FROM THE AWARD-WINNING AUTHORS OF THE CHEATER.FAKER.TROUBLEMAKER SERIES (WATTY'S 2016, FICTION AWARDS 2016, HACHETTE AUDIO 2017), JENNY ROSEN & KRISTEN MAGLONZO.
After bullies, braces, and brutal heartbreak shatters his faith in love, soon-to-be fre...
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CHAPTER 63
Lacey
When mom was still here, she used to wax poetic about bits and pieces of my future.
Whenever we'd take long drives on the freeway, she'd spend long stretches on the 5 North pre-picking out my dresses for junior and senior prom. I wasn't very good at playing along. Not because I didn't like imagining those things, but because they felt impossible and impossibly far off.
Out of reach.
Like Mom would eventually be.
But as awkward and skeptical as I was during all those conversations, my favorite part was listening to Mom's predictions about who'd take me to my first dance, who'd give me my first kiss, who'd steal my heart for the first time.
Unsurprisingly enough, the future boyfriend she always had in mind for me was a sandy blonde Mission Bay athlete—aka a modern rendition of my father. I'd call her out on her more than obvious Dad-bias and cringe at her comments through the rearview.
I remember telling her that I'd never fall for a Mission Bay boy just to prove a point. To be different. To show her that I'd eventually be capable of some tiny form of rebellion once I breezed past thirteen.
But as much as I expected to prove her wrong, her predictions proved to be partially right today.
Did I fall for a sandy blonde athlete? Not at all.
But the boy who's leading me out toward the ocean with his kind and careful hand in mine, is mine because of Mission Bay. A school I desperately didn't want to go to. One with a legacy in my family I didn't want to inherit or repeat. But despite all of its flaws, I'm thankful that it brought me to him. That it gave Elias and I the space to find and lose each other in the middle of all of its chaos.
As hard as so many of our days there have been, all of them were worth it for this one.
"Eyes closed, Lacey! If I catch you peeking, I'll throw you in the water without thinking twice about it."
"I promise I won't look until you say so."
"Atta girl."
"Just don't drown me, okay?"
"Roger that!"
I stumble after Elias, trying not to trip over my feet as I follow his lead through the warm sand. I've been loosely blindfolded since we left Kyle and Ava's beach shop under Elias's very strict orders. During the car ride over, he blasted every last one of the Foo Fighter's greatest hits so I wouldn't hear where we were going. But that's the thing about San Diego, the ocean's always within earshot, always lulling somewhere in the background.
Despite Elias's efforts, the closer we got to the shoreline, the easier it was to partially figure out his final surprise. I don't know where he's taking me or if I'll end up in the water whether I decide to peek through this blindfold or not, but right now I'm choosing to trust him. All the way through the dark.
