Souled [Editing]

Chapter 16

The second they arrived at the car after their afternoon at the zoo Nate cranked the air conditioning to the highest setting it had. It was a hot but successful day. They spent four hours under an unforgiving sun and Meredith could already feel her arms start to turn red.

They were hardly out of the parking lot when the children in the backseat started to fall asleep. The plan had worked according to plan. Even the parents were exhausted and their eyes were slipping as well.

As he drove, Nate's mind went back to what Meredith had said in her sleep earlier that morning. He smiled despite himself and decided he'd tease her about it.

"Did you know that you talk in your sleep?" His voice was low even though people in the back couldn't hear him even if they were awake.

Meredith looked over at him. Shock was written all over her face. People teased her about it in high school but she never really believed them. After all, she never had anything to worry about saying in front of her friends. Now...she could've said anything embarrassing in front of him. The fact he heard her say something gave her dread.

"What did you hear?" If she even wanted to know what she said.

"Not much...something about a 'he.'"

Meredith put her head in her hands. "Oh my God," she moaned.

"You were talking to someone, too. I didn't catch it. You were slipping in and out of gibberish."

If she was talking to anyone in her sleep it would've been Ella. She thought she had a dream of her last night and this just confirmed it. Meredith dreaded what he was hiding of what he heard. She could've said absolutely anything. Let alone a "he"?

The rest of the drive back, she wondered who she mentioned in her dream. She prayed that it wasn't Bobby. That would only make things so much worse.

Nate parked the car in the garage next to a car that probably had a price tag nearing six figures. Meredith knew Nate had money, but she didn't realize his whole family was loaded. They all had more money than she could ever imagine.

They had two hours to spare before the graduation ceremony. Everyone went into different rooms and Nate and Meredith were left alone again.

"Do you want to shower first?" Meredith looked up at him. She felt slightly awkward asking him that but told herself to shake it off.

"No, you go ahead."

She nodded and climbed up the stairs. Nate turned back around and walked to the kitchen. Everyone was going out for dinner after the ceremony but he was too hungry to wait that long. He pulled out snack foods when his phone beeped.

Nate dug his phone out of his pocket and looked at the screen. It was a text message from Heather. He hadn't heard from her since she told him to figure everything out. And he was figuring it out. Today made him see things a little more clearly than before. Still, he read her text.

Hey. I know I said I was going to leave you alone but I got some bad news today and I just needed to talk to someone...call me if you can.

Nate exited out of the message and shoved the phone back in his pocket. If he was figuring things out for Heather then Meredith deserved a fair chance: distraction free. Nate took a bite of the sandwich he made and stared out the back windows.

The back of the house looked out onto a gorgeous expansive back yard. The lawn backed up against a line of trees and a clear blue sky blanketed the scene. One of his family members had set up a travel badminton net near the patio and the racquets and birdies were strewn haphazardly from the last use.