Page 8 of Beneath the Stars (Sugarlake 1)

“Well, he sounds like a douche.”

“Okay…” This conversation took a turn I did not see coming. “Anyway, I told him I’d do my neighborly duty, and send you on over to introduce yourself.” I give him the same look I get from Mama when she means business.

“Fuck. That.” He crosses his arms over his chest.

“Oh, come on,” I laugh. “You don’t even know him! Just go say hi. I’ll go with you if it’ll make it easier. I know how much you dislike conversatin’ like normal folk.”

“No,” he barks. “In fact, you need to stay away from this guy. I mean, he’s my age, but he’s flirting with you?”

My smile drops. I step closer, anger swirling inside me. I don’t stop until the tips of my toes touch the front of his boots. I poke him in the chest to punctuate my words. “I’m fourteen, Chase, not ten. I’m not such a little girl anymore, whether you wanna admit it or not.”

He doesn’t move an inch, but his fists clench, his eyes traveling down my body. “Believe me, Goldi, I know.” The muscle in his jaw tics and he takes a step back, squeezing his eyes shut and climbing out of my window without another word.

He doesn’t come back.

Every night since, I’ve laid in bed, listening for the slide of the window and the whisper of his voice, but the only sounds are the cicadas chirping and the silence of his avoidance. It’s been a week since I’ve seen him.

It’s also been a week since I’ve seen Lily. I keep expecting her to drop by and regale me with tales of Florida, but she hasn’t given me so much as a phone call—which is why I’m so surprised to see her standing on my porch.

“Well, hi there, stranger.” I lean my shoulder against the doorframe.

“Hey, girl!” She walks straight into me, grabbing me around the waist and squeezing tight. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever.”

“Probably ‘cause you haven’t seen me in forever.” I pull back, looking in her eyes, but she’s got those giant sunglasses on that make her resemble a bug, and I can’t see anything other than the bright-pink smile she has painted on her face.

“Ugh, I know, and I’m awful for it, but I have so much to tell you! I met this guy. He lives a few towns over in Sweetwater. I totally gave him my V-card and stayed at his house for the past few days.” She brushes by me, ignoring my slack jaw, and walks into my living room, lying down on the couch.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back up. You met a guy?” I repeat, my words slow.

“Yeah,” she sighs.

“In the week since you’ve been back…”

“Yep.”

“… and you had sex with him?”

“Sure did,” she nods.

“… at his house. Where you stayed for multiple nights.”

“I know, right? It sounds crazy.” She laughs, throwing an arm over her face.

“You can say that again,” I mumble. “How on earth did you get your folks to okay this?”

She drops her arm by her side and gets a sheepish look on her face. “I may have told them I’ve been with you and Becca.”

I stare at her in disbelief. This is out of character for Lily, to say the least. She’s always been a fly by the seat of your pants kind of girl, but never reckless.

“Don’t be mad, Lee!” She sits up, putting her hands together like she’s praying. “I know it wasn’t right to use you and Becca that way, and I’m sorry… but they never would have been okay with me going over there.”

“Were his parents gone or somethin’?”

“No, he doesn’t live with his parents.” There’s an edge of defensiveness to her tone.

“He doesn’t live with his parents,” I repeat her words back to her again. “Who even is this guy? And how old is he if he has his own house?”

“His name is Darryl and he’s older…”

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