Page 42 of Losing the Rhythm

“March fourth. Yours?”

“August sixteenth.”

“Summer birthday. That must be fun.”

“We usually end up on some kind of trip around my birthday, so it’s definitely been fun.”

“Where did you guys go this year?”

“Bryan’s parents have a summer home in Maine. So we go there a lot during the summer. Become one with nature.”

“I spend fifteen minutes in the sun and I become a beet,” I said.

Paxon laughed and we kept the easy chatter going as I handed my car keys over to Paxon and let him drive us to our mysterious destination. He already arranged for Justin to use his car so we didn’t have to come back for it.

The drive wasn’t bad at all as Paxon talked about what they had gotten up to this past summer. And their plans for this coming summer.

“Does it scare you?” I asked.

“What?”

“This will be the last summer before everyone is off to college. The last hurrah,” I said.

“We never looked at it like that. As far as we’re concerned, college isn’t going to separate us. We all have plans to either go to the same college or to harass each other as much as possible.”

“That sounds nice,” I said, glancing out the window at the passing scenery. Paxon was leading us farther out of the town.

“What about you?” he asked. “Any colleges in mind yet?”

“Not a clue. I never really had the chance to think about it.”

Paxon fell silent for a moment and I glanced over at him. His lips were pursed as he thought hard about something. “Lindie,” he finally said.

I nodded. “Lindie.”

“You know, you and Bryan aren’t too different. He has no clue either.”

“What do you mean?”

“Both of you were living the expectations of your parents. But you’re free of yours now. And he will be once he hits eighteen. He has no intention of staying under their thumb, and over the last couple of years, he’s been working to ensure that. He’s just been biding his time until he hits eighteen.”

I remembered when I kept telling myself I just needed to make it to eighteen. That I could stick it out that long. If I had tried, I probably would have been dead before then. That thought sat heavily in my stomach, thick and oily.

“His expectations—for college, what are they?”

“Ivy league school, business degree, working for his parents.”

“But he has no interest in business,” I mumbled.

“Exactly.”

I thought about what I knew of Bryan. I had attended a fancy dinner party with him and saw how dynamic he was. He was an extremely smart man who was able to hold up against the experienced adults when it came to talking about a different array of topics. A lot of it was business, but he even held a good conversation around art, the medical field, and politics.

But none of that fit him. The only time I ever felt I got a good glimpse of the real Bryan was when he was talking about my security system. Those moments when he shoved plans in my face and tried to explain all the ins and outs of it. He practically shined when he gave Davies the tour of the system he had set up in my home. Even Davies seemed impressed with what he had done.

“The two of you should talk,” Paxon said. “Maybe you can help each other.”

“What about you?” I asked. “I know you were talking about not being sure about soccer, but what degree are you planning to go for?”

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