| published! under the new title MEET ME IN THE MIDDLE | Eden knows she can't love Truman, the boy with the angelic smile and devilish eyes. Why? He's her best friend Katie's older brother, who she strictly promised she'd stay away from.
But when a...
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T R U M A N
Eden texted me the next day.
The sun had just risen, and I was laying in bed with Santana on my chest when my phone rang, a new number flashing across the screen.
"Ignore it," Santana whispered, sliding her hand beneath the band of my boxers. She was grinning, wickedly, resorting to old tactics to get me to spend the day in bed with her. Which, if I'm being honest, was working.
Reluctantly, I sat up and pushed her hand away with whatever slim shred of dignity I had left these days.
"Truman?" she asked, placing her hands on my shoulders. "Who is it, baby?" Her tongue touched my neck. I felt myself slipping.
"My mom," I lied. That was enough to kill the mood. Santana fell back on the bed and I read Eden's message.
Hey, it's me. Class got cancelled. Pick me up on campus? Then, I'm only sending you this because I have nothing better to do, btw.
A grin split across my face, and I ducked into the bathroom before Santana could see.
"Where are you going?" she called.
I turned on the hot water and stepped into the tub. "Hospital!" Lying had become so easy, it was almost comical.
By the time I was dressed and out the door, Santana had fallen back asleep. I stood there for a minute, watching her, and wondered why we were even together. I didn't love her. She didn't love me. And it wasn't just for sex, either. I think it was familiar, the two of us. We naturally gravitated back to each other because it was easy. We had a past and a present. The future was iffy, but the company she brought was nice.
She most definitely deserved better than me—most people did. But for some reason, she put up with my shit. Sure, she complained about the smoking and the drinking, trying to get me to stop both to no avail. My mind just kept going back to how she was there for me when Katie got into the accident. Even after we broke up and I was away at college, she called every night to make sure I was all right. It was more than most people did.
She never gave up on me. Even when I deserved it and God, did I ever.
That's probably why I felt a pang of guilt buried deep in my chest as I walked out the door and headed to my car. It was stupid, owning a car in the city. But somedays I didn't want to be around people, and subways and buses were full of them.
I pulled up in front of Eden's campus and parked, waiting. For a second I missed school. The idea of always having somewhere to be, something to do. It gave me a weird sense of purpose but my head wasn't in it. I could barely find it in me to care about the future when Katie lost hers.
And going away to a college out-of-province after Katie's accident may have been the shittiest idea I've ever had. I thought getting away would be good for me, but turns out distance isn't exactly a great remedy for guilt.
