Heart Waves Read Free Page B

do something to you? Try to kiss you or something?” she pushed.
    “No.” I tried to sound as if that were absurd.
    “Are you sure? You’ve been acting weird ever since. And that’s not like you.”
    “Everything’s fine. I’m just tired. That’s all.”
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

Chapter 4
     
     
    Three nights passed since Mike’s party and I felt like I lost my mind. Once again I found myself hosting Grace for the evening. At least that was the plan.
    I flipped onto my stomach, turned my head and rolled my eyes. I was drop-dead-down-to-the-bone exhausted. I yawned loudly, hoping Grace would catch on, but she just kept yammering.
    “And then Mike said . . .”
    I could care less about what Mike said. I tuned her out. I hadn’t slept all week and the effects were wearing on me. My eyes hurt, like I had tiny pieces of sandpaper wedged beneath my eyelids. 
    The night after the party I tried to convince myself I suffered from temporary insanity. There’s no such thing as love at first sight, and people don’t form instant connections with perfect strangers. He certainly was perfect.
    I wondered if my mind’s eye exaggerated his flawless features and decided against it. He wouldn’t have bowled me over if that were the case.
    “Are you listening?” Grace asked.
    “Of course,” I lied. Wondering why I agreed to let Grace sleep over.
    “Cause you seem like you’re off in La La Land.”
    “I’m just tired.” At least I didn’t have to lie about that.
    And on she droned.
    The next two nights after the party, I spent searching for him on my computer. I looked in all the social networking sights, the white pages, people finders, everything I could think of. And found a lot of Reece Waltons . Just not the one I was looking for. I came up totally and completely empty.  
    I thought having Grace around would keep me from obsessing over Reece. My plan: indulge in ice cream and play board games. Grace’s plan: hang out with Mike. Without mentioning it, probably because we would need a snowstorm in July for me to agree, Grace invited Mike to hang out with us.
    “Are you kidding? I hate him! You know that,” I snapped when she broke the news.
    “I just thought . . .” her voice trailed off, so unlike my usually confident friend. “That since Mike and I are together now . . . you could be nice to him.”
    I almost spit on her shoes. “Go Grace, go hang out with Mike.” So much for my diversion.
    “No, we have plans.”
    I could see disappointment hug her tight, like cling wrap. “It’s okay. It’s fine. Go, before he comes sauntering into my house. I don’t mind. Really. I just don’t want to see him.”
    Home was my safety zone. The one place Mike couldn’t get to me. Outside the walls of my house, I was exposed, vulnerable to him and his cronies. After I practically shoved her out the door, I sat in front of my computer monitor once again contemplating how I might find Reece.
    Grace returned at eleven, changed and was ready for a fun filled girl’s night of sharing secrets and gossip. It wouldn’t have been half bad if we did that. Instead we talked. Rather she talked. About Mike.
    I’d known Mike since I was three years old. We met as I rode my tricycle down the block. He chased after me with a broom in hand, pretending it was a space ship. Just in case I crashed and should need a ride home.
    Mike protected me from the big bully down the block, who tried to steal my bike. “If you want her, you’re going to have to go through me,” he said. He taught me how to make mud pies, and many summer days we’d play at the beach, trapping crabs and making sand castles together.
    The two year age difference between us had me convinced he was smarter and braver than me. We played together almost every day until his ninth birthday, when he declared he no longer wanted to be friends. When I asked why not, he said I was a girl and girls had cooties.
    After that he ignored me or made fun of me