Page 15 of Heart of a Rebel

This car has barely been making it for a while, but I don’t have the cash to get something more reliable, so I’m stuck with this pile of aluminum for now.

Bending down, I inspect the tire. It looks like it’s in one piece, so I don’t think anyone’s messed with it. But there’s no doubt it’s flat, so I’m not going anywhere. I should have taken Noah up on his offer to teach me how to change a tire because I’m stuck.

Pulling my phone out of my purse, I scroll until I find my brother’s name and hit dial. It rings a few times before going to voicemail.

He was already drunk when I left the party, and by now he’s probably passed out or otherwise occupied.

Scrolling through my contacts again, I hit dial on the next number.

It rings only once before he answers.

“You okay?” I’m not sure how he does it, but it’s like Adrian can sense my distress from miles away.

I was sober when I left his house, so he has no reason to think anything is wrong, but the ever-present protector in him can’t help jumping to the worst.

“Can you come get me?” I let out a defeated breath, tapping my flat tire with the toe of my shoe.

“Where are you?”

“Home.”

“Your car?”

I rub my thumb and index finger on my temples. “Long story.”

“I’ll be right there.” He hangs up before I have a chance to thank him, and I tuck my phone back into my purse.

Leaning against my car, I watch the shadowy figures on the lawn. Some making out, some smoking. Then there’s the one lurking around the side of the house. I still can’t make them out and it sends a chill all the way along my spine. I stare at that shadow until it fades around the corner. Until it’s no longer there and it’s a figment of my imagination conjuring up the worst. I stare at empty space until I hear Adrian’s motorcycle a street over, headed my way.

Only then, do I stand up and feel like I’m breathing again.

6

Adrian

Thestenchofvomithangs in the air, reminding me my life has lost all its glamor. The smell of the weekend is still ripe as I make my way inside the seedy bar I work at, and I wonder how it’s come to this. Days running together, time becoming insignificant, another Monday with no purpose.

When I enlisted in the Army right after high school, I saw a different vision of a future for myself. One where I got my shit together. One where I eventually went to college and figured out what I was doing. One where my father didn’t die before I could prove to him that I wouldn’t spend my entire life being a burden.

While I was busy trying to do the right thing, the universe was planting a bomb and standing back to watch my world blow to fucking pieces.

Mine andhers.

When I blink, I still see her raven hair and cerulean eyes. I still hear her voice reassuring me that no matter what happened, things would all turn out okay. I believed her at the time.

After all, she was the kind of beauty inside and out that only a war could decimate. But that’s exactly what I led her into.

It was my idea to enlist, and when I said it, I didn’t know she would follow me. I should have known better.

Looking back, I wish I’d done more to talk her out of it when I had the chance. The military might have been my only option, but she had a life ahead of her. Her family had money and connections. She had choices and a full ride to the college of her dreams. But she was convinced that we’d done everything else together since the third grade, so why stop there?

If only enlisting was the same as sharing markers.

I walk through the bar and spot her dad already sitting at the end. An empty glass sits in front of him at barely eleven in the morning. He tips it side to side like he can manifest something that might solve his problem if he stares at it hard enough.

My shift doesn’t start for another hour, but here I am, face to face with the man I’ve been avoiding since returning to town a few months ago.

It’s been years since I’ve faced any of Samantha’s family, and I forgot how much Sam looked like her father until his eyes flick in my direction and knock me in the chest. The same blue stare as hers, so rich it’s darker than the deepest parts of the ocean. Memories long buried claw their way to the surface as I walk over to him.

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