Page 14 of Crash and Burn

She held her hand up to stop me because I was out of breath and not giving her a chance to speak. “Hudson, shut up... I’m going with you.”

“But…”

Raising her hand again, she said, “No but’s. Clearly, this has been bothering you, and you need a friend. I can be a friend so just shut up because I’ve already started getting ready, anyway. You can come in, for a minute, while I get ready.”

“Come in for a minute”, she said.I hadn’t been to someone else’s house in what felt like forever. It was like my feet were cemented to the ground. Breaking them free, I stepped inside.

“Hudson, close the door, please. I’ll be right back.”

I looked around the room and felt like I was intruding, which was weird, because she invited me in, but we barely knew each other.

“You can have a seat on the couch if you like,” I heard her call out from wherever she was, assuming it was the bathroom. The front door opened to a large living room on the right, with the back of the couch facing the dining room on the left, making the space between feel like a hallway. I could see the kitchen straight ahead, and to the left. I took a few steps to get to the couch and noticed her many bookshelves, stuffed with books, but neat. Framed pictures of her and her friends and family lined the room. An electric fireplace sat in the middle of the wall. I imagined her cozying up to it while she read a book.

I heard a door slam and I spun around. Amelia was standing behind the couch. She had changed into skinny jeans and a slouched sweater, the kind that falls off one shoulder. Her curly brown hair was tied up in a loose bun and she was wearing mascara that made her dark eyes light up against her light caramel skin tone. My jaw dropped a little, and I could tell that Amelia noticed, but she didn’t say anything. She just flashed a big, radiant smile that could warm any man’s heart.

“Those two girls in the photos with me are my best friends. They don’t live here, though. One is up north in Canada and the other is on the west coast in Seattle.”

“Oh. That must be hard. I mean, I bet you miss them.”

“I do, but we talk practically every day in some fashion, so it helps.”

She stared off and looked sad, so I spoke up. “You havealotof books.”

That brought an instant smile to her face that warmed the room, which just a few minutes before, had felt cold.

“I do. I love my books. They’ve gotten me through some pretty tough times.”

“Your books? How so?”

“Are you kidding? You can pick up any book and get completely lost in another world. They take you away from your reality.”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Yeah, I guess they can.”

“You guess? I’m going to find a good book for you.”

“I haven’t read much…at all, really, in a long time.”

“If you did, what would interest you?”

“I like horror, so probably something creepy.” I laughed a little.

“Creepy. Got it. Creepy like Stephen King or creepy like Anne Rice.”

I crossed my arms over my chest and thought for a second. “Both are phenomenal authors. Creepy like both, I guess, but Anne Rice was sexy.”

I don’t know what I was thinking, blurting that out without a filter, but I felt comfortable enough, in the moment anyway, to joke with her. Besides, she laughed so loud that she covered her mouth to quiet it and blushed. “Sexy, huh?” she said.

I laughed in turn. “Kind of, I guess. I just mean she writes about sexy witches and shit, which, in my opinion, makes her sexy.”

She laughed again. “Anne Rice is sexy…well, I bet she was a hottie in her day. You’re hilarious.”

We both laughed and then it got awkwardly silent, so I thought it would be a good time to go. “Are you ready? I can give you a rundown of my friends and what to expect in the car.”

“Yep. Let me grab my wallet.”

“Wallet? You don’t carry a purse?”

“What for? Everything I need can fit right in here.” She pointed to a little pink zipper pouch.

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