Page 56 of The Perfect Steal

The doorbell rang, and I paused, waiting to hear who it was. We hadn’t been expecting anyone, and most people were still celebrating with their families, not making house calls.

“Nate,” my mom called up the stairs. “The door is for you.”

As much as I didn’t want it to, my hopes rose that it was Brynn, coming to track me down and chew me out for not responding to her messages.

I walked down the stairs slowly, focusing on the scenarios I could mentally see. But what I hadn’t been expecting was Serena at the door.

“Have you talked to her in the past few days?” Serena asked, her no-nonsense attitude coming to the surface.

I knew she meant Brynn, so I shook my head. “No. She texted a few times, but I haven’t answered.”

“Idiot!” Serena said, her eyes wild. “What is your problem? Why couldn’t you just type out a response?”

With a shake of my head, I said, “Serena, Brynn probably thinks I’m some weirdo and doesn’t want anything to do with me. She—”

Serena raised a hand, causing me to stop midsentence. “No, Brynn thinks the world of you. She’s never opened up to someone as quickly as she has to you, and you had to ruin it.”

I frowned, not following the conversation. “Ruin what? She doesn’t like me because of my past, because I was homeschooled.”

“That has nothing to do with it. She likes you for you. She was just disappointed you weren’t applying yourself or using your intellect for better things than video games and trying to be the ‘cool kid.’”

“She told you that?” I asked.

“None of us are going to stop hanging out with you because you’re smart, Nate. Yeah, some kids might have done that in the past, but we’re your friends.” Serena narrowed her eyes at me. “You were the person she started going to, leaning on for some of the hard stuff lately, and here you are, abandoning her on the night she needs you the most?”

My mind raced through the possibilities of what she was saying, trying to come up with something that might trigger Brynn needing me the most tonight.

And then it dawned on me. “Is today the anniversary of—”

I couldn’t finish it, but Serena nodded, her lower lip quivering as if she were doing everything she could to keep it together.

I’d been an idiot. I’d gotten offended by Brynn trying to help me to be myself instead of the persona I’d created, and now I hadn’t been there when I said I would. How selfish was I?

Serena wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. “Hazel called me. Brynn’s mom walked out on the family this morning too, of all days.”

There was no time to think about what an idiot I’d been. I just needed to make amends and do it fast. “I need your help.”

Serena narrowed her eyes. “As long as you’re not going to break her heart, I think I can work with that.”

“Give me about twenty minutes to gather what I can, and I’ll come pick you up.”

I rushed back into the house, trying to hold together the panic that was threatening to keep me pinned to the ground. Brynn had trusted me with so much, and here I was, sulking about some made-up situation that I’d lose all my friends if they ever found out about my past. If Brynn liked me as much as I liked her, I had a lot of forgiveness to ask for.

“Where are you going?”my dad asked as I grabbed several packages of snacks from the pantry.

“My friend has an emergency,” I said, turning back to stuffing the snacks into a large bag. My time downstairs at the computer had taken a bit longer than I’d anticipated, but that had been because I hadn’t saved the program from when Brynn and I had worked on it a week and a half before.

My dad cleared his throat. “Your friend will have to wait. This is your grandmother’s party, and we’re all attending it.”

Turning, I met his gaze and shook my head. “A lot has changed over the years, Dad, but one thing I was reminded of tonight is that trust is a lot harder to build back up after it’s been broken. It’s worth the attempt, again and again, to get back to where things were.

“I’ve missed you a lot over the past several years, Dad. Ever since I stopped needing tutors and just wanted to be a normal kid, it’s like you’ve been ashamed of me, casting me off to the side. But although I need to push myself a little harder and not be afraid of my friends’ opinions when they find out my real past, I like how things are. I just wish you cared to be part of that.”

“Nate, what are you talking about? I’m always here for you.”

Giving him a sad smile, I said, “No, Dad, you’re attached to your phone. I know what this town means to you, and I’m glad you got your desire of being the mayor again, but I wish your phone or your mayoral duties wouldn’t come in between you and family stuff. Seeing me make an awesome catch, or watching Sarah do one of those dance moves she’s so good at. Or even putting it down to have a real conversation with Mom. We all need you, Dad, not the money or the notoriety that comes from your position in Pecan Flatts.” I hefted the bag onto my shoulder. “Brynn is worth this chance, and she needs me more than ever tonight.”

I hustled out to the Hummer, sending a text to Serena that I was ready.

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