How to Save a Life by Amber Nation Read Free Book Online Page B

I passed Charlie who has a stupefied look on his face as he blurts out, “Dude…Tracy?” As a look of pure disgust paints his face.
    “I know. I know.” I muttered as the shame of what just took place began coursing through my veins. I had totally made an ass of myself, and all for what? To get Sheridan out of my head? Well, if I thought it was going to work, I just totally proved myself wrong, because now I wanted her more than anything.

Sheridan
    I awoke sometime in the early afternoon, not believing that I actually slept so long, but the clock that sat on the bedside table confirmed it to be true. I couldn’t remember the last time I was able to relax into such a deep and restful slumber. It had to have been the fact that I felt safe in Mike’s home, even though he wasn’t much for company, his home was entirely inviting.
    The throbbing of my foot reminded me that it was well past time to take my pain medication. I wasn’t one to be thrilled about taking medicine, but I have experienced excruciating pain with no means of medicinal relief, so if the option was there for me, I was going to take it.
    I peeled back the covers to the full-sized bed and opened the curtains to the window that was placed to the left of where the bed sat. The sun was shining and the birds were chirping, it was going to be a glorious day.
    Since I took a shower last night, after Mike left and after the little incident in the hallway that I would really like to remember, but I didn’t really want to discuss. I went ahead and picked out a pair of cutoff shorts and just a red slim-fitting V-neck t-shirt and slipped them on.
    I placed my duffel and my keyboard on the bed, so everything would be ready once I called a cab to take me to the nearest hotel until I could find out what I was going to do. Looking at my Yamaha PSRE433 Portable Keyboard, it wasn’t as fantastic as my fully restored 1906 Steinway & Sons Model A Grand Piano that was collecting dust in my parents’ garage. It was given to me by my late grandmother after I received my acceptance letter to Juilliard right before she passed. It would’ve killed her to know that I never got the chance to play a single concerto with the Juilliard Orchestra or that I never even made it to the threshold of the front doors to the school.
    I let love lead my path for my future. And in the end, all that love did was destroy the things that led to my happiness. Looking down at my hands and curling them into a ball then extending them to where my hand was stretched out, they actually didn’t feel half bad today. I was sure that they would ache after playing last night, but I wouldn’t overdo it by playing again today. I knew my limits.
    I grabbed my brush and ran it through my long, poker straight black hair and secured it with a simple ponytail holder. Most women hated their hair and wished they had the opposite of what they had. Take for example, they had brown curly hair, they wished that they had blonde, straight hair. I was the exception, I absolutely loved my straight black hair. I was lucky that it was completely natural and I had never colored it once in my life. It was long and reached almost to the top of my tailbone, it was the one thing that I truly loved about myself, the one thing that he had never tainted. I slipped on a plain black flip-flop, I needed something that was easy to walk in along with this stupid boot. I was going to see if Mike cared if I had a cup of coffee before I called the local cab company.
    Opening the door the guest room, Sadie came charging down the hallway towards me. For a minute, I didn’t think she was going to stop before she skidded across the hardwood floors and straight into me. “Sadie, stop!” I yelled a little more aggressively than I intended, but she stopped dead in her tracks and laid down on the floor. Great, now I’ve upset his dog .
    I walked closer to where she was stationed and bent down so I could scratch her tummy and give her some