18 Hours To Us

by Krista Noorman

  Lexi looked visibly shaken.

  “You need to decide what you want, Lexi,” Natalie said.

  “Get out of here, Natalie!”

  It was the first time Lexi had addressed her by her name since the seventh grade.

  “We used to be friends,” Natalie reminded her.

  Lexi stared off at nothing in particular.

  “And no matter what you’ve done to me over the years, I still care about you and the friendship we used to have.”

  “I said get out of here!” Lexi’s eyes shot to Natalie’s, and she pointed toward the exit. “Go!”

  Natalie shook her head and left her former best friend and the guy she was cheating with behind. She marched away, disgusted and confused. If ever there was a solution to her situation with Colton, this was it.

  Olivia and Trinity met up with her, curious expressions on their faces from witnessing the end of the conversation.

  “What was that all about?” Trinity asked.

  “I caught them kissing,” Natalie revealed.

  The girls’ eyes widened.

  “Are you serious?” Olivia stared across the park at them.

  “Well, that’s good news, isn’t it?” Trinity asked as Natalie grabbed their arms and turned them away from Lexi and Grant.

  “I’m not telling Colton,” Natalie stated before either girl had a chance to say it.

  Trinity’s mouth fell open. “Why not?”

  “Because they have to be the ones to tell him. I won’t be the one to ruin their relationships.”

  “But he deserves to know,” Trinity stated.

  “He does. But he won’t find out from me.”

  Olivia didn’t say anything. She simply walked along with the two of them until they were out of range of the couple.

  “If I were you, I’d be jumping for joy and running as fast as I could to find him,” Trinity said, “because this will be the end of them and the start of something for you guys.”

  Natalie shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe. But maybe not.”

  Trinity looked at her curiously. “Why do you say that?”

  “He’s going to school at MSU. I’m going to Arizona. I’m not sure a new relationship could withstand that much distance. He’ll probably meet some beautiful, brilliant girl at school and fall in love. And maybe I’ll meet somebody down there. I don’t know.”

  “If he came to you right now and told you that he and Lexi were over and he wanted to be with you, you wouldn’t jump at the chance?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Trinity waved her off. “You’re just scared. You’ve never had a real long-term relationship before, and you’re afraid to try.”

  “That’s not it.”

  “Yes, it is.” Olivia finally piped in. “You’ve been in love with Colton Daynes since you were six years old, and now you finally have a chance to be with him and that terrifies you.” Her tone was bitter and snippy.

  Natalie’s mouth fell open.

  “You’re afraid to take the chance because of all the hurt you’ve faced in your past. But you’ll be sorry. You’ll regret not going for it.”

  “Why do you sound so mad at me?” Olivia had never spoken so harshly to her before.

  “Because you have everything going for you—your scholarship, gymnastics, an amazing dad—and you’re so close to getting the guy you like, but you’re about to screw it all up.”

  “It’s my life, Olivia.”

  “And you’re afraid to live it.” Olivia walked away in a huff.

  Natalie stared after her blank-faced.

  Olivia suddenly spun around and took two steps back. “I really thought this vacation was going to be about the three of us. Our last hurrah before graduation, remember? I thought maybe we’d get a chance to sit down and talk and I could tell you how I’ve been feeling and share my exciting news with you, but it’s been all about Colton since we got here.”

  “That’s not true. I’ve been with you and Trinity pretty much the entire time.” Where was this coming from?

  “But you haven’t really been with us. Ever since you got here, you’ve been distracted.”

  “I can’t explain it, Liv. I feel like I’m at a crossroads, at a transition. Things are about to change in so many huge ways.”

  “We’re all at a crossroads, Natalie. Everything isn’t always about you.”

  Natalie didn’t know what to say.

  “You should tell him.” Olivia stared at her.

  “I already told you, I’m not doing that.” Natalie looked over at Trinity, as if seeking help, but she simply pressed her lips together.

  “You never listen to me, Natalie,” Olivia continued. “Whenever I give you advice, you ignore it. Even when it’s the best advice anyone could’ve ever given you in your life.”

