Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 87155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
“What? She makes good grades.”
She twisted her lips. “Right. You were going to sit next to her because she makes good grades and not because she’s the only girl in the class who has boobs.”
Truthfully? I had Thea. I hadn’t even noticed that Tiffany had a face.
I barked a laugh, anxiety ebbing from my system, leaving the most unbelievable calm behind. “How about we stop talking about Tiffany and take your new leg out for a spin? Wanna ride bikes down to the ditch?”
She groaned. “I’m not allowed to ride my bike for two weeks while my ankle strengthens.”
I leaned back and made a show of looking at her empty driveway. “Your dad at work?”
“Yeah.”
I quirked an eyebrow. “Soooo, we riding or what?”
She shrugged, completely oblivious to the celebration roaring inside me. “Yeah. Give me a minute. I need to pee before we go.”
I grinned impossibly wide as she turned on a toe and swung the door shut in my face.
And that was the story of how Thea became the other half of my soul. It wasn’t the romantic beginning people had inscribed in wedding rings or shared with their grandkids for generations to come. But it was us, and we would later learn that finding unconditional understanding in another human being was more extraordinary and romantic than any love story.
Thea and I rode our bikes that day.
And the day after that.
And the day after that.
Little by little, she became my entire world.
Which should have been the first clue that I’d eventually lose her.
Over the next year, Ramsey became my best friend in every sense of the word. My dad slowly started to reemerge from the depths of his depression. Though nothing ever went back to normal. He worked seven days a week at the barbershop, which I understood. He was the sole provider for our little family. He had to work hard. Plus, he owned the place, so he had things to do like bookkeeping, maintenance, and avoiding me. It was rare for him to be at home before dinner. I’d gotten used to the peace, quiet, and uninterrupted TV time, but it drove Ramsey crazy that I was always alone.
His solution was to never leave my side.
And my solution was to always leave the door unlocked for him.
Nora and Ramsey quickly became a fixture in my house. Without my dad around, we had free reign to do whatever we wanted. This usually consisted of eating too much junk food, arguing over what we were going to watch, and then giving up and going outside to play regardless of the weather.
Nora wasn’t the athletic type, but thanks to the guy on the corner who let Ramsey mow his grass for the asinine highway robbery price of twenty bucks a month, we’d gotten her a new bike so she could tag along with us. The three of us became inseparable, but that did not mean it was all smooth sailing.
A few days before Ramsey’s birthday, Nora spilled the beans that he was turning twelve rather than the eleven I’d assumed. It was stupid, but a piece of my heart broke when I found out he was keeping secrets.
Ramsey had become my everything, and it hurt to realize I wasn’t his.
I probably wasn’t as delicate as I should have been when I confronted him about it. My temper needed a little work in those days. He got mad, slammed the door, and stormed off.
I waited for him at our tree for several hours.
When he finally showed up, he offered me a piece of gum and then spent the next ten minutes pouring his heart out about his parents fighting, him failing fifth grade, and them being evicted.
I ached for him and Nora. How he still smiled at all, I would never understand. But I showed him no pity. Instead, I yelled at him that we were best friends and I didn’t care if he had a third nipple—he was required by best friend law to tell me about it.
The little things meant a lot to Ramsey. And the way his face lit at such an obvious declaration was a little sad but a lot heartwarming. He smiled throughout the rest of that tongue lashing while I stared up at him pretending to be pissed off but secretly happier than I’d ever been.
My grades were still in the toilet because I didn’t care enough to try, but knowing that Ramsey was struggling with school kicked my butt into gear. We started doing our homework together, and I stopped letting him copy the answers off my tests.
He glared at me a lot at first.
Which made me laugh.
Which made him smile.
Which made my cheeks get hot.
Which made his smile fall as he asked if I was feeling okay.
Which made me snap at him to shut up and get back to work.