Page 28 of Meet Me in Aveline

2005

LETTIE

Tuckand I lay under the stars on the blanket at Hidden Hollow, full of sunshine and donuts. I looked up at the night sky and was savoring every last second of the thirty minutes left before I needed to head home

There was an ease between Tuck and me. We were able to talk about everything and nothing, and there was never a lull in conversation that felt awkward or painful. It was seamless and comfortable, and I enjoyed learning about him. I’d never really had conversations with anyone that didn’t revolve around what dress to wear to the dinner party or other superficial topics, but with Tuck, there was depth.

“So, what do you want to do after you graduate?” I asked, turning my head to face him.

He looked at me for a moment before looking back up at the sky. “I’m going into the Army. I leave at the end of the summer. September 21.”

I tried to hide my disappointment. It was entirely too soon for me to feel any sort of way at the idea of Tuck leaving.

“Really? Was anyone in your family in the military?”

He didn’t look back at me, but I felt his body stiffen at the mention of his family. “Nope. It just seems like what I need to do, you know?”

I did. I knew exactly what he meant. I knew the sense in the back of your mind that something just felt right.

“Yeah, I do,” I replied, not elaborating.

But Tuck turned toward me again. Our faces, mere inches apart now, nose to nose, and I had never been this close to a boy before. I knew I was green or vanilla or whatever other word people used for “inexperienced,” but there had never been anyone who made me want to get closer to them. Theo Martin, for example, made me want to run the other way.

Tuck, though, I couldn’t get close enough.

I could feel my heart racing and my palms beginning to sweat. I rubbed them on the blanket as nonchalantly as possible as Tuck questioned me. “What about you? What do you have in mind for your future?”

I placed my hands behind my head and faced the stars again. “Do you want me to tell you whatIhave in mind for my future, or what my parents have in mind?”

Tuck groaned. “They really do have your life planned then, huh?”

“Yep. My family had an idea about what my future was going to be before I was even born. Doesn’t seem to matter what I want to do or be. I am just expected to want what they want. It’s actually very frustrating.”

“What do they want you to do?”

I sighed. “Ivy League school, marry someone from the club, spend my free time not utilizing my hundred thousand dollar degree but instead bringing my husband his whiskey on the rocks in the parlor in the evenings. Preferably with a smile on my face.” I faked a smile.

“Sounds awful,” Tuck admitted.

“Pretty much,” I replied.

There was a batch of silence, not uncomfortable, only there.

“And what is ityouwant to be?” Tuck asked me.

I’d known the answer to this for as long as I could remember.

The sad thing was that no one had ever asked me.

“I want to be a veterinarian.” I’d never said that out loud to anyone before, and it felt good. “I love animals. My parents won’t let me have one though, which is tragic.”

“I had a dog once,” Tuck said with a distant look in his gray eyes.

“Yeah? I would love to have a dog. I think a dog would be my first choice if I could have any pet, but my mother says they are disgusting.” I paused. “What was your dog like?”

Tuck was quiet for a moment, but then he spoke.

“I’m not sure what breed he was. He was a stray. A big dog, but he had unique markings so I couldn’t tell what kind he was. I named him Ranger, though.”

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