Parchment & Pearls

4. Midnight Drive To Nowhere, Apparently

Chapter 4

Midnight Drive To Nowhere, Apparently

 

 

“All right, babe,” Savannah said, pulling the carton of ice cream away from me.  “You’ve got to talk.  Stop stuffing your face with my ice cream…and you finished it off.  Thanks.”

I shook my head, sticking the last spoonful I had in my mouth.  Instant brain freeze…but it was worth it.  No more thinking for at least a few moments…

“She wouldn’t talk to Beau either, Savannah.  Who’s to say she’ll talk to us?” Ash asked, sprawled out on the floor in front of the couch in their apartment. 

I saw when Savannah gave her a look out of the corner of my eye.  “Because we’re the only ones who actually know who he is.”

“I gave a legitimate solution to the Drake problem.”

“Please, don’t say his name.”

Both girls looked at me.  It was the first time I’d spoken since we’d left the benefit…which was over four hours before. 

It was almost midnight and the three of us were in our pajamas – a typical sleepover night whenever I stayed over.  Beau and Gage had left an hour after we got to the apartment.  Of course, Beau had questioned me on the drive over, but I didn’t say a word.  I couldn’t trust myself to speak, especially when he wanted to know if Drake had done anything to hurt me.  He saw the way I reacted to our conversation, completely shutting down afterward. 

What Drake said was still running through my head, which didn’t make it any better. 

“Everything’s just gotten…crazy.  Things in my life have changed, things I thought I’d known but obviously didn’t.  I’ve actually wanted to talk to you for a while now.  You’re pretty much the only one I would want helping me…”

“Hattie,” Savannah said, reaching over to grab my hand.  “I thought you were over this guy?  I remember how important you said he was to you…but that was years ago.  So what if he was your…”

“Please, just stop,” I begged, pulling my hand from hers.  “I’m sorry…but I just…he just caught me off guard.  I wasn’t prepared to see him.”

“I’m pretty sure no one would be prepared to see the first person they were in love again, especially when they were the one to break your heart,” Ash snorted.  “I’m surprised you even had a conversation with him, even though I could tell it was getting a little heated.”

“What was he doing there, anyway?” Savannah asked.  “I thought you said you hadn’t heard from him in years.”

“I haven’t.  That’s the thing.  It’s been four years…”

“Three years, ten months, to be exact,” Ash corrected with a smirk.  “Apparently, he’s been counting.”

I grimaced.  “Not the point.”

“Of course, it’s the point, Hattie,” she said, sitting up.  “I was there, standing in between the two of you.  You told us what happened years ago on the last night you saw him.  But I saw the way he was looking at you.  It’s the way Beau looks at you, the way I look at Savannah…the way Gage looks any girl who’s willing to look his way.”

That, at least, managed to make me smile. 

“My point is,” she continued with a sarcastic tone.  “There was a reason he came tonight…and I’m pretty sure it was so he could talk to you.”