PROLOGUE
Leah
I stood in the hallway fiddling with my lock. It was only the second month of high school and I had already forgotten how to work it—again. If my father had to replace it a third time due to my inability to remember my combination, I was sure to be in trouble. I had English in five minutes and needed to get my books. “Dammit, this lock won’t open again,” I said more to myself than to Jenna who stood at her locker beside me. I let out a deep sigh and began again.
“That’s because you are doing it wrong. Rotate clockwise, then counter-clock wise then clockwise again. You are also putting in the wrong combination twelve–forty–ten.” I looked over at her, annoyed as she shrugged her shoulders and let out a small laugh the more frustrated, I got.
We heard a bunch of loud voices approaching from down the hall causing Jenna to look. “Don’t look now, but here comes your boyfriend,” Jenna sang as I finally got my lock to open with ease thanks to her help.
I glanced down the hall my lock in hand as the group approached, a funny flutter in my stomach. “It’s not fair that someone looks that good this early in the morning,” I whispered to Jenna referencing the girl he had his arm wrapped around.
Cindy Reilly, captain of the cheerleading squad, had been dating him for the past year. Rumor had it they were on the outs; she had gone away with her family over summer and he had apparently dated two other girls from school during that time. “I heard they may break up after school today,” Jenna whispered. “Then you can date him.”
I let out a laugh at her suggestion. “Yeah right, look at her, look at me. He would never be interested.” I half-listened to what she said next, I couldn’t tear my eyes from him. He was hot, his backpack slung over his broad shoulder. His dark brown hair hung in the way of his crystal blue eyes. With his arm flung over her shoulder, his t-shirt had ridden up and his jeans hung low enough to not only give me a peek at his Calvin Klein boxers but also his solid abs. He seriously reminded me of a model in one of those ads.
I continued to stare as they approached and finally, just as they passed, he dropped his arm from Cindy and turned to stare at me as he walked backward down the hall, winking in my direction before one of the other guys from the football team hit him in the arm. They all let out a roaring laugh at something he said and then opened the door at the end of the hallway, descending the stairs to the hallway below.
“I do believe he just checked you out,” Jenna whispered in my ear.
“I doubt that,” I mumbled turning to grab my copy of Gatsby and my English notebook now that my morning distraction was gone. I didn’t even know his last name.
Earlier in the year, I had gone back into school one afternoon to use the bathroom and had run right into him. He was in full uniform standing outside the guys’ locker room just before football practice. He had grabbed my arm before I fell flat on my back, steadying me and saved me from falling. “Whoa there, cupcake, slow down, you all right?” he had said laughing, those blue eyes twinkling. His touch had sent waves of excitement through me. From that day on, I stayed after school every night and watched him from the bleachers in the field.
Jenna and I sat down in our seats in English. The teacher walked in and I opened my notebook to the notes from last class. I listened with half an ear to the teacher drone on about symbolism in Gatsby, while I doodled his name all over the page—Logan.
ONE
Logan
Ten Years Ago
Another Saturday night and my mother was on her way out the front door for another date with Joe. It was the tenth Saturday in a row that the same thing was happening. How do I know that it was the tenth Saturday? I had kept count. I won’t lie, at first, I thought it was cute that my mother had a date here and there, after all it had been a long time since she had done anything for herself.
When my father died, she had put all her energy and focus into working and looking after me. My mother waitressed at two of the higher end restaurants in town, she worked twelve-hour shifts six days a week just to make sure we had the things we needed. Most days she was so tired she would fall asleep watching TV, sometimes before we even had dinner. Her one day off—always Saturdays—she would spend the day cleaning the house top to bottom, doing the laundry, all while cooking enough food for my lunches to last me the week at school.
I was hanging out with my friends, playing video games, when Mom came down the stairs dressed in a pair of dress pants and a nice sweater and grabbed her coat from the hall closet. “Logan, honey, make sure your friends are on their way home by ten.”
“Sure, Mom, Have fun.”
I watched as she walked out the door; she looked different, happy, and wore this funny small smile plastered on her lips.
“Where is your mom going, dude? I was hoping she’d make us pizza tonight; I am dying for it. My mom’s pizza sucks. She buys those stupid kits—the kind where the crust is like eating cardboard.”
“She is going on a date with a guy she’s been seeing a lot lately, but she left some money on the table to order one,” I answered trying to get back into the game.
“That sounds good,” Frank replied.
I got up from the floor and grabbed the phone, pressing the speed dial for the pizza place.
“Do you know this guy?”
“Nope, haven’t had the pleasure of meeting him yet and, to be honest, I don’t care to.”
“Come on, Logan, your mom looks thrilled. You should be happy for her.”
I shrugged it off. I was serious that I didn’t care to meet this guy. The little I knew about him, I already didn’t like him. Meeting him would only make things worse I was sure. “Just play the damn game, I’m getting slaughtered here.” Frank picked up his controller and soon we were both involved in the game, pizza was on the way, and within minutes I had forgotten all about my mom and her date.
The next morning, I woke bright and early. I looked at the clock and noted it was only six-thirty. I didn’t need to get out of bed for another ten or fifteen minutes, so I rolled back over. I had picked up a small paper route so I didn’t have to bother asking Mom for spending cash that I knew she wouldn’t be able to give me, things were tight as it was. This job gave me enough money in my pocket every week to do a few things with my friends without putting the strain on my mother, some months I could even help with the grocery bill.