Page 26 of All of You

She laughs in agreement. “Yeah, pacing is key. I actually don’t mind it after the first two hundred, then I get in the groove.” She grins at me and I have an instantaneous feeling that Lyra and I could be friends. Hopefully, we’ll have some classes together.

“Ugh! Boring,” Hailie sings out. “Do anything else? Theater? Chorus? Cheer?”

Hannah snickers.

“Shut up Hannah, you literally don’t do anything.” Hailie spears Hannah with a glare and Hannah seems to shrink into herself a little.I hate bullies.

I match Hailie’s gaze directly so she knows she can’t bulldoze me. “No theater. No cheer. But I play the guitar and sing, although not usually at school.”

Hailie frowns at me. “You should do more, it looks better on college applications.”

I do my best not to wrinkle my nose at her. “I’ll keep that in mind. I uh, it looks like Langdon has my towel. Nice to meet you all. Guess I’ll see you at school.”

Campbell holds his palm out to me waiting on a high five which is cringe-worthy but I allow it. “See you around,” he says flashing me a handsome smile.

Lyra also says goodbye, but Hannah, Hailie, and Niko just give halfhearted waves as I head back to the river bank.

I walk as quickly as possible out of the water and into Langdon’s open arms. He waited at the water’s edge, holding the towel open for me to step into and I nearly die at how sweet it is. He closes his arms around me and before he lets go, he rubs my arms for a second. Little fissures of pleasure shoot through my body at the contact. He steps away and begins dressing himself and I have a moment of longing for his hands to be on my body again.

He glances out to the river and lifts his chin at his friends. “Sorry about them.”

I cock my head and use a corner of the towel to squeeze the water from my hair. “Why? They didn’t do anything. Although I think Hailie wants to murder me.”

Langdon chuckles. “She’s…annoying. Because they can’t play it cool when there’s a new person. You know, staring and a million questions.”

I tuck the corner of the towel I was using back into itself so I can pick up my clothes. “I think Hailie wants to eat you alive. And honestly, Lyra seems pretty chill.”

Langdon laughs and nods. “She is. She doesn’t usually hang out with us though. Not sure why she’s here today. Campbell’s probably trying to get in her pants.”

I snort. “You don’t seem to love them all that much. Why are they your friends?” I slip my feet into my flip-flops.

Langdon waits for me to head up to the truck. “Niko and I have been best friends since elementary school. He’s fun and deep inside…like really deep, he’s got a big heart…but is kinda girl crazy too,” he shrugs, “I don’t know. He generally means well. Campbell’s a good shit. Funny and the king of pranks. Big ego.”

“And the girls?” I ask as we walk up the small hill to the truck.

“Hannah’s ok. She used to be super sweet and shy when we were kids, but then Hailie took her under her wing to make her into a little mini-me and now she just does whatever Hailie says.” Langdon’s muscles contract and release with each step he takes. His jaw ticks and then, “Hailie has been the most popular girl in school for as long as I can remember. She has minions and isn’t always nice. But Lyra’s cool shit. Runs with a different group generally, but friendly to everyone.”

This time, Langdon opens the truck door for me and I can’t help but wonder if Hailie is watching us. I’m most certainly not ugly, but I don’t really compare next to girls like Hailie. Flawless skin. Perfect hair. Makeup so good that it almost looks natural. I’m more of a the-girl-next-door kind of pretty. Subtle not overstated.

“Um, do you want me in the seat? I’m wet.”

Langdon makes a choking sound. “It’s fine. I don’t care if the seats get wet. But you should probably put your clothes on before I drop you off. Don’t need Heath freaking out on me.”

“I don’t live at the house you know. You won’t even see him. But yes, Langdon, I don’t plan on walking around the property in my underwear.”

The drive to the house is short. Langdon plays Death Cab For Cutie on the way home and it fits the mood. The sunshine. The warm breeze. The lazy, languid summer moment. I feelsun-kissed and free with my hair blowing in the wind from the open window. We bump our way down the dirt drive and I instruct Langdon to pass the house and drop me at the campervan.

“Wait? This is where you live?” he asks.

“Umm, yeah. Why?”

“I mean, Heath has that whole house to himself, there’s plenty of room for you both.”

I scrunch up my nose. “I don’t even know the man and my mom, well, I don’t think my mom and Heath get along all that well.”

“But he’s family,” Langdon says.

I turn to face him while I pull my tank top on without losing the towel and inadvertently give him a show. “Langdon, before we drove into this town…I had no idea I had any family members besides my mom. This is all kinda a big deal for me. We’ve lived in the van plenty of times over the years. It’s comfortable and homey. I don’t even know how long we’re staying. Maybe the school year, maybe not. Maybe we stay in Heath’s house or maybe my mom finds an apartment. Nothing is solid in my life. Everything is fluid.”

---