Return to Paradise Read Free Page A

Damon walks away, I swallow hard and force myself to face Caleb. He looks worn out, but at the same time a fierce strength radiates from him.
    I used to think he was everything I wanted and needed. If I had Caleb Becker at my side, my life would be okay. And it was, for a little while at least.
    "It's been eight months," I say in a small voice. Thinking of how much I've missed him makes my eyes well up. I blink and pray my tears don't fall. Not now, when I have to stay strong. I say something, anything, so I don't lose it. "You missed graduation."
    "I missed a lot of things," he says, then slowly starts to reach out his hand before he shoves both hands in his pockets.
    I know I probably look pathetic. I feel pathetic. But I'm sick of feeling sorry for myself. I've had to move on. I've gotten stronger every day. I can't get sucked back into the soap opera of Caleb's life. I won't let that happen.
    I look at the big white van that's supposed to take us on a four-week trip together. We're going to share our stories publicly, hoping to prevent others from experiencing what happened to us. I bite my lip at the irony. How can we do that, when the truth of Caleb's and my accident is still buried?
    I kick at some loose pebbles of tar on the blacktop. "He said you have no choice but to go on this trip. Why?"
    Arms folded, Caleb leans against the picnic table and sighs. "Okay, here's the deal. Big surprise: I got myself in trouble again. It's either this program, or I go to jail. The ball's in your court, Maggie. You want me to quit, I will. I'll take the consequences."
    The last thing I want is Caleb back in jail. I'm afraid to ask for details of how he got into trouble, so I don't. If he wants to tell me, he will. But I know he won't because he doesn't know how to trust anyone, least of all me. I might have been a part of his life once, but now I'm not. I'm a stranger to him, and he's a stranger to me.
    "It's only four weeks," I tell him. "I think we can handle it."
    "Four weeks stuck in a van together, and then you never have to see me again."
    I close my eyes when he says that. He shouldn't disappear again. His sister needs him, and his mother struggles every day with her prescription drug addiction. "After the trip, you should go back to Paradise."
    "Not gonna happen, so get that thought out of your head."
    Forgetting my sadness and gathering courage, I stand up straight and look him in the eye. "You know what I think?"
    "What?"
    "I think the tough and stoic Caleb Becker takes the easy way out." There, I said it.
    "My life is a lot of things, Maggie, but easy isn't one of them," he says. He clears his throat. "And if you think seeing you right now is a piece of cake for me, guess again..." His voice trails off.
    "Maybe this was fate giving us a second chance at saying goodbye. You know, before we both go our separate ways again."
    "That must be what it is," he says sarcastically. "So you're absolutely cool with going on this trip together?"
    I clear my throat and look over at the van. "I'm cool with it as long as you are."
    Pushing himself away from the table, he walks away from me and heads over to Damon. They talk for a second, then Caleb tosses his duffle in the back of the van and climbs inside.
    "Caleb said you worked it out," Damon says to me when I limp over to the van.
    "It's only four weeks. It'll be fine."
    Damon looks about as convinced as I feel, but I assure him the past is behind us and we'll get beyond it. I really hope I'm not lying to myself.
    In the van, the two girls who I met this morning are sitting in the front seat. The girl named Erin has a pierced nose and lip and has tattoos running up and down her bare arm. She's reading a book while leaning against the window. The other girl, Trish, has long, really shiny blonde hair and could definitely pass for one of the popular cheerleaders back in Paradise. She has dark makeup on her eyes and wears light pink lipstick. It looks good on her.
    I purposely avoid even