Page 27 of First Impressions of You

“What are you doing here?”

“Is that how you always greet everyone, or do you save that just for me?” We’re back to our normal selves, the little scare we had in traffic already forgotten.

“I thought you’d be back in LA by now.” I ignore his question.

“How’s Julia?” he asks, also ignoring my comment. It’s like we’re throwing sentences at each other instead of having a full conversation.

“She’s okay. She’ll be discharged soon.”

“Good.” He nods once, then he taps the table and gets up. His arm touches my shoulder as he walks away, leaving a trail of goosebumps behind.

I blame my exhaustion for what I do next.

“Winter,” I call out. He stops but doesn’t turn around. “What is wrong with you?”

I’m tired of him leaving as he wishes all the time. He doesn’t owe me anything, but I hate how small he makes me feel every time he walks away without as much as an acknowledgement.

I see his shoulders rising and falling before he turns. His dark eyes are even smaller, trapped inside his frown.

“You have to be more specific than that.”

I ignore his attempt at a self-deprecating joke. “Ugh,” I huff. “Why are you… like this?”

“Like what?” He starts walking towards me again.

“You always leave without saying anything,” I blurt out. “As if you can’t be bothered to be around me.”

His face changes, the shadow of something I can’t identify crossing his eyes. Against the bright white lights of the hospital, he looks almost ethereal standing tall, towering over me in his white T-shirt.

He cocks his head as if he’s trying to read me but can’t quite figure out where to begin. He opens and closes his mouth a couple of times but doesn’t say anything.

Then, the door to the cafeteria opens, a group of people walks through the door, filling the quiet space with loud chatter. I swear I see Winter flinch before he turns around and walks away.

Without saying a word.

Again.

Chapter 07

It’s another couple of hours before Julia is discharged. We all feel like sleep-deprived zombies, but I’m the only one that’s wearing signs of exhaustion all over my face. My eyes are puffy and sporting dark circles. There are more strands of hair around my face than in my ponytail, but I’m not worried enough about the way I look to fix it.

Cam, Julia, and I walk out of the ER in the dead of night. Even in the summer, there’s a cool breeze coming from the ocean nearby. I expect Cam to walk us to his car in the parking lot, but instead, he stops by the entrance, checking his phone.

Did they Uber here? Did he leave his car at their hotel?

I get my answer when a silver car pulls over in front of us, Winter behind the wheel.

Doesn’t he ever leave for good?

I fight the urge to ask him what he’s doing here for the third time in less than a few hours, but when he gets out of the driver’s seat, keeping it open for Cam to take his place, I realize no one seems in a hurry to explain what’s going on.

“Weren’t you driving another car just a couple of hours ago?” I ask him when he rounds the car to help Julia into the passenger seat. I pretend not to see his nice gesture to my sister because it doesn’t match the evil image I have of him in my mind.

“This is mine,” Cam says, helping Julia with the seatbelt. Both of them are treating her with such care, I feel my heart warm up a little.

“Then what are you still doing here?” I turn to Winter. If they drove in separate cars, he could’ve been well on his way back to LA by now.

It’s Julia who answers my question. “I think he stayed to give you a ride,” she says it serenely. I shoot her a deathly glare, but she just shrugs. “Cam’s car only seats two.” She motions to the interior of the vehicle that only now I notice is ridiculously small.

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