Following You (The By You Series) (4 page)

BOOK: Following You (The By You Series)
11.34Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

As she pulled the bottles out and considered where she could stash them, she saw something else tucked away at the bottom of the box. Her cheeks turned a crimson red when she saw what it was--a box of Trojan condoms. A little post-it was stuck to the box that read "
Just in case.
"

That was her Aunt Georgette--the thoughtful black sheep of the family.

Chapter 5

The rest of the morning and afternoon was spent unpacking and organizing all of her stuff. Billie had warned her against touching her things, but she wasn't around and Sarah couldn't stand it taking up her side of the room, anymore. If Billie didn't want her things touched, then she was going to have to make certain that they weren't in the way.

Sarah didn't want to think about Billie, anymore. Her morning had already been ruined because of her, and there were more important things to occupy her mind. All she really wanted to think about was the fact that soon she and Huck would be all alone in their new city, with their new life. After that night, her parents would be gone, and she'd be freer than she'd ever been before. Not that they'd kept her on a tight leash back in Green Falls, but being in the big city, hundreds of miles away from them, was going to be something very new, indeed.

Friends called her crazy when she had told them she was going to follow Huck to Franklin. She didn't think it was crazy at all. Crazy would have been letting the love of her life slip away because of a four-hour car drive.

When the evening rolled around, Huck showed up at 6:30 like they'd agreed. But when Sarah opened the door to let him in, she was shocked by what she saw.

“What are you wearing?” she asked, eyeing him up and down. "And what is that smell?"

“It's Axe--I picked it up at the Union. I thought I looked nice," he said.

He turned to the side as though showing her something she may have missed the first time she looked at him. He was wearing dark blue jeans and a tight V-neck tee-shirt with black tribal symbols snaking around the side. The longer he stood there, the more certain Sarah was that he'd used the entire bottle of body spray instead of just a little bit.

“It's just... Where's your cowboy hat?” she asked.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there aren’t a lot of cowboy hats around here,” he said.

“What does that have to do with us going out to a nice dinner with my parents?” she asked.

"I just thought it would be nice to switch things up," he said. "Maybe I should go change since you think I look so ugly."

"Huck, I didn't say you looked ugly." Sarah stepped into him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "But, you could stand to lose the smell."

"The sign said that all the ladies would love it," he said, a silly grin on his face.

"Since when are you trying to impress the ladies?"

His face twisted in confusion. "That's not what I meant. You're a lady, too."

Sarah narrowed her eyes in mock accusation, but let out a giggle when Huck looked like a panicked deer in the headlights. A soft growl rumbled through his chest as he pulled her even tighter against him and locked her in a kiss.

"We better get going so we’re not late,” Sarah said, when their lips had finally parted. “We’re meeting my parents at the hotel.” Huck let out another groan, and tried to pull her in for another kiss. Sarah giggled and squirmed away from him. "I'm serious, we're going to be late."

"Fine," he said, his back going stiff. "But one of these times I'm not going to let you off so easy."

"I hope you don't," she said, with a sideways smile.

The two walked across campus to the student parking lot where Huck had left his truck. Sarah was still amazed at how different the place felt compared to the night before. It was like the place had been sleeping when they'd first arrived, and now it was awake.

Neither of them had spent any real time in the city since they'd arrived, but they managed to find the Hilton where Sarah's parents were staying with the help of her iPhone. In the confines of Huck's truck, the smell of the body spray was even more overpowering. Sarah actually had to lower her window so she could breathe without getting a headache.

Huck parked the truck in a spot near the back of the lot, and they found Sarah's parents waiting for them in the lobby. Both of her parents had big smiles on their faces when they saw her and Huck walking through the lobby.

"Huck, you look very handsome," her mom said.

"Thank you, Mrs. Miller. At least
someone
thinks so."

"I didn't say I don't like it," Sarah said, tightly. "It's just different."

Huck's eyebrow cocked upward as he gave her a sideways look.

"Oh, don't you mind her," her mom chimed in, again. "She's just stressed from everything going on."

