Hiding in my room hadn’t made the pain go away.
But living — living had been my salvation, just like Wes. He was like my own personal life coach — only I was afraid I was falling too hard and fast to find my way back. I pushed away that thought — we liked each other, that was all that mattered. If I looked too far into the future I would over-think things. After all, I was only eighteen. I didn’t want to get married.
Holy crap! Was I thinking about marriage already?
See? This was why girls needed other girlfriends to reign them in. I momentarily thought about calling Lisa, but that girl was anything but the voice of reason. She’d probably drive me to Vegas if I asked her.
My finger hovered over the phone, just as I gained enough courage to dial Gabe’s number, the phone lit up.
It was him.
“Hey,” I answered. “I was just going to call you.”
I waited on the living room couch for Wes to show up and twirled my hair in my fingers.
“Sure you were,” Gabe said, laughing. “I was just calling to make sure you were still alive. I heard you went for a swim.”
“How?” I gasped. “That was only forty minutes ago.”
“Someone’s boyfriend called to update me on the adventures of Kiersten.” I could practically see Gabe’s smug grin in my mind as he spoke. “And he wanted me to be the first to give you a high five for being brave.”
“Swimming isn’t brave,” I whined. “I feel like a five-year-old.”
“I wore water wings until I was fourteen,” Gabe said dryly. “What you did was brave.”
“Fourteen?” I repeated.
“I had a minor shark phobia.”
“In a pool?”
“We aren’t talking about me.” Gabe changed the subject. “How goes the fairy tale, Cinderella?”
“It goes well.” I sighed happily into the phone. “He’s perfect, I mean, it’s perfect. I feel good. Too good, almost like something bad has to happen or something, you know?”
Gabe grew really quiet.
“Gabe?”
“Yeah, I’m here.” He cursed softly. “Just thinking. Look, I gotta go, but do yourself a favor? Don’t over-think things. Just enjoy having the richest twenty-one-year-old in the world at your beck and call, kiss him goodnight, and savor the moments you guys have together.”
“Huh?”
“You know…” Gabe cleared his throat. “Before school starts again.”
“Oh right, next week, school. I almost forgot, thanks for bringing me some early Christmas cheer.”
“I did work at the mall as an elf once.”
“Pictures?”
“All destroyed in a tragic fire that only ended up burning that one section of my room — odd really.” He laughed. “Now, go have fun, I’ll see you Monday okay?”
“Fine!”
“Oh, and don’t forget, you’re going shopping for a homecoming dress with Lisa. She’ll freak if you forget.”
“Got it.”