“It felt fitting.”
“It is. Thank you.”
He pressed a kiss to my lips. I wanted to cling to him. I wanted to keep him here forever. I certainly didn’t want him to go after something so thoughtful.
But then he withdrew. “As much as I’d love to stay, I have to get to mass.”
“Of course. Thank you so much. I love it.”
He kissed me again as if he couldn’t get enough either. “Read the inscription after I’m gone.”
Then, he disappeared from my bedroom. I could hear the farewells to my mom and sisters. The laughter as they tittered about his appearance. I opened the book and found Ash’s clear handwriting on the inside cover.
Merry Christmas, Lila.
* * *
Always your Laurie,
Ash
8
Savannah
January 8, 2007
The whispers about the ski trip were everywhere on that first day back. Luckily, I only had my last class of the day with Shelly. So, I didn’t have to face her until Spanish.
She had a smirk on her face as I stepped into the classroom. She must have known that I’d heard and was waiting for my reaction. My seat in the front row was unoccupied, but she’d taken the seat behind me. I could have chosen a different seat, but I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction.
I dropped my bag and plopped down, immediately swiveling in my seat. I plastered a smile on my face. “How was break, Shelly?”
“Amazing actually.” She arched an eyebrow.
“That’s so good to hear. Mine ended up being incredible. Blessing in disguise that you ended up having to cancel the ski trip.”
Then, I whipped back around before she could say anything else as Señora Chin began the lesson. I could practically feel her seething behind me, but I made sure not to turn around once. She had thought that she’d gotten the better of me by uninviting me to her ski trip. Well, I’d gotten something Ash out of the mix.
Once the class was over and Señora Chin handed out our first assignment of the new semester, I discreetly pulled out my phone to check for messages. Josie had sent me a series of blurry selfies with an I miss you attached.
“Delilah,” Shelly said with a fake smile. “Walk with me.”
“Sure,” I said, tucking away my phone. “You have to tell me everything about break.”
“Of course. Tell me about yours.” She eyed me curiously. “What did you get up to?”
“I mostly worked at the dance studio, but I had a three hour pointe intensive. Plus, I worked on my tumbling. I think my back handspring is where it needs to be for competitions this semester.”
“That’s so good. I know you’ve been working on them.”
We exited the broad double doors of the school. Shelly’s Lexus was always parked in the first spot. She’d even chalked her name onto it at the beginning of the year, so everyone knew who it belonged to. I only lived a few blocks over. So, I always walked, even in the cold while wearing my pleated Catholic school girl uniform.
She pulled me to a stop after we stepped outside. “I don’t know if you’ve heard, Delilah, but I ended up going skiing.”
“Oh,” I said, my face carefully blank.
“Yeah. Actually, like, a few football players came with us, and it kind of got out of hand. I don’t think it would have been your scene. Lots of drinking and sex, and I know … you’re a virgin.”
“Ah.”
I tried to keep from laughing. She was going to try to claim that she had done this to me because I was a virgin and I’d have been uncomfortable. And while … maybe I would have been uneasy with everyone naked and drunk, I still would have gone. Not that I wanted to be involved with any of that anymore. I’d been wasting my time trying to befriend Shelly and the other cheerleaders. I had Marley and Josie, and I didn’t need people who would treat me like this. Didn’t stop it from hurting, unfortunately.
“You understand, right?”
“Sure,” I said. “I understand.”
“Oh good.” Her smile brightened even wider.
She thought that she’d gotten away with it and that I was just going to let her hurt me.
“I mean, if you hadn’t uninvited me to your ski trip, then I never would be dating Ash now.”
Shelly blinked. “What?”
“I’m dating Ash Talmadge.”
“You mean you went on a date with Ash?”
“Well, yeah, like a dozen over break.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“We spent all break together. He took me out on his parents’ yacht for New Year’s.” I smiled daringly.
She assessed me carefully as if trying to put the pieces together. She was silent a full beat before finally saying, “His parents don’t let him date.”
I shrugged. Not that I wanted to let Shelly get to me. Because I actually hadn’t met Ash’s parents the month that we spent together. We always met after work or over at my place or down on the riverfront. Stolen meetings and kisses and lust. But even if his parents didn’t let him date or they didn’t know about me … it didn’t mean we weren’t dating.