Total pages in book: 180
Estimated words: 179189 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 896(@200wpm)___ 717(@250wpm)___ 597(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 179189 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 896(@200wpm)___ 717(@250wpm)___ 597(@300wpm)
With the sun shining brightly, I breathe a sigh of relief and stare up at the sky.
Each second we spend on this earth is another one we should cherish. I know that now.
We shouldn’t get stuck in a place we don’t wanna be, or do things that go against our hopes and dreams. We should chase the things we love, and more importantly, never, ever look back.
My life is falling into place at last. And I know exactly what I wanna do.
Chapter 28
Hailey
A few days later
“Are you sure about this? If you leave, there’s no going back,” Lesley says as she watches me pack.
“Yes,” I say. “I’ve already filled out the forms. There is no going back.”
“What about your mom? Is she okay with it?”
“Yeah … now that my mom’s boyfriend is finally behind bars, she’s free to bug me with questions instead.” I chuckle. “But she says she’s happy as long as I am.”
She smiles, but it’s followed by a sigh. “Well, I’m sure she’s proud of you, and so am I.” She hugs me awkwardly from behind, making me laugh.
“Thanks,” I say. “But it’s really just because I suck at studying.”
“True, but you could’ve fixed your grades easily,” she says. “There was still time.”
“I don’t want more time here,” I say. “I want more time out there in the real world. This place isn’t for me. I’m not cut out for this—I know that now.”
“It’s a bit of a waste of all those months you already did finish, though,” she says, fetching my clothes from the drawers for me and placing them on the bed next to my suitcase.
“All the more reason to quit now.”
“What are you gonna do next?” she asks.
“I don’t know …” I say, smiling. “Maybe I’ll get a job somewhere in an ice-cream shop.”
She grins. “They’d lose money over you because you’d be stuffing your face all the time.”
“Shhh!” I nudge her with my elbow. “Don’t ruin the plan.”
“You could always start up your own business, you know?” she muses. “You’d be able to eat all the ice cream you wanted.”
“Hmm …” I mull it over a bit. “That’s not even a bad idea.”
“What? Nah …”
“Yeah. Why not?” I shrug.
She laughs. “I didn’t really peg you as the type to go boss people around.”
“No, but I know just the guy for it …”
Her jaw drops. “Him?”
“You never know?” I wink.
“Oooh … so that’s why you’re quitting college.”
I frown and drop my panties in the suitcase. “No, of course not.”
“But he was fired too because he was seeing you,” she says. “He doesn’t blame you for that?”
“No, he blames himself more than anything, actually.”
“Strange.”
“He and I just … talked it over.”
“And?”
I think about it for a second. “I think we can finally move on. It’s good.”
“Hmm … well, as long as you’re happy. That’s all that matters.”
“I am.” I look her way. “I mean it, I really am. And it’s been a long time since I was last able to say that.”
“Yeah … when was it? Oh yeah, last time I saw you with that dildo.” She snorts, and I give her another shove with my elbow. “Speaking of … you almost forgot it.” She holds it out to me.
“Where’d you get that? I was lookin’ for it.” I snatch it from her hand.
“Under your bed. Where you always put it.” She raises her brow. “You’re gonna need it now that he’s … gone?”
I grin. “I’ll see about that, but it’s none of your business.”
She laughs. “Good. Keep it that way. I really don’t wanna know what my best friend and former teacher are doing. Yuck.” She sticks out her tongue.
“But you’ll come visit me, right? Even if he could be there?”
“Of course,” she says, putting her hands against her side. “Like you could survive without me.”
I laugh. “True.”
“That’s nothin’ but da tru tru.”
I make a face and snort from her reference to a movie we once watched. I think it was Cloud Atlas. Not that it matters.
“Wait, aren’t you forgetting something?” Lesley holds up a packet of cigarettes.
For a moment, I’m tempted to grab them, but then I don’t. “Nah, keep them.”
“You sure?” She frowns. “You’re quitting?”
“Yeah, I think so.” I shrug it off and grab my suitcase, waltzing to the door.
“So … I’ll see you around then?” she says, folding her arms.
I turn around and drop my suitcase, opening my arms. “C’mere, bitch.”
She runs into my arms and hugs me, and I slap her on the ass, laughing hard. “Make the boys go crazy for you, but be careful, okay? I’m not gonna have your back anymore, so you gotta have your own.”
“Oh, I’ve had enough parties to last a lifetime now. I’m just gonna settle for studying for a while,” she muses, winking as we stop hugging.
“Good. And I don’t wanna see you away from this campus unless it’s to visit me. You have to succeed.”