The End of August: Part One by Rue Volley

Author:Rue Volley [Volley, Rue]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rue Volley Books LLC
Published: 2021-10-09T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty

Keller West

I end up on the train track, under the old bridge, letting my legs dangle over the side. It’s quiet— despite the occasional chirping cricket coming from below.

I’ve always loved coming here. Trains don’t run through town anymore, so I have nothing to worry about.

I used to come here with Brian. In fact, we spent hours here laughing and talking about pretty much everything.

I used to love those days and I miss them.

Everything changed with that damn kiss.

I wish it had never happened.

Now we struggle to talk about anything— like we’re strangers. It hurts.

I close my eyes and feel the pen in my pocket. I pull it out and stare at it. It has the name of my dad’s construction company on the side of it.

Westson Construction.

He was going to call it West & Son, but he settled for the other name. He probably knows that whatever dreams he had of working with me are long gone.

It’s his fault. Not mine.

I toss the pen, watching it fall pretty far until it lands in the river that runs through our town.

It sinks beneath the surface, taking with it some of my anxiety.

East enters my mind. I see his lips— and eyes. His pale, perfect skin. I can still feel how it felt to stand so close to him in that basement, fighting the urge to kiss him.

I flinch when I feel something brush against my side. Shy sits down next to me.

I barely glance at her. I know Dad left a mark when he hit me; she notices— like she usually notices everything.

“Keller!” she speaks through the shock of it.

She forces me to look at her while grabbing my chin. I shrug it off.

I don’t need her sympathy.

“What happened?” she asks while leaning forward just enough that I can’t ignore her.

I grip the edge of the wood. Nothing much sits between me and dropping into the water below, but that would be a horrible thing to do to her.

Brian and I always talked about jumping because it’s deep enough, but we never did.

I still want to like I want to do other things that I’ll probably never get the chance to do.

I nudge forward and she grabs my arm.

I know we aren’t dating anymore, but she still cares about me, just like I care about her.

“My dad isn’t just working a job out of state.” I place emphasis on the word working.

“Like I didn’t know that,” she mutters.

I finally look at her.

She gently touches the edge of my eye where it’s beginning to bruise. I move just enough so it breaks the connection. Her hand lingers mid-air.

“Great— so everyone knows?” I ask.

She rolls her hand, playing off the fact that I didn’t want her touching me. “It’s a small town, Keller. Not much goes on here, plus, that girl back there didn’t look like his friend.”

I sigh.

“So, did he do that to you?”

I nod. “But I asked for it.”

She shakes her head and taps at the wood. “There’s no excuse to hit someone like that— especially your kid.

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