A Small Town Dream by Rebecca Milton Read Free Book Online Page B

cry.
     
    “So, other options like, other girls ,” Connie sniffed through her tears. “Do you think he’s seeing someone else?” Annie felt stuck. What could she say? The truth would crush her. But w hat was the truth? She and Parker had kissed but, Parker didn’t say he was leaving Connie, just that he was frustrated. Did Parker want more than just a kiss from Annie?
     
    “Connie, this school is ridiculously small, so if Parker was seeing someone else, you’d have heard about it by now, for sure.” Connie smiled slowly. “Look,” Annie continued, “ talk to him, give him a chance to explain, to express things. I don’t think he wants to leave you , but I think he’s thinking differently about life from here on in.” Connie nodded. Then she leapt at Annie and hugged her.
     
    “God, Annie,” she said through more tears, “what the he— I mean, what would I ever do without you?” Annie hugged back and then gently pushed her away.
     
    “I didn’t do anything, Con, really, you’re just... You see your future clearly, and you don’t want anything to ruin it. But, I think you will feel much better if you just talk to Parker, and try to accept what he says.” Again, Connie hugged her, promising her she would.
     
    Again, Annie was left with guilt and jealousy as her only companions. It was becoming a familiar situation.
     
    ***
     
    I need to see you tonight, please, things are spinning out of control, and I need your wisdom .
     
    Annie quickly crumpled the note. She meant to stash it in her locker, but in spite of herself, read it again. Parker had slipped it into one of the vents in the door. He wanted to see her , to talk with her . She felt a rush of sickness, guilt, worry…and elation.
     
    Wait a minute. What was she doing? How could she do this to her best friend? She decided she would see Parker, but only to tell him they had to stop spending time alone together. Connie was his girlfriend, his future, and he needed to focus on her. If he couldn’t, if he weren't interested in her any longer, he needed to tell her. He owed her that much.
     
    ***
     
    “We have to stop this, Parker.” Once again, they were back at the lake. Once again, Parker built a fire, lit a cigarette, held her hand. Once again... Annie let him kiss her. And she had kissed him back, intoxicated by his passion and his breath. “I don’t know what’s going on with you, Parker.” More to the point, Annie Stewart, what’s going on with you?
     
    “Yes, you do, Anne.” He faced her, his eyes soft. “You, of all the people I know, know exactly what’s going on.” She smoothed her skirt, trying to steady herself. Her body tingled from his kiss, but her mind was racing, and her heart hurt so much. “Anne, I’m not the guy my parents want me to be, not anymore. I don’t want to study law, I don’t want to work for my uncle, I don’t want to be tied down here, and I don’t want…” He combed his fingers through his hair. She watched, utterly distracted by how he moved. Finally, she found her tongue.
     
    “ What don’t you want, Parker?”
     
    He took a deep breath, then said flatly, “Connie. I don’t want Connie. I don’t want the life she’s mapped out and plugged me into.” Annie sat at his side, holding his hand, silent, looking out onto the smooth, onyx water.
     
    Does he want me now? Do I wa nt him? And did she actually want him, or was she just caught up in the passion of the moment? She decided to take a chance.
     
    “Well,” she began solely, “maybe you don’t want the life Connie wants, but you still want her . Maybe, if you two talked, you’d find a way to change and grow together . So being a lawyer, working for your uncle here, isn’t the life you want, that still doesn’t mean you don’t want Connie, right?”
     
    Parker was quiet. He dropped her hand and walked back to the fire. He added more branches and pine needles, then poked it with a stick, letting air in under the