Element, Part 1 by CM Doporto Read Free Book Online Page B

to see her family. She had two weeks off
before summer classes and the start of her internship.
    “It’s okay. My mom is so busy with her job, traveling and stuff…
it wouldn’t be worth the flight or drive home.” Lise, an only child with
divorced parents, didn’t have much family. She rarely talked to her father and
hadn’t seen him in years. Her mother worked constantly and made her social life
a priority, kind of like Natalie’s Aunt Sharon. The fourteen hour drive to
Atlanta made going home for the weekend impossible and her mother had never
visited Lise since she started college. That made Natalie grateful for her
family, even though they sometimes drove her crazy.
    “I’ll be back next Wednesday. So you won’t be by yourself
too long.”
    Lise stood in front of the mirror, fixing her makeup. “Oh,
you don’t have to worry about me. I can hang out with Macie, even though I
don’t care to. Besides, I’m sure I’ll be hanging out with Sal, since he’s not
going home either.”
    Natalie looked at Lise through the mirror. “That’s why you
don’t want to go home with me. Do yourself a favor and take this slow.”
    “I know. Besides, he’s not that type of guy.” Her voice had
a hint of disappointment.
    Natalie narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean?”
    “He actually didn’t want to have sex with me. Can you believe
it?” Lise laughed, but Natalie could hear the bitterness and knew that it upset
her. Lise tossed a make-up brush in her cosmetic bag and shrugged it off, like
it was no big deal.
    “That’s good. I mean… take your time, get to know him.” She
wanted to tell her to wait because even when you think you know someone really
well, you don’t.
    “Maybe he’s gay?”
    Natalie shook her head. “I don’t think so. I didn’t get that
vibe.”
    Lise started working on her hair, teasing it and pinning it
to the side with bobby clips. “Yeah, me either. However, I never had a guy turn
me down.”
    “Maybe you shouldn’t try so hard.” Natalie gathered her
dirty clothes and stuffed them into her laundry bag.
    “What?” Lise’s voice sounded irritated.
“What I’m trying to say is don’t be the aggressor. You’re the girl. Girls
shouldn’t be trying to seduce guys for sex.” Natalie turned around, avoiding
further eye contact with Lise. Talks likes this made her uncomfortable.
    Lise started laughing. “Since when did you become my mother?
Or Dr. Phil? Not to be rude or anything, but you’re no expert.”
    Luckily, Natalie didn’t take offense to her comment. She
preferred not being an expert on this subject. She sat down on the edge of her
bed. “Sorry. I’m trying to prevent you from getting hurt, like I did.”  She
thought Tony was the right guy and hated that she gave herself to him.
    “No offense Nat, but I’m tougher than you. Besides, sex is
just sex. It’s no big deal. Not to mention, I can’t resist when it comes to
Sal. He’s damn hot.” Lise turned back around to examine herself in the mirror.
“Do you think he will continue to refuse me?”
    Natalie shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know.” They
definitely didn’t agree when it came to sex. She hated to think it, but one day
Lise would get hurt and maybe then she’d have more respect for herself. Until
then she would be Lise, always learning the hard way. “So, are you on your way
to hang out with Sal?”
    “Yep. We’re going to the movies.” Lise stopped teasing her
hair. “Hey, why don’t you and Ryan go to the movies with us? We can go on a
double date.”
    “No. I told you. I’m not going out with Ryan. I can’t get
involved with him.” Natalie gathered her things and doubled-checked to make
sure she had everything.
    “I don’t know why you keep ignoring his calls and text messages.
The guy felt really bad about what happened on the dance floor. Which sounded
like nothing, based on what both of you told me.”
    Natalie picked up her cell phone. She saw that she had four
text