In which a young girl who lost her mom
befriended a boy who helped her through everything
until she's brought to the point when she has to
make a decision that will change her life
****
TRIGGER WARNING
This book does mention suicide multiple times...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"I want to ask her to be my girlfriend," Luke muttered, twisting his keys in his hand as they approached the truck. The metal clicked loudly in the silence between them. "But there's something in me telling me not to. Maybe it's the fact that we've been best friends for six years. I don't know, dude. I just want to be able to call her mine, though."
His voice cracked with something like frustration—or fear—as he unlocked the truck with a sharp snap of the lock. Reggie didn't answer right away. He just looked at his best friend for a second, really looked at him. Luke was tired. Not in the way that came from staying up too late writing lyrics, but in the way people got when they'd been running in circles inside their own head for too long.
"Dude," Reggie said, climbing into the passenger seat, "she's into you. It's so incredibly obvious."
Luke scoffed under his breath as he tossed his backpack into the backseat.
"She'll say yes no matter what," Reggie went on, buckling his seatbelt with a confident click. "I can't think of a single reason she wouldn't. I get that you've been close forever, but that doesn't mean something's bound to go wrong because of it. If anything, that makes it easier. You already know each other—like, know each other. There's no awkward 'What's your favorite color' small talk. You're already past that."
Luke slid into the driver's seat and started the engine, the rumble of it centering him somehow. But the knot in his chest only tightened.
"I know," he said quietly. "But... will we still be best friends? Or will there suddenly be this... line? Like, boyfriend stuff on one side, and best friend stuff on the other. I don't know where the boundaries go after that. I don't want to ruin the thing we already have just because I want something more."
Luke drives out of the school parking lot and starts the route to the beach.
He pulled out of the school parking lot, his grip on the wheel just a little too tight. The sun had started to dip lower, casting long golden streaks across the street as they made their way toward the beach. It was the only place Luke could think to go when his brain got like this—too loud, too full. The ocean always helped. Reggie always helped.
"You're not throwing anything away," Reggie said after a pause, softening a little. He leaned his head against the window, watching the trees blur by. "You're just... evolving it. There's no line in the sand, man. All you're doing is putting a more appropriate title on what you already have. You guys are already more than best friends. Best friends don't make out every night before falling asleep together."
Luke groaned at that, but it was affectionate, like an older brother sick of his sibling's honesty.
"I wouldn't do that with Alex," Reggie added, shooting him a grin. "Or you."
"Thanks," Luke muttered, though a small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"You and Olivia are already together," Reggie said plainly, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You just haven't said it out loud yet."
