Georgia's Last Words

Chapter Thirteen

Cooper, Haley, and I are sitting in the dorm room watching some stupid movie. We’ve been here for close to two hours when the credits finally begin to roll. All of us sigh with relief. It truly was a horrid movie. 

“So where are you off to for break?” Haley asks. 

Cooper assumes she’s asking him and replies, “To my lovely home back in Montana.”

I assume she meant me, so I also answer. “I think I’m staying here.”

Both Cooper and Haley whip their heads towards me, their eyes widen. 

“Why?” Haley asks.

“I just don’t want to go back home, not right now anyways.”

Cooper rubs my back. I pull my knees close and lay my chin on top of them. Haley nods knowingly. For a bit we sit like this, in silence. 

“Where are you going, Haley?”

“Home.”

Home sounds like such a dark word right now. It’s a place that I don’t want to go right now. A place with too many memories right now. My heart just isn’t in it right now. I’m not strong enough to go back to that place where there is so much pain. 

“Why don’t you come with me.”

“Where?”

“Montana.” Cooper cocks an eyebrow in waiting for my answer.

“Really? You want me to come with you to Montana, where your family is?”

He nods. “Yep.” He turns to Haley and asks, “Don’t you think it’s a good idea?”

“Definitely.”

I rolls my eyes. “You two are ganging up on me, however it is working. I guess I’ll go to Montana.”

Cooper kisses me, then rolls off the bed. He switches over to the computer chair. He starts to spin around and around. I laugh at his kid side, but he continues on spinning. 

Haley flips open her phone. “Crud, I have to go. I’ll see you guys later. We have to have coffee or dinner before we all leave. Promise?”

“Promise.”

She stands up and skips to the door. Haley seems extra cheery today. With a quick little wave, she walks out the door. It shuts with a click. 

I watch Cooper enjoy himself. He is still spinning, laughing occasionally. He says a few things every now and again. My responses are short, my mind preoccupied by other things. Of course, it is rather preoccupied by Montana. 

Truthfully, I am petrified. Cooper is great, but he’s told me the horror stories of the Smith family. The constant teasing, judgment of past friends, and plenty other things that would make a girl run in the other direction. 

“Sky, you okay?”

“Huh? Yeah, sorry I was just thinking.”

“You’re scared, aren’t you?” He has stopped spinning, his head bobbles slightly. 

My nose scrunches up as I say, “A little.”

“You’ll be fine.”

“Will I?”

“Sky, they’ll love you, just like I do.” He rolls the chair over and kisses the tip of my nose. “There is not a single thing about you that would make them hate you. If they have any sense about them, they’ll love you.”

“What if they don’t?”

“Then screw them.” He laughs. 

I smile. However, I am still worried. There’s a part of me that feels like they’re going to see right through me. Like they’ll take a single look and automatically see that I’m broken. I feel like with a single glance they’ll see that I’m not a perfect girl. And everything about me right now makes me the most imperfect person for Cooper; the scariest part is his family might see it too.