Page 24 of I Love You Again
Chapter 8
They talked all day.Catching up on the last eleven years. Talking about every andanything.
Trina couldn't believe how easy it was to talk to him, and it felt like the years hadn't passed at all. As if they'd always been intouch.
It was just likebefore.
They finished the evening with a bonfire on the beach where they roasted marshmallows and told ghost stories. In the past he used to scare her so bad she'd end up sleeping with the lights on and asking her dad to accompany her around the house and thefarm.
"That's not scary." She huffed. She was well seasoned in the horror department now. Nothing scared her much thesedays.
"An army of flesh-eating zombies in the apocalypse doesn't scare you?" Brad challenged grinning at her. The flames from the orange fire flickered over his face turning him the samecolor.
"No, of course not. I'm not sixteen anymore Brad. These days the Zombies would at the very least have to have some kind of power to move exorcist fast, and incinerate you with one look." Now that was scary. She smiled when she saw the surprised look on hisface.
"Jeez, what the hell have you beenwatching?"
"Clearly not the same films you watch." Shegiggled.
He shook his head. "No. I guess I can't scare you that muchanymore."
"Nope."
"Your dad could scare us both," hechuckled.
She nodded at that and smiled. Her dad could cook up a terrifyingly, horrific story that would chill them both to the bone. His stories were done so cleverly that it left a psychological mark on you fordays.
"He'd win at any time. Past orpresent."
"Do you remember that time he terrified us on that camping trip?" Bradlaughed.
"Yes, with the demonic serial killer story, and then left us for eons while he went to collectwood."
She was aboutnine.
Brad laughed even more. "You cried the wholetime."
"So did you." Now she burst outlaughing.
"Hey," he threw a marshmallow at her while she continued to laugh. "I was scared I wouldn't be able to protect you." He shook his head ather.
She laughed at the memory of them huddled together in the woods, holding onto each other for dear life because they believed the demonic serial killer was going to kill them. Then she all but fainted when her dad came back because she thought he was thedemon.
She and Brad ran away from him and ended up falling into a hedge of poison ivy. It served her dad right because he had to take care of themboth.
"I really miss him," Brad said. He straightened up in the sand and ran his hands across it. Then he looked across ather.
"I miss him too," sheadded.
"He was really, really proud of you." Bradnodded.
It was good to hear it. "He'd be proud of you too." Her father would most assuredly be proud of how Brad turnedout.
She was proud of Brad for changing and making something of his life. She remembered when they first met. She'd just moved to Iowa, and he was delivering newspapers. She found it strange that a boy not much older than her could have a job. She'd actually thought he must have done something bad to suffer such afate.
The next time she saw him was days after they arrived. She found him in the barn hiding from his parents. Brad had two black eyes, his nose was broken, and he was covered with cuts and bruises. She didn't realize then that it would be a regular occurrence to see him that way. The way that his parents treated him wasdespicable.
Her father took care of him and tried to intervene when he could, but it made Brad's situation worse. Things only got better when Brad's parents abandoned him, but by then he was at the height of his run-ins with thelaw.
