Lesson by Her [Book 1]

Chapter 15

"Again with the pacing." Kayla frowned as Dusty walked along the length of the trailer. Wearing skinny jeans and a white sweater, she began to wonder if she was dressed appropriately to go skating. She couldn't ask her mother for advice. It would only invite her to pry further into her plans for that evening.

"Are you seeing a someone?" Kayla asked.

"What, no." Dusty's eyes widened with fear.

"Then why are you getting so wound up about seeing Cora? You see her all the time." Kayla continued her scrutiny of her daughter's behavior.

"I just feel a bit under the weather," Dusty lied.

"Then stay in," Kayla suggested.

"I'm eighteen, and it's a Saturday night," Dusty said. "I'm going out."

"I just hope Dust will be okay on his own." Kayla applied another layer of guilt to Dusty's situation. Beyond the window, Dusty spotted the headlights of Valentine's car.

"In all honesty, if Dust managed to burn the trailer down while here alone, he'd be doing us all a favor," Dusty said before heading out the door and into the twilight of the evening.

Valentine's car felt familiar but exotic all at the same time. She'd sat in the very passenger seat only a week before, and the same surge of adrenaline flooded her veins making her light-headed. "You ever been skating before?" Valentine asked as they drove out of West and on to the freeway.

"Honestly, no," Dusty admitted, glad that Valentine wouldn't see her blushing since she was driving. "I thought as much." Valentine smiled.

"You did?"

Her admission surprised Dusty. "Yeah, well, West isn't an ice skating kind of town. You guys don't even have an ice hockey team."

"You like ice hockey?" Dusty asked.

"Nope." Valentine shook her head. "I love it." She grinned. "I grew up in Canada," she added by way of explanation. "I used to live near Vancouver."

"You don't sound Canadian," Dusty noted. "

My accent watered down a bit over the years since I left home," Valentine explained. "I should go back more, really," she added. "

Do you miss it? Home?" Dusty asked. "

Yes and no," Valentine answered. Dusty felt awkward about asking Valentine further questions and so began to fiddle with her car stereo.

"Would you miss West if you left?" Valentine asked Dusty as the sound of The Smiths asking to get what they want filled the small space around them. Dusty thought of her small hometown, which seemed to contain more bad memories than good ones.

Her ultimate goal was to put as much distance between herself and the 7-Eleven where her father died as possible. "No, I wouldn't miss it," she answered.

"I don't think people miss their hometowns when all that's left there are bad memories and mistakes," Valentine mused aloud.

"I guess you wouldn't leave in the first place if you had it good?" Dusty wondered what bad memories Valentine had left back in Canada. She considered that maybe someone there had broken Valentine heart so badly that she had to leave the country, but that notion made her blood boil. She shouldn't care so much about Valentine and her mysterious past, but she did.

"If you plan to leave West, the best way to do it is through college," Valentine told Dusty.

"I can't afford college." Dusty scoffed, waving a dismissive hand.