Page 97 of A Vicious Rumor

"Will you go?" he asked me again.

"Do you really think I should, Ronny?"

There was silence on the other end of the line, then finally he spoke. "I think that your brain and your heart are at odds. You've got one hell of a brain, sweets, but sometimes I think it's too logical. Sometimes I worry that if you let it lead you around all the time, you'll miss out on experiencing life. I can't tell you what to do. I've never been successful at telling women what to do, and I'm not gonna start trying now. But, maybe just try and quiet your head down a bit, and listen to what your heart is telling you."

I didn't need to spend much time quieting my brain to know what my heart wanted. "Thanks, Ronny. I love you," I said.

"Love you too, sweets. Now get going otherwise he's gonna come crying to me and the boy is wretched at 'Go Fish!'"

I laughed. "Alright, alright, talk later," I said, hanging up the phone.

I pulled my phone down from my ear and texted Paper. "Can I get a ride?"

"Really? This is where you want to be dropped off?" Paper asked as he pulled up on the side of the road. Up a ways I could see Tyson's Jeep.

I nodded my head. "Yeah. This is good."

"If you need a ride back, just call for one."

"Okay, thanks," I said. I closed the door carefully and stayed still until Paper drove off. Butterflies were going crazy in my stomach. I wasn't sure what I was going to say to Tyson. I just knew that Ronny had encouraged me to go, which meant it was important that I was here.

I started making my way through the trees towards the water's edge. I was surprised that Tyson remembered where this spot was. It was a completely random outcropping basically in the middle of a very wooded area. He'd only been here once, after all.

I didn't know what to expect, and I wasn't sure how I was going to act. He'd hurt me really badly. I knew what Ronny said, and I knew what my heart was telling me, but it was always so hard to quiet my brain. I'd let my heart lead this summer and it had led me into this situation.

I finally made it to my favorite spot. I looked down at the rock that overlooked the water. Tyson had an entire picnic set up with food from my favorite burger place, just like the first time we'd sat out here this summer.

"Hey," he said, jumping up to his feet.

"Hey, I said in response, just standing there, not sure what to do.

"You came," he said, almost as if to himself, almost in disbelief.

"Yeah," I said. "You called Ronny."

"Yeah," he said with a sheepish grin, scratching the back of his neck. "I needed some help."

I just nodded.

"Will you sit with me?" he asked.

"I dunno, Tyson," I said. "I don't know if this is a good idea." My head was taking over, and I started to take a step backwards.

He reached for me, grabbing my hand gently. "Please, just listen to what I have to say." I didn't answer immediately. I could see the sadness on his face. I hated that the two of us did this to one another, put each other in a situation where we were both hurting. "Please," he repeated again.

I let out a deep sigh but nodded my head. "Okay," I said, relenting.

He tugged on my hand a bit, and I let him lead me to where the picnic had been set up. I'm not sure what he thought would happen. Did he think that I would just come running into his arms after everything that had happened? He seemed disappointed in my response, but at the same time, I just didn't want to be fake anymore. The entire semester I'd had to fake who I was, and I was just over it.

"Sit with me?" he asked. I nodded and sat down. "Do you want something to eat?" he nudged a milkshake at me. "It's cotton candy, your favorite."

I gave him a look. "Just say what you need to say, Tyson."

"Okay," he said, nodding his head. "Just, bear with me, because I'm really not good at this sort of thing."

I waited patiently, and then he started.

"I know I hurt you, Lily. I understand that now. This summer, when I found you again, it was like a dream. From the time we were kids, I'd looked for you for so long, and then you just showed up, like you'd always been there. It was so perfect, and I just completely lost myself and got swept up in you.

---