After Us by Amber Hart

Author:Amber Hart [Hart, Amber]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, Contemporary, Young Adult
ISBN: 9781617731181
Amazon: B00LEU4QY6
Barnesnoble: B00LEU4QY6
Goodreads: 21535293
Publisher: K-Teen
Published: 2014-12-28T16:00:00+00:00

25

melissa

One, two, five rings.

My best friend is calling. Across states and borders and thousands of miles, she reaches out.

Six, seven, ten seconds that I still don’t have an answer because it hurts too much.

This isn’t how I wanted to tell Faith about my cancer. I didn’t want to say it over the phone, angry, as I hang up on her. I wanted to act more mature, reasonable, calm. But Faith has a part of my heart. Faith is twisted so deeply into my emotions that she’s no longer removable.

She will always have a part of me.

I wasn’t collected enough to hold my emotions together the last time we talked. I spilled my secret like a toppled glass. I’m not ready to clean up my mess.

I’m not ready for all of Faith’s questions.

“You gonna answer that?” Javier asks.

I’ve been trying not to.

“Probably not,” I say, glancing down at the phone.

His eyes narrow. “Who is it?”

“No one,” I say.

Javier is at my house again. Everyone is gone. No interruptions. Except for my phone.

Javier is sitting at my kitchen table because I’ve attempted to make Cuban food again from an on-line recipe. I’m not sure if he really likes it, or if he’s just being nice by not complaining. I’m not sure if it matters either way because he’s eating it and we’re together and I’m the luckiest girl because I can call Javier mine.

He asked me to be his. He wants me to be his. Well, he didn’t actually ask. But the result is the same. He’s mine.

Mine.

The phone stops ringing. I turn it to silent and set it facedown on the table.

Javier doesn’t like that I haven’t answered him.

“Is it a guy?” he asks.

I’m not expecting this. I laugh. Take another bite of food.

“Why? Jealous?” I tease.

I would be jealous if a girl called him and he didn’t want me to know about it, so I get where he’s coming from.

Before he can answer I say, “It was a girl, actually. So, no.”

I don’t want him getting the wrong idea.

“Good,” he says, and pulls my chair close for a kiss.

I’m absolutely ready to give him one, but my phone starts vibrating on the table. She’s calling again, I bet.

Javier pulls back. Flips my phone over.

My mouth drops open. I’m surprised he has the nerve. I’m also stuck in a bad place because he sees the name on the screen. Emotions flare in his stare.

Pain.

Wonder.

Pain again.

“It’s Faith,” he breathes. “Answer it.”

He needs to talk to her, I see in his look. He needs to know, I see in his tense position.

“I’m mad at her,” I say.

Ring, ring, ring.

I’m also very selfish because if I cared about Javier, I would answer and let him speak to Faith. I would let him have his closure. I wouldn’t keep that from him.

I can’t keep that from him.

“Hello?” I say, picking up.

Javier watches me.

“Melissa,” Faith says. “Is what you told me true?”

Do you have cancer?

“Yes,” I reply.

“God,” she says. Silence. “Melissa, I’m so sorry.”

“I can’t deal with this,” I say.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.