The Sleeping Arrangement by Neva Bell

Author:Neva Bell [Bell, Neva]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-08-07T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

I expect to find Drew in the barn playing basketball, but he’s not in there. Just when I think I’ve avoided a difficult conversation, Drew comes flying over the hill on his four wheeler. He skids to a stop a few yards away from me.

“Looking for me?” he shouts over the noise of the ATV’s motor.

When I nod in response, he kills the engine and takes off his helmet. He remains seated as I walk over to him.

“What’s up?” he asks.

“I need to talk to you.”

Drew groans. “That doesn’t sound good.”

“It’s nothing bad,” I assure him. “I want to apologize for last night.”

He’s taken aback. “Why are you apologizing? I’m the one who acted like a jerk.”

I glance down at my ballet flats for a moment before looking up at him again. “I was angry you were drunk and I want you to know why.”

Drew sets his helmet down on the large seat behind him and leans forward on the handle bars. “Julie, you don’t have to explain anything to me. Last night is a bit hazy, but I do remember crossing a line with you. I don’t blame you for being mad.”

I blush when I think about Drew pressing his pelvis against me last night. “It wasn’t that,” I admit to him. “That’s not the reason I was upset.”

Drew’s eyes widen. “It’s not?”

I pause before saying, “I have to tell you something about me. About my past. And I don’t want you to judge me for it.”

Drew furrows his brow. “I won’t.”

I close my eyes and consider backing out. Telling him never mind and walking away. But I want Drew to understand me and where I’m coming from.

“When I told you my parents died in an accident, I didn’t tell you the whole truth.”

“Okay...”

“Their deaths were accidental, but self-inflicted.”

Drew sits quietly and waits for me to continue.

“When my brother and I were young, our parents went out a lot. They were social people and loved going to parties. At first they would come home a little tipsy. We thought they were being funny and goofy, it made us laugh. But then they started coming home from the parties drunk. That eventually progressed to drinking during the day. I’d come home from school and my mom would make me a snack with a glass of vodka in her hand.”

I stop to gauge Drew’s reaction. He’s watching me intently.

“Around my early teens, I found a baggie full of white powder. When I asked my mom about it, she grabbed the bag out of my hand and sent me to my room. I’m sure it was cocaine.”

Drew shakes his head. “Wow, that’s awful.”

“When I was a freshman in high school, I came home one day and found them on the floor of their bedroom. They shot up heroin and overdosed. I called 9-1-1, but it was too late.”

Drew gets off the four-wheeler and pulls me in for a hug. I rest my face against his chest. He’s sweaty and smells like grass, but I don’t care.

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