The Songs in Our Hearts: A Young Adult Romance(48)

“Minty fresh.”

“Minty fresh and most likely late.”

“Eh, live—”

“If you say ‘live a little,’ I might pinch you.” I laughed and pushed him out of the bathroom.

“I have to get the car back to the trailer,” Micah confessed softly. I felt remorse and guilt. I could only protect him so much. “My dad will probably get pissed off seeing that the car isn’t there this morning.”

“Can I go with you?” I asked abruptly, tucking a strand of loose hair behind my ear. Micah looked a little unsure and shrugged.

“Honestly, I’m not sure if that’s the best idea…”

“I can handle it,” I promised.

“It’s not that I don’t think you can handle it, Charlie,” Micah explained. “I just don’t want you to—”

“Don’t want me to what?” I interjected. “See where you live?” I thought about Josh’s comment the day he drove Micah to Sully’s place. Micah wouldn’t let us take him all the way to his house.

“If you think I’m going to think differently of you,” I shook my head, “you’re wrong.” There was a pause. A moment of silence between the two of us as Micah stared at me. There was that something lingering between us again. My hands began to feel a bit clammy as I watched him approach me, filling in the gap between us. My mind began to race, wishing I knew his thoughts. His hands came to rest on my shoulders as he continued to gaze down at me. My heart was beating faster. I stared up into his warm and rich eyes, lifting my hands to his sides, where I clung to his T-shirt. It was still a little damp.

“You know this means we’d have to skip school for the day,” he said softly.

“Okay,” I said with a small shrug. “I’ll tell my mom I’m not feeling well.”

Micah shook his head and chuckled. “It should be harder to persuade you to skip school. Where has this version of Charlie been the whole time?”

I didn’t know how to reply. I was surprising myself, too.

“I’ll be right back,” I said, pulling myself out from his arms. I slipped past my bedroom door before I could change my mind and tried my best to think of a good excuse as I walked toward my parent’s bedroom.





I WAS PRETTY SURE JOSH didn’t believe me at all. He had some sort of sixth sense like my dad. He eyed me as I stood in the kitchen, pretending to have a horrible stomachache, while my mom tended to me with Tums and crackers.

“Just go back to bed, honey. You’ll feel better soon enough,” she said, patting my back gently. Josh wrinkled his nose and shook his head as he left. For being a dumb football player, my brother was smarter than I gave him credit for. When I returned back to my bedroom, Micah was sitting on the floor, near my bed, glancing over the copy of Frankenstein he had borrowed from the library for me.

“So?” he asked as I shut the door, and glanced up at me.

“We just have to wait for my mom to leave,” I replied. “Which should be in a matter of minutes.” I took a seat on the edge of my bed and watched as he continued to leaf through the novel quietly.

“What are you thinking about?” I asked, breaking the silence. Micah shrugged.

“Just…thanks for helping me out.” As he peered over his shoulder at me, I knew he was saying so much more.

“You’re welcome,” I said with a nod.

We heard my mom call out to me to feel better, and then shut the door to the house. The car pulled out from the driveway moments later. That had been way too easy.

I felt a wave of disappointment wash over me as we finally decided to leave. I had enjoyed our little sleepover, more than I wanted to admit. I knew I’d never be able to ask him to do this again. Not without something changing between the two of us. We found the car down the street, right where I had told him to leave it. Micah weaved through the development and out toward the main road of Grand Lakes. We drove past the old Sully’s diner and down a long, winding dirt road that led to a set of trailers. An old wooden sign greeted us with a patchy image of “Greenboro Trax.”

Micah pulled up next to a small, white, red-roofed trailer. It was quaint and looked homey enough—at least for two men living together. The yard was well maintained despite the colored leaves scattered all around.

“This is where you live?” I asked a little shocked. This hadn’t been at all what I had expected. I felt a little guilty in assuming Micah’s house wouldn’t be so nice.

“It’s home,” Micah said with a shrug. It was then that I noticed a blue, Ford truck parked in the small gravel space near us.

“Is that your dad’s?” I asked, gesturing to the vehicle. Micah nodded.

“I’m going to go in and change. Maybe we can grab something to eat. Make a day of it,” Micah suggested. “I’m certainly not the type to sleep with a girl and run off.” He winked at me as he unbuckled his seat belt. “Sit tight,” he said, climbing out of the car before I could respond. I watched Micah closely as he went into the house. I wondered what it looked like from the inside—including his room. Micah emerged quickly, dressed in a long-sleeved shirt and a new pair of jeans. He was carrying the dark brown, leather jacket from the other night.

“Ready to go?” he asked as he clamored back in.