  “What’re you talking about?”

  Olivia turned and walked toward the exit. “I’m so tired of being dismissed.”

  Natalie rushed after her. “I don’t dismiss you.”

  She spun around again. “Yes, you do. Every other person in your life gets higher priority than me, and I’m tired of it.”

  “Liv.”

  “Why can’t you tell him?”

  “I like him too much. I don’t want to hurt him. I’ll never forget the look on my dad’s face when he found out my mom cheated, and I don’t want to put that look on Colton’s face.” Natalie glanced over at the Ferris wheel. “Getting to know him on this trip, the conversations we had … I felt so close to him. But it scared me too.”

  Olivia listened.

  “I don’t want to get hurt like my dad was. Maybe that whole experience scared me off of relationships.”

  “That’s just stupid,” Olivia blurted.

  “Liv,” Trinity scolded her.

  “I’m sorry, but you can’t hide from relationships because of that. They were married, and there was a whole lot more to their situation, a lot to do with your mom’s health. Even your dad found love again after all that.”

  “What if I’m like her?” Natalie finally asked the question that had been hiding inside, unspoken for a very long time.

  The girls stared blankly at her.

  “What if I’m like my mom?” It terrified her to say the words aloud.

  Olivia’s eyes softened. “You’re not your mom, Natalie.”

  Tears began to sting Natalie’s eyes. “But what if I am? Sometimes I feel withdrawn and sad and alone. What if that’s the beginnings of what my mom went through?”

  “Your mother has a serious medical condition.”

  “I know. But some days I worry that I’ll end up like her and hurt the ones I love.” Natalie’s eyes filled with tears.

  “Your mom had already been hospitalized by the time she was your age, right?” Olivia asked. “You said she had suicidal tendencies by the time she was twelve. Is that how you feel? Suicidal?”

  Natalie shook her head.

  Olivia took Natalie’s hand, the first kind gesture from her in days. “You’re fine, Natalie. You’re nothing like your mom. Don’t let fear keep you from living. Don’t let it stop you from falling in love.”

  Tears were streaming down Natalie’s cheeks by then, and her friends wrapped their arms around her and held her while she cried.

  As they were letting go, Grant walked by them in a huff, followed by Lexi, who was wiping away tears of her own.

  “You ruin everything, you know that, Natalie Rhodes.” Lexi gave her the evil eye and walked on.

  “You’re just jealous,” Trinity called after her.

  That stopped Lexi in her tracks, and she whipped around to face them. “That’s a good one.”

  “It’s the truth,” Trinity said. “You can’t stand the fact that Natalie succeeded in gymnastics when you didn’t.”

  “That’s ridiculous. I hate gymnastics, that’s why I quit.” The right side of Lexi’s upper lip lifted in a snarl.

  “Well, you used to love it when we were all on the team together.”


  “We were twelve,” Lexi snapped.

  “And you sucked at it.”

  “Trin,” Natalie spoke softly to her friend, who could be a little too blunt at times.

  “And now you hate that Natalie has the gymnastics scholarship you wanted.” Trinity kept going. “And you hate that Colton cares more about her than he does about you.”

  “Trinity, that’s enough,” Natalie warned.

  Lexi was shaking from anger. “I hate you. I hate you all.” She fled the scene.

  Natalie watched Lexi race for the exit and disappear down the street. She turned to Trinity. “You didn’t have to do that to her."

  “It was all the truth. You know it was. It was after she left the team when she started treating you so horribly.”

  Natalie thought about that for a moment. It was true. She had never really thought about the connection between Lexi’s pranks and gymnastics before. But there had to be more to it than her jealousy over Natalie’s gymnastics skill. That didn’t seem like reason enough to end a friendship.

  “She told me once that she knew she wasn’t good enough for the Olympics, but she really wanted to get a college scholarship for gymnastics someday,” Olivia told them.

  Trinity nodded. “That’s what she told me too.”

  “She never told me that.” Natalie was surprised. “Why didn’t you guys ever mention it before?”

