You Don't Know..What you Don't Know

Chapter 50- Summer

During dinner I sat beside Anna while Steve, Torri, and the rest of the guys crowded around Jim, laughing over stories from the past.

I found myself watching them more than joining the conversation.

Torri never once looked my way.

Maybe that was for the best.

Maybe he'd finally accepted that whatever we'd been belonged in another season of our lives.

I missed him.

I probably always would.

He had been my first love.

The first boy who'd ever made my heart race.

The first person I'd trusted with pieces of myself I'd never given anyone else.

No matter where life took us, I knew twenty years from now I'd still remember that summer—not with regret, but with gratitude. For a little while, we'd been exactly what we needed to be for each other.

Then life moved on.

As dinner ended, the adults began loading leftovers and decorations into their cars, leaving the graduates to celebrate on their own.

I helped Mom carry a few boxes outside.

"You sure you've got everything?" she asked.

"I've got it."

She hugged me one last time before climbing into the car.

As I turned back toward the venue, headlights swept across the parking lot.

Justin's car.

My stomach dropped.

The passenger door opened.

Randy climbed out.

Even from twenty feet away I could tell he'd been drinking.

A lot.

"Damn it," I whispered.

Justin caught my eye as he stepped around the car.

I silently begged him to fix this.

He simply raised both hands.

There was nothing he could do.

I walked toward Randy slowly, like approaching a frightened animal that might bolt—or bite.

"Did I miss one of your texts?" I asked gently. "I'm sorry if I did. I was helping my mom."

He didn't answer my question.

Instead his eyes searched past me.

"Where is he, Tia?"

His voice echoed across the parking lot.

"Randy..." I lowered mine. "He's not important. Nothing is happening. Please don't do this tonight. Please don't make this about us."

I reached for his hand.

He pulled it away.

"I'm begging you."

As if fate enjoyed terrible timing, the doors opened behind me.

Steve and Torri stepped outside.

I closed my eyes for half a second.

Of course.

"Steve!" I called immediately. "Go back inside."

Neither of them moved.

"Torri... please."