doctor and says she can’t breathe. Poor thing is having a panic attack.
Is that how Tripp felt when Billy died?
When they show the stretcher going into the funeral parlor, I swear I’m hyperventilating.
“Why didn’t you warn me?” I cry out when he wraps his arm around my shoulders. “Achild? This should be a crime.”
“Itried…” he whispers, pulling me into his chest.
“He was her only friend…” I sob through my words as he holds me close.
Watching Vada cry for him and scream out how he can’t see without his glasses at his funeral has me no longer able to see the screen through all the tears. And when she runs off to her teacher, Mr. Bixler, and finds out he’s engaged, I’m done.
Tapped out.
This little girl is feeling so much pain, and it’s breaking me.
Tripp rubs his palm over my hair, trying to calm me, but there’s no point. My heart is shattered.
When I wipe my cheeks, my vision clears enough for me to continue watching. I might as well finish this horrible movie and see it through.
But the ending crushes me almost just as much.
