Page 100 of The Sun
Simon’s little arms wrapped around my thighs, and he squeezed so tight it nearly broke me. “I’ll miss you too much if you leave.”
I bit at my lip, taking breath after breath so I wouldn’t cry in front of my little brother.
“Hey.” I placed the bear on the floor and knelt in front of him, swiping my hand through his sandy-blond hair. “I’ll be back, okay? I would never leave you forever.”
“Promise?”
Hugging him tightly, I buried my face in his hair. He smelled like soap, and that made the lump in my throat even larger. “I promise.”
When I pulled away, I picked up the stuffed animal and pushed to my feet, then took his little hand in mine. “Let me tuck you in, okay?”
He nodded, and we walked the hall to the room that once belonged to Elias. After I turned on Simon’s nightlight and folded back the sheets, he crawled into bed.
I covered him up before placing my bear on the pillow beside him. “Can you take good care of her for me?”
The beads in the bear’s belly rattled when he grabbed it and squeezed it to his chest. “I’ll take the best care of her. Even if she is pink.”
“I love you, buddy.” I kissed his forehead and whispered “sweet dreams” before I slipped into the hallway, then down the stairs, and through the front door.
36
Elias
Country roads are always dark. The kind of dark that makes you think someone should jump out at any second. But even in the cover of night, I could see Sunny’s blond hair flying behind her as she made her way down the drive. I reached over to push open the door, and she climbed right in, dropping her backpack onto the floorboard. We stared at each other for a second, the glow from the dash the only thing creating light.
“Let’s go,” she said.
I gave one last glance toward the Lower’s house, then put the car in drive.
Sunny turned up the radio and stared out the window. Neither of us knew what we were doing. We were just kids in love with each other, and sometimes, the thing that seemed to make the most sense ended up being the most senseless. We were running on emotions.
If I took her back to my house, what would that say to her parents? What would that do her, to us, to them? I made it to the public beach access, and instead of going straight, I pulled into the parking lot and cut the engine. The radio kept running, and I stared through the windshield at the dunes rising like ghosts in the distance.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“I don’t know.”
Sunny looked at me, her lips slightly parted, her brows wrinkled. “Elias?”
“I don’t blame him. I mean, I’m not the most upstanding citizen.” I leaned back in the seat.
“Don’t start that, Elias. Don’t let him get in your head.”
“Maybe all I’ve done by sneaking around with you is prove him right. If I help you run away, he’s going to hate me even more.”
“It doesn’t matter what you do. He’s stubborn.”
Mr. Lower was stubborn. That was, at one point, why I liked him as a kid. He didn’t take anything off anybody. But right then, that quality was a thorn in my side. But maybe, I was a thorn in his for reasons I couldn’t understand. I looked at the way Sunny absently stared out at the beach, the way she was fidgeting in her seat. She didn’t know what she was doing either, but I did not want to make things any worse between her father and her. That, I knew she would regret.
Clutching the wheel, I exhaled. “You need to go back.”
“Why are you doing this?” she whispered.
I leaned over, and damn if the way her pouty lips trembled didn’t stab me right in the chest. I took her chin in my hands and kissed her once. “Because I love you.”
“Then take me home.” She reached across and turned the ignition. The engine rumbled, the loose change in the ashtray rattling. “And by home, I mean with you.”
I wanted to do the right thing, but the problem with that was I’d do anything that girl asked. Nodding, I put the truck in reverse and pulled out onto the highway, and I took her home. With me.
