Discern by Samantha Shakespeare Read Free Book Online

your emotional state has something to do with your ex?” he asked politely. “Not that it’s any of my business. You just seem so sad and down sometimes.”
    “My ex does have a lot to do with my current state of my mind. I wish he didn’t, but it’s hard to get over your first love, especially when you built your whole future around that person.” My eyes dropped, feeling I had revealed too much.
    “The void your first love leaves can never be forgotten, but it’ll be filled again. You’ll move on. As I said, sometimes the end is really just the beginning. All you have to do is look for it. It’s usually right in front of you.” His eyes studied my face and a smile warmed his.
    We were standing outside the building. I hadn’t remembered leaving the class. Our conversation continued as we walked to my car. As we passed several lights in the parking lot, they each twinkled as we walked by. But I was paying more attention to how beautiful he was. His face was absolutely stunning, every feature chiseled out perfectly like a sculpture. His blond hair framed his golden face perfectly. His beautiful, emerald green eyes concentrated on my every move. Had I really been so blinded by my depression not to accept his previous offer?
    He opened my car door, and I slid inside. “I’ll see you Monday night,” he said casually.
    “Until then.”
    He disappeared into the dark.
    My unbelievably bright outlook was soon squashed. I pulled into my driveway and my stomach knotted. There sat a black truck that resembled Braden’s. Trying not to panic, I crept slowly up the drive to get a closer look. My headlights shined on the back of the truck, revealing a dent in the rear bumper. A dent created when I had been riding with Braden.
    My attempt not to panic had officially failed. Braden or his father was here. I could not go into the house. My hands were shaking as I retrieved my cell phone. I anxiously dialed my father.
    I hadn’t even heard the phone ring. “Hello?” he answered.
    “Dad?”
    “Yes, sweetie,” he replied. I could hear his footsteps tapping on the wood floors.
      “Braden isn’t there is he?”
    “Nope.”
    “Thank goodness.
    “ Is his father?” I asked anxiously.
    “Yes.” His voice was flat.
    Call me when he leaves.”
    “Yes, sweetie, I’ll call you back. It’s only eight o’clock there right?” he asked, pretending I was in California .
    “Thanks, and I love you.” I continued through our circle drive to avoid being discovered.
    Braden’s father had spent most of the summer and fall months somewhere in Canada , where he had a cabin. After Braden graduated from high school, his father never stayed around town much anymore, because of the death of his wife, Braden’s mother. I could empathize with their loss.
    My phone began vibrating in my pocket. I instinctively picked it up, assuming it was my father calling me back.
    “Hello?”
    “Haley!” a familiar, desperate sounding voice gasped.
    I pulled the phone from ear to look at the number. “What do you want Braden?” I asked angrily.
    “Haley, why haven’t you answered any of my calls or texts? Even if it was just to tell me to leave you alone, anything at all,” he asked, changing his tone.
    “You keep calling just to ask me why I haven’t been responding to your ridiculous texts and countless calls?”
    “No, I keep calling to beg for your forgiveness. You wouldn’t be able to fathom the truth, even if I could tell you. Nothing happened, I swear.” He began pleading. “My life is a complete mess without you.”
    “A naked woman in your bed isn’t exactly a truth I can’t fathom. I’m not that naïve…or blind. I know what happens next,” I snapped.
    “It wasn’t what you thought. Believe me, there are things happening in the world that you have no idea about.”
    “I’m not stupid!” I shouted. “Please stop insulting my intelligence. I don’t want to hear your excuses. It’s over.”
    “Haley, please,