Home > Educating Holden(7)

Educating Holden(7)
Author: Melanie Shawn

No. I couldn’t do that. I’d spent my entire life pining over Holden, and it had gotten me nowhere but single and crying at a film about love.

As kids, we’d basically been inseparable. I’d believed that we’d had a very special relationship. He was my best friend. It might sound weird since he was a boy, who was two years older than me, and Bentley’s best friend, but I’d always felt like I was even more special to him than my brother had been.

At least I had until we were in middle school. Then everything changed.

I’d never forget when it happened. The summer before my sixth-grade year and his eighth grade, we hadn’t seen each other. We’d both been busy. He’d been traveling the country on the rodeo circuit and I’d spent the summer getting my period and going from an A cup to a C cup.

I remember being sure that when he saw me again, he’d finally see me as more than just a friend. I’d been in love with him since I knew what romantic love was, but I’d never said anything. That summer, I’d finally found the courage to tell him. Well, found might be the wrong word. That summer I’d grown boobs, which had gotten me a lot of new attention, which had given me the courage to tell him.

But as soon as I saw him, on the first day of school, everything was different between us. It was like a switch had been flipped and he wanted nothing to do with me. He wasn’t even mean to me. If he had been, at least that would have meant that he was speaking to me and I could have addressed it. What he did was so much worse. He ignored me completely. He wouldn’t even look at me, much less talk to me. He acted as if I didn’t exist.

Bentley must’ve noticed the shift, because I was no longer included in Street Fighter marathons, I was persona non grata for pizza and movie nights, and my access to the tree fort was revoked.

I’d tried to ask Holden, several times, why he was treating me like that, but he always acted like he had no idea what I was talking about. He’d played dumb and feigned total and complete ignorance.

To this day, I still didn’t know what the heck happened. For seven years of my childhood, he’d been my best friend, my playmate, my soul mate. And then, one day, he wanted nothing to do with me.

“Liv?”

Maisy’s voice cut through my inner thoughts. I blinked. “What?”

“Are you okay?”

No. Not at all.

“Yeah, sorry, I was just thinking about my date,” I lied.

“Oh, okay, well I was saying that I’m glad I caught you before you left because I have something to ask you.”

Maisy was one of the Turner Triplets, and Molly and I had always been close to them since we were both sets of multiples. Out of the triplets, I’d always been closest to Maisy. I’d considered her as more than a friend and was thrilled that now she was actually going to be my sister thanks to Bentley locking it down.

“What?”

She took my hand and looked right into my eyes. “Olivia Calhoun, would you do me the honor of being my maid of honor?”

The last time we’d talked about wedding plans, my brother had told me that he and Maisy were considering not even having bridesmaids or groomsmen because there were just too many people that would need to be included.

“What about Melody, or Madison, or Delilah?” I named her sisters.

“Exactly.” Maisy nodded. “How can I pick?”

“Good point.” It had never been a question for me who my maid of honor would be. Sharing a womb with someone normally automatically earned them that privilege. But in Maisy’s situation, I could see that would be an issue. Not only did she have her wombmates, she also had her little sister. Still, it felt odd to be offered the role that really felt like it should go to one of them. “Are you sure? Have you talked to your sisters?”

“Yes.” Maisy nodded decisively. “And I’ve talked to Molly. Everyone is aware.”

I still felt a little odd agreeing to hold that position, but this wasn’t about me. It was about Maisy. I smiled widely. “Of course I will! On one condition: if it causes any drama, you know that I will happily step down.”

The last thing I’d ever want would be to cause my friend any undue stress.

“Deal.” She threw her arms around me. “I can’t wait to be your sister.”

I hugged her back as my phone vibrated alerting me to a text message. I looked down and saw that Tyler was outside. I glanced back toward Holden, he wasn’t looking my direction and seemed all together oblivious that I was even there.

As much as I wanted to go talk to him, if only to make sure that he was okay, I knew that there was no point. I needed to get over Holden and finally let go of the fantasy that I’d built up in my mind.

He wasn’t in town to see me. He’d barely looked at me. I needed to take back control of my life, starting with not wasting another minute of it agonizing about him.

After saying a quick goodbye to Maisy, I held my head up and walked out of the auditorium. As I passed by Holden, I managed not to look over at him, even though every cell in my body was screaming for me to. My brain even tried to convince me that I could feel him staring at me. But it had also tried to convince me that he actually loved me and one day he’d finally give into it and tell me. Basically, my brain was a big, fat liar. So, I kept my chin up, eyes straight ahead, and didn’t even glance in his direction.

As I stepped out into the fresh, crisp night air I could feel emotions welling in my eyes again. Seeing Holden, after all this time of being worried about him and right on the heels of watching a film that talked about true love, had caused my emotions to go haywire. I was sad, happy, worried, relieved, surprised, and upset all at once.

I tilted my head and looked up, trying to focus on the blanket of stars sprinkled against the velvety backdrop of the dark night sky. I’d just blinked back my tears when I saw one of those stars shooting across the black expanse.

Any other night I would have wished on it, praying that Holden and I would end up together, but not tonight. Tonight, I wished that I would be happy and find the love of my life. Whoever that might be.

 

 

Chapter 5

 


Holden

“Life always offers ya a second chance, it’s called tomorrow.”

~ Maggie Calhoun


I sat in my truck outside of Bentley’s condo, contemplating whether or not I was about to make a huge mistake. I was leaning toward yes, yes I was making a big mistake. The smartest thing to do would be to thank my friend for the offer and then drive to my parents’ house. Or the Come On Inn, the only motel in town, and get a room. That would be the smart thing to do.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t do that. Not after what I’d seen and heard tonight.

An image that was now seared into my brain popped back up in my head.

Tonight, I’d witnessed Olivia get into the car of a guy I didn’t recognize.

I’d noticed her walking out of the event, and without thinking about it, I’d excused myself and followed her outside. I wasn’t even sure what I’d planned on saying to her. “Hi. Sorry I haven’t spoken to you in almost twenty years. Oh, and by the way, I’m moving next door to you…” or something less lame.

But my lack of any sort of charm or game didn’t matter since I didn’t get the chance. I came out just in time to see her climbing into the passenger seat of a white Range Rover, one that I didn’t recognize as belonging to anyone in town.

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