Bruises of the Heart Read Free Page B

my veins, chasing away the unpleasant memories of the last three months.
    As I got ready for bed, I let the events of the night wash through my mind and only then realized that even though we had spent all night talking, I still didn't really know anything about Will. He had kept asking questions about me and school. I'd never had a chance to ask any of my own. I'd have to make sure to start our question-and-answer session with a few for him.
    I dressed the next morning with more care than I normally would have for a Saturday. Instead of my usual pajama pants and long sleeved t-shirt, I put on a pair of jeans and my dark red turtleneck sweater, one of my favorites that I thought looked really good on me.
    Tara called, and I told her all about my date. She was happy for me, but a little disappointed that I didn't have any new information to share with her. She was still irritated that she hadn't been able to find anything new and gossip-worthy about Will, especially the reasons behind his possible expulsion from his other school and why he'd enrolled at our school instead of somewhere else. Somewhere that might have been a little more interesting for him.
    I waited all morning for him to call. To pass the time, I cleaned my room and even helped clean the cabin, which surprised my mom. I was starting to get irritated when he finally called.
    "Hey, Victoria. Sorry I didn't call earlier, but my dad and I sort of got into it a little. Do you mind if I come over now? I'd still really like to see you," he asked, sounding a little depressed.
    "Yeah, that would be great. I'd like to see you too," I said, grinning into the phone.
    "Okay, I'll be there in about half an hour. Bye," he said and hung up.
    I hung the phone up, not really knowing what to think. I could understand the depressed mood, especially if he'd had an argument with his dad. Who wouldn't be depressed about that? Most parents knew exactly what to say to get you angry. My mom tried to never push my buttons. We had our arguments, but nothing like some of my friends had with their parents.
    I hovered at the front windows, and my heart started slamming inside my chest when I saw his car coming up the drive. I was able to keep myself from ripping the door open when he came to a stop, but just barely. I made myself wait until he was on the porch before I opened the door.
    "Hey," I said.
    "Hey." He smiled. He didn't look depressed. He didn't really look upset at all. Maybe he'd had time on his drive to put things into perspective.
    I stepped to the side so he could walk inside and closed the door behind him, then led the way to the couch. I sank down into one of the corners and sat facing him in the middle. "So it occurred to me that even though we spent the night talking, I don't really know that much about you," I began. "Tell me something that I don't know."
    "Wow, that's kind of a long list. Umm, okay. I'm an only child and my mom has always been at home and my dad is in real estate. He and I don't really see eye-to-eye on a lot of things." He grimaced.
    "What's your mom like? Do you guys get along?" I asked, while trying to keep the thudding in my chest at a reasonable level.
    He pulled my feet into his lap before answering me. "My mom is really quiet. She and I have always gotten along really well, but that might be because she leaves me alone to do my own thing. Your mom kind of leaves you alone, too, right?" he asked, rubbing my feet.
    "Yeah, she's sort of like that. Mom's been hovering a little more than usual over the last couple of months, but that's only because I went through sort of a bad breakup. Other than that, she gives me my space, but she's always there if I need her."
    "Is she here now, or do we have this little place to ourselves?" he asked, looking at me from under his impossibly long lashes.
    "She's down at the house for a while visiting with my grandparents. She tries to walk down there every Saturday to see how everything is going. I don't know why,