The Day

(24) You're on.

Chapter Twenty-Four

<Please vote and read the author’s note.

“So what’s been on your mind?” Brent asked suddenly, breaking me from my thoughts.

“I don’t know…” I replied, looking out through the window.

“Of course you know, they’re your thoughts aren’t they?” he asked in a teasing tone, nudging me.

I glanced at him. “Keep your eyes on the road.”

“Ok. But Hailee, please? Why don’t you want to tell me what you’ve been thinking about?”

“Because I honestly don’t know!” I exclaimed, slapping my hands down on my thighs.

“Whatever you say, Hailee…” Brent said with a hurt expression, as if I had just denied him happiness.

“Well, if you really want to know,” I began, “what I do remember is that I think about you.” Then I looked down at my thumbs. “A lot.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Brent grinning at me, and I turned to him, smiling back. “See, that’s what I wanted to know.”

I looked at the road. “Well, you got it.”

“But there is something else, isn’t there?”

I bit my lip. “Yeah?”

“What is it? Hailee, if you know that there is something else, why don’t you tell me?”

“Because I don’t really think it matters!”

“Everything matters to me. Especially when it has to do with you,” Brent said. We were at a stoplight, and his eyes were smoldering into the side of my face.

A blush blossomed on my cheeks, and I kept looking straight ahead, refusing to meet his gaze. “Well, if you really want to know, my parents. And what we left when we, you know, came here.”

There was silence in the car as he mulled this over. Through his reflection in the window I saw that he was rolling his tongue around in his mouth, a sign that he was frustrated. So many years of knowing Brent, I picked up on habits like that. “Why did you not want to tell me that?” he asked, and I heard an edge in his voice.

“Because I didn’t want to worry you. I mean, there is already enough pressure on both of us to get out of here. Especially now, since Meg…” I stopped, tears welling up in my eyes. I felt that empty feeling in my stomach, and I was beginning to choke on my tears.

“Hailee…” Brent said softly. We arrived at his house and he pulled over into the driveway. He unbuckled his belt and leaned over, hugging me strongly. “I know you didn’t want to worry me. But I want to know about these things, ok? Never hold back.” He breathed into my hair, and I felt his breath tickle my scalp.