Total pages in book: 215
Estimated words: 199344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 997(@200wpm)___ 797(@250wpm)___ 664(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 199344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 997(@200wpm)___ 797(@250wpm)___ 664(@300wpm)
“Good,” I say. “How’s that boyfriend of yours? Or is he a fiancé now?”
She scrunches her face, cringing. “Yeah, he’s actually not doing so well,” she tells me. “He accidentally tripped and fell into his secretary’s vagina.”
“No shit.”
“Yeah, it’s fine,” she says. “Well, not really, but it was six months ago, so it doesn’t hurt quite as much anymore.”
“Shit, I’m sorry,” I say. “If you need someone to teach you how to slash tires, I can help with that.”
“It’s cute you think I don’t already know how,” she laughs before glancing back toward the school. “Listen, it was great seeing you, but I should probably get back. I volunteered to be on pack-up duty.”
I laugh, and just as she goes to turn away, a flash of color catches my eyes, and I glance up just in time to see the bird swooping low, so close it forces Hope back, and she lets out a terrified yelp, gasping as she falls.
I race in, throwing my arms out and quickly catching her before she hits the ground. “You good?” I ask, helping her back to her feet and making sure she’s balanced before letting go.
“Yeah, I’m sorry,” she says, shaking her head, eyeing the bird hovering nearby in a peculiar way. “You know, it’s the weirdest thing. This bird has been following me around all week.”
“You don’t say?” I mutter, eyeing the bird with a wide grin. It starts stalking toward us and Hope inches closer to me, her shoulder pressing up against my arm as she watches the bird with caution, clearly not as thrilled with the bird as I am. Only I lift my hand to Hope’s lower back, trying to calm her, and the bird looks back to me, bowing its head, almost like a nod.
I gape at it, wondering if this is Zoey trying to send some kind of message. But what?
I’m struck by something she wrote in her letter, telling me that when the time came, when I was ready, she would send me a sign. She wrote I want you to find hope. But what if all this time, it’s been a different kind of hope she’s been wanting me to find?
Unease pounds through my veins, and I glance at the bird to find it holding my stare. It takes another step toward us, and Hope inches back again, her body now pressed right up against mine.
Is this really what Zoey wants? What she feels I need in my life?
The bird seems to nod again, as if reading my mind, and feeling the unease that pounds through my veins. It feels like this damn bird is silently daring me to take a chance, telling me that it’s time to find my new happiness and live again.
Then taking that chance, I shift my hand a little higher on Hope’s back, hoping like fuck I’m doing the right thing. “Hope, I . . . I know this is a little out of left field,” I say, certain that I sound like a moron, but I’ve never had to put myself out there like this before. “I was wondering if you’d want to have dinner with me tonight?”
Hope inches back just a little, looking up at me with wide blue eyes, clearly just as shocked as I am. “I, ummm . . . yeah. I think I would.”
“Yeah?”
She nods, the promise of a new adventure brimming in her eyes. “I’ve actually been meaning to reach out to you,” she tells me. “After I kicked Brent out, I was going through a bunch of my things and found some old photos from senior year, and well, most of them are with Zoey, and I wondered if you’d want to see them?”
“Yeah,” I tell her fondly, my gaze shifting back toward the bird. “I think I would.”
Hope beams up at me, and as a soft blush creeps into her cheeks, my heart starts to pound just a little bit faster. Behind us, the bird squawks before launching itself back into the sky.
And with that, it disappears into the distance, soaring through the clouds and flying high, flying free. But something tells me that’s not the last I’ll be seeing of this bird, and as I gaze up toward the bright sun—the sun in my sky—the ache finally starts to ease in my chest, and I smile, welcoming a new tomorrow, but never forgetting my past.