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)
I groan, knowing just how right she is before pressing my lips into a hard line and meeting her saddened stare. “And as for you and me?” I ask.
Zoey shrugs her shoulders, and the sadness in her eyes only increases. “You know what I want, Noah. That’s never changed,” she tells me. “I stand by what I said in that closet. When you’re ready to come back to me, I’ll be right here waiting. Just promise that if there ever comes a point where you change your mind or decide that I’m not what you need, let me go because I’ll never be able to pull away on my own.”
My arms tighten back around her, and I clutch her tightly to my chest. “You’ll never not be what I need,” I promise her.
“Then I’ll never stop fighting for you.”
I close my eyes, my forehead tipping against hers as we sit there in this warm silence, our arms wrapped tightly around one another. Then when a yawn tears through her, I scoop her up into my arms and lift us off the end of her bed. I take two strides to the top of her bed and slide her back in between the sheets, pulling the blanket right up to her chin, just the way she likes it. “Go to sleep, Zozo,” I murmur, leaning down and pressing a kiss to her temple.
I pull back, and before I can convince myself to stay, I turn and make my way back across her room, my fingers clutching the window. “I’ll miss you, Noah,” she says, and the way her tone makes this feel like goodbye tears me to shreds, but it’s nothing less than what I deserve.
Glancing back, I see her eyes shining in the darkness, one perfectly round tear rolling down her cheek. “I’ll miss you too, Zo.” And with that, I climb back out through her window and sit right there on the roof until the sun peeks up over the horizon.
20
Zoey
THREE YEARS AGO
My feet drag along the path toward the park as the hot Arizona sun bears down over me. There are a few weeks of summer break left, and then Tarni and I will be starting at East View High together. I’ve never been so excited. Well, that’s not entirely true. I’m excited, but I’m also kinda nervous.
Starting high school was supposed to be easy because I thought I’d have Noah there to calm my nerves. It’s what we always planned. He was going to be at East View a year before me, and when I followed, he would be there to hold my hand, but things don’t always go according to plan. The second he showed promise on the football field, his father made sure he was enrolled in the best private school in the area, but it’s fine, I still see him all the time. It just means that during school hours, I’m not going to have anybody to swoon over.
He’s fourteen now, and over the last two years, he’s gotten so tall, and that boyish grin is starting to morph into something else. When he looks at me, it makes my stomach flip-flop. I love it so much. I love him so much.
I don’t think it’s normal for kids our age to already know what they want in life, or who they want, but I’ve known for a while now that Noah is my person. We’ve always been best friends—bestest friends—but lately, it’s felt like more than that. Things are changing between us, and I don’t really know where we stand.
He’s always kissed me since we were kids, but he does it more often now and thinks of ridiculous reasons to stop by my house to see me. If someone asked me to define our relationship, I don’t know what I would say. I think he’s my boyfriend, but it’s not like we’ve ever had a conversation about it, and I don’t want to be wrong. God, that would be so embarrassing.
Tarni walks beside me, her arm looped through mine, and as she blabbers on about some guy coming to East View with us in a few weeks, I find myself cringing. Noah asked me to meet him in the park, which is fine, we do it all the time, but the second he sees Tarni tagging along, he’s not going to be happy. He’s never really liked her, but I don’t understand why.
When Tarni and I get to the park, I quickly scan the field, and finding it empty, we make our way over to the swings, sitting down and talking about all the crazy things that have happened over the summer.
We’re only here for a few minutes when I finally see him on the opposite side of the park. His gaze instantly comes to mine, a wide smile spreading over his lips, and as I smile back, I feel something pull between us, like an invisible string. It’s always been this way, but I’ve never had the guts to ask if he feels it too.