Sarah winced and felt the need to defend herself. She hadn't done anything wrong, why were they ganging up on her? Sarah looked to her father for help, and he seemed to understand what she was thinking.

"So who's ready for dinner?" he said, changing the subject.

Huck let out an enthusiastic cheer that drowned out Sarah's snort.

"I'm starving!" he announced.

"Dear, you're always hungry," her mom said. "What are you going to do without us around to feed you?"

"Sarah's cooking ain't so bad," he said, a huge grin on his face.

"Don't look at me like that. You're a big boy--you can feed yourself," Sarah said.

"You know this could be your last nice meal for a while," her mom said, glossing straight over their conversation. "After this, you'll officially be college students. Then it's Top Ramen and Spaghettios until your can't take them anymore."

"I like Spaghettios," Huck said.

"You like everything," Sarah grinned.

Her mom winked at him. "Everyone likes them until they get through college."

The four of them walked out to her parents new Lexus RX 350. Her mom had bought it, claiming that there was no possible way they'd be able to help her move to Houston in the Corvette. Really, Sarah knew her mom had wanted a bigger car for a while, and was just using the move as an excuse.

The drive to the restaurant only took fifteen minutes--which was nothing by Green Falls' standards. Back home, they lived about twenty minutes from the actual town, which meant that anytime they went to a restaurant, or even the grocery store, it was a bit of a drive. Houston might be a big city, but Sarah was happy that there were so many things so close to campus.

The restaurant was called Flemings, and it was supposedly one of the nicest steak houses around. At least, that's what her father would have them believe. Her parents had made reservations, and they were shown to their table without waiting. When the waiter came by, her dad ordered a bottle of wine, but both Huck and Sarah stuck with water after being reminded that they weren't back home, anymore.

In a small town like Green Falls, where everybody knew everybody, there wasn't much attention paid to things like the legal drinking age. If you wanted a drink, you ordered one. If you started to get out of control, it was a good bet that someone who knew you or your family was around to make sure you got home safe.

Sarah had to remember that it wasn't going to be like that in the big city. The closest family she had was her Aunt Georgette, and even she was an hour away. With the freedom of living alone also came greater risks--she hadn't really thought much about it, before.

After ordering, the four of them made small talk. Sarah's father regaled them with stories of his college years at U.T., but her mom sat quietly, her eyes intent on both Sarah and Huck. Her father could talk a lot--it was normal that he dominated the conversation--but Sarah got the feeling that something was on her mother's mind.

"So Huck, what class are you most excited about this semester?" her dad asked, after they'd ordered dinner.

"I can't wait for my Applied Business Math class, actually," he said, without hesitation.

"Nerd," Sarah said, elbowing him.

"No, that's not nerdy, it sounds interesting," her dad said.

"It's nerdy, Dad," Sarah said, laughing.

Her dad wagged a finger at her. "One day he'll be a CEO--then we'll see how nerdy you really think it is."

Sarah nearly burst out in a fit of laughter even though she knew he didn't mean it as a joke. She couldn't picture Huck being a CEO, wearing a suit and tie to work, calling the shots.

Huck leaned away from her, looking offended.

"What's so funny?" he said.

"I just don't see you being the business type," Sarah said. "You're Huck. You've been a cowboy your whole life."

"That doesn't mean anything. I'm my own person--I can be whatever I want."

Sarah controlled the laughing, feeling a little guilty that he had taken it the wrong way.

"I'm not saying you
can't
do it," she said, rubbing him on the shoulder. "It's just...I've never pictured you that way."

"I'm a business major, so maybe you should try to start picturing me that way."

"Of course..." Sarah pursed her lips together, tightly, and stopped rubbing his shoulder when he leaned away from her. She didn't mean to offend him like that--it was all in good fun. An awkward silence hung over the table for a second while Huck distracted himself with his napkin. Sarah was thankful when two waiters showed up with their food. The steaks they ordered smelled so good it diffused the situation, handily.

"So, Sarah..." her father said between bites, "...what kinds of classes are you taking this semester?"

"Mostly just boring Gen Eds," she said. "But I do have an Intro to Creative Writing class that I'm looking forward to."

