Valerie Chance finds herself in a whirlwind of emotions her senior year. The boy she has been crushing on for years-Gabe-finally notices her, but when he starts seeing another girl, Valerie panics. In order to make Gabe jealous, she blackmails her l...
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"What the-" I jolted upright from my sleep as I felt the slimy sensation of a tongue sliding across my face.
I looked down to see Moose staring up at me with her wide eyes. Her furry face was displaying the pleasure it gave her to taste my morning drool. She licked my hand and nudged me, begging for my undivided attention.
"Thanks for keeping me hygienic," I said with a laugh as I kissed the top of her soft head and scratched behind her right ear.
She hopped onto the couch and curled into a ball by my feet. My mother would kill me if she knew that I had let the dog lie on her luxurious leather couch, but I couldn't care less. As far as I knew, Moose was more of a human than she was.
I noticed a white piece of paper perched on top of the glass coffee table with a blanket folded neatly next to it.
I sat up and reached for the note.
I had to go home. I am glad that your brother is okay. -Mitch
I smiled to myself and looked at the couch across from me to see my brother sleeping peacefully. I didn't know what I would have done if Mitch hadn't helped me last night.
I picked up my iPhone and viewed my lock screen; I had a voicemail from my mother. I pressed play and lifted the cell phone to my ear.
"Hello, Valerie. I am calling to let you know that I am going to be in Portland for a few more days. I'm not exactly sure when I will be home, but I trust you to take care of yourself and your brother. Bye bye now."
I heard the click of the message ending and I sighed with relief. Fortunately, I now had a few days to come up with an explanation for why my brother was suspiciously covered in purple bruises instead of a few hours.
I opened my messages, clicked on Mitch's name, and started typing.
Thank you again for everything. I hope you don't hate me for blackmailing you. :)
I cringed at my message and deleted the last sentence. That was probably a weird thing to say. It was probably best to send a simple 'thank you'.
I hit send and felt a small smile creep onto my cheeks. My mind started to wander to the feeling of his fingers tangled with mine, to the bittersweet sensation of the chilly air vanishing as he put his coat on my shoulders, and to the smell of the kettle corn as I argued with him in the passenger seat of his dirty car.
I was interrupted from my reminiscing thoughts as I felt my phone buzz in my hands. I quickly turned it on, curious to see which snarky remark Mitch had responded with this time.
I miss you.
My breath caught in my throat and my eyebrows lifted. Then I looked at the name on the screen.
The message was not from Mitch, it was from Gabe; I had completely forgotten about him until now.
I brought my hand to my lips and felt the skin where he had kissed me last night. My high school dream had finally come to life, yet I was still having a hard time believing that it was now a reality. Poor Beatrice would be so upset when Gabe broke things off with her.
