The Edge of Tomorrow

2

"Go easy on me, baby. I was still a child. Didn't get the chance to feel the world around me."

Chapter Theme Song: 'Easy on Me' by Adele.

••

Becca

Richie: Becca? (Received 7:08 am)

Richie: Still mad? (Received 7:08 am)

Richie: Becca, answer me. (Received 7:09 am)

Richie: Becca, answer me, please! (Received 7:10 am)

Richie: Becca, come on :( (Received 7:15 am)

Richie: Becs? (Received 8:30 am)

"Girl, you're mad at him because he helped your dad?" Tee narrowed her grey eyes at me, dipping her blue-painted nails in a tin of pretzels. "Why?"

"Because..." I sighed, sitting upright in bed. "One, my father thinks he earned that spot. He thought they looked at his work record and liked how hard he worked. Not because his daughter made out with some boy whose family has good money. I did my research, his uncle owns that company. I just feel like...he should have spoken to me first. It's not his responsibility to give my father a job just like that. He could have said something..."

"I understand. But have you told him all of that?" Tee asked, sucking the salt off her fingers.

"Well...not all of it, but..."

"Then you can't be mad at him." She threw a hand up, dipping again. "He didn't know that's how you feel. Text the boy and tell him."

I'd been ignoring Richie all week. It was now Saturday, and I still wasn't going to text him. He should have said something about it; I hated he kept that a secret from me.

Soon, I heard a horn honking at the gate. Tee and I exchanged glances at the same time, knowing exactly who it was. With my heart beating fast, I climbed off the bed and walked over to the curtain, pulling it away.

"Is it him?" Tee asked hopefully behind me, and I nodded.

Richie climbed out of a black pick-up truck in a white polo shirt and brown khaki pants—looking like the perfect rich boy he was. He sauntered toward my front door, peering down at his cellphone before sliding it into his back pocket. He had on white sneakers with white ankle socks.

"What's he doing?" Tee asked, too excitedly.

He was not planning on...

Then the doorbell rang downstairs, and my heart leaped. "Oh shit," Tee chuckled as I moved to the other side of the window where I could properly see him at the door. It seemed my mom had answered it as he was now gesturing with his hands and smiling.

He was so handsome...

He then nodded, and my stomach leaped when my mom called from downstairs. "Becca?! Come here, baby!"

"Oh, shit!" Tee threw her back against the bed, my pillow cradled at her belly. "If Winston doesn't act like that when I ignore him, I don't want him!"

I sighed and opened the door, making my way down the stairs. Richie was at the door, smiling at my mother as she spoke, smiling too.

At the sound of my footsteps, both heads angled in my direction, and I suddenly couldn't feel the ground I was walking on. Nerves zinged from my toe-points to my head. Richie had stained my living room with his signature smell. Clean clothes and sweet citrus—that was what he always smelled like.