Her mom let out an exaggerated sigh. It was the first sound she'd made most of the night.

"Is something wrong?" Her father asked, a look of genuine concern on his face. He was a smart guy, but he was still a guy.

"Sarah, you're sure you want to study this writing stuff?" she said.

"Mom, we've been over this. I'm majoring in
Journalism
, not
writing
." She held her fingers up, making air quotes as she spoke.

"I just don't see what you're going to do with it. Wouldn't it be smarter to get a technical degree like engineering or business? You can really go somewhere with that."

"Denise..." Her dad tried to calm her, but Sarah didn't need his help.

Her mom had never been supportive of her decision to study journalism, but if she was going to be the one going to college, she was going to study something she was interested in.

"There are plenty of jobs out there for writers. Maggie told me the band has journalists following them around all the time. Besides, Huck is studying business. He's going to be a big shot CEO one day, and we're going to live in a mansion."

She flashed a wink at him, hoping to make up for what she'd said earlier. The look on his face told her he was even more uncomfortable now than he was before.

"Those journalists are the exceptions," her mother said. "And even then, they're probably barely scraping by. You've never had to know what it was like to barely make ends meet."

Sarah pinched her lips together, forcing herself to remain quiet. She didn't want to get into a big argument on her parent's last night in town. They'd been over this same argument time and time again, and she already knew where it was going.

"Can we talk about something other than school?" she said.

"Don't forget that
school
is the reason you're here," her mom said, not letting it go.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sarah said.

"We don't need you going around, partying it up, and wasting our tuition money. You're here to get an education--even if it is in something like
writing
." She fixed both Sarah and Huck with rigid stares. Huck started to mouth "Yes, ma'am," but Sarah felt anger boiling up in her stomach.

"It's
Journalism
," Sarah said, through gritted teeth. "And, of course we know why we're here. Do you not trust us?"

"I think what she's trying to say..." Her dad started, cutting her mom off before the discussion even more heated, "...is that we remember what it's like to be young and go off to school. There are a lot of...distractions, but we trust that you'll make good choices."

Suddenly, Sarah felt like she had been lured into an ambush. She understood exactly what her father was trying to tell her without actually voicing it--they thought that Sarah and Huck were going to have a semester-long orgy as soon as they were left alone. As though they might not be able to control themselves without the threat of their parents being nearby. Sarah wasn't sure if she should be offended or hurt by the accusation.

"We haven't given you any reason to not trust us," she said, after taking a few deep breaths.
 

"We know, dear," he said. "Try to understand, we're your parents--it's our job to worry about you."

"Well, you don't need to worry quite so much," Sarah said. Her eyes were locked with her father's for a long minute before be bobbed his head in acknowledgement.

There was little conversation while they finished their dinners. Sarah and her mom never once made eye contact. She didn't even want to be around her mom right then. How could she be so rude as to suggest Sarah was in over her head, that she couldn't make decisions for herself? She was an adult. She'd had nothing but straight A's in high school. She was going to college. Weren't these the kinds of things that were supposed to make parents proud?

The drive back to the hotel was even more tense and awkward than the rest of dinner had been. Her father switched on the radio when they got in the car, but almost immediately turned it back off. Silence felt more appropriate, anyway.

When they were back at the hotel, Sarah gave her dad a hug and a kiss. He promised her everything was going to be alright. When she turned to give her mom a hug, her mom held her by the shoulders until Sarah looked her in the eye.

"You know I love you, right?" she said.

Sarah winced, but nodded. "You've got to trust me, Mom," she said. "I have to live my life."

"I know you do. It's just...I don't want to see you do something for the wrong reason. Regret is an ugly thing."

BOOK: Following You (The By You Series)
11.34Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

Safety Net by Keiko Kirin
The Eye of the Wolf by Sadie Vanderveen
Captured by a Laird by Margaret Mallory
The Camberwell Raid by Mary Jane Staples
The Paleo Diet by Cordain, Loren
Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella
Shooting the Sphinx by Avram Noble Ludwig
Renegade Bride by Barbara Ankrum