  “I guess I thought you knew,” Olivia replied. “I never thought about it until now, and it all just sort of clicked with what Trin was saying.”

  “I feel kind of bad for her,” Trinity admitted.

  “I don’t.” Olivia’s bitter tone had returned. “She’s made all the wrong choices. Now, she’s going to have to deal with the consequences.”

  Natalie couldn’t bring herself to be bitter toward Lexi. Instead, she longed to understand her, to know what had caused the change in her. And though there was only a miniscule chance she would leave Virginia Beach with the answers she sought, she still prayed that she would.

  The girls headed back toward the resort, walking along the boardwalk. Rays of sunlight peeked through the clouds to the west as the sun dropped lower, leaving the eastern sky with a cotton candy pink glow. They stopped near the statue of Neptune, and Natalie gazed out toward the water at the choppy waves.

  “I’m cold. I’m heading back,” Trinity announced.

  Olivia began to follow her.

  “Liv,” Natalie called after them. “Can we talk?”

  Trinity motioned toward the resort and kept walking. “I’ll see you at the room.”

  Olivia slowly shuffled her way back to Natalie, and the two of them sat down together on the sand.

  “I’m really sorry I’ve been so wrapped up in myself this week, Liv.”

  Olivia sighed. “I had all these expectations for how the week was going to be, and then you weren’t on the bus coming down here, and everything’s been happening for you with Colton. I was just really disappointed.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t know any of that was going to happen.”

  “I know,” Olivia replied. “It’s not your fault. I blame Colton completely.”

  Natalie laughed. “So do I.”

  “I’m happy for you, Natty. I am. But I have some big news I need to tell you about. I’ve been trying to get it out every day, but there hasn’t been a good time to tell you.”

  “You can tell me now.” Natalie turned to face Olivia, giving her the full, undivided attention she deserved.

  “I’ve been accepted to the Pratt Institute in New York for the fall semester,” Olivia announced.

  Natalie didn’t know what to say at first.

  “I’m going to study architecture.” Olivia couldn’t hold back her smile.

  “I didn’t even know you applied to Pratt,” Natalie replied, unable to contain her surprise.

  “I applied last fall,” she admitted.

  “Why didn’t you tell me any of this before?”

  Olivia pressed her lips together. “I was afraid.”

  “Liv, why?”

  “We’ve had this plan for so long to go to Arizona and room together. I know how excited you are about it, and I was too. I loved the idea of going to college with you, spending four more years together. But deep down I knew it wasn’t where I wanted to be, and I didn’t want to disappoint you.”

  The fact that Olivia felt the need to hide this from her made her heart ache.

  “Olivia, you’re my best friend in the entire world, and I want nothing more than for you to be happy. If Pratt makes you happy and you get to study something you love, then I could never be disappointed about that. And I would never want to hold you back from what you’re meant to do. I want you to live your best possible life, just like you’ve always encouraged me to do.”

  “Really?” Olivia asked with such hope in her voice.

  “Of course.” Natalie hugged her best friend with all her might. “I’ll miss you in Arizona, though, Liv.”

  Olivia gave her a tight squeeze. “I’ll miss you too.”

  Back in their room, Natalie stood on the balcony staring out at the dark night sky, listening to the sounds of the ocean below. She took a seat in one of the deck chairs and opened her text messages. Her thumb hovered over Colton’s name. She told herself she wouldn’t reach out to him, and she’d done so well at sticking to her resolve, but the entire day felt empty without him.

  She tapped his name and started to type, then stopped. No matter how much she wanted to talk to him, nothing had changed. She was about to close her phone when she noticed the tell-tale dots bouncing on her screen, a sign that Colton was typing. Her heart leapt into her throat.

  Cole:

  Hey.

  Nat:

  Hi.

  Cole:

  How was your day?

  Nat:

  It was a day.

  Cole:

  Same here.

  Sucked not seeing you.

  Nat:

  Agreed.

  The three little dots bounced for quite a while before Colton’s next message came through.

  Cole:

  I just want you to know that I respect where you’re coming from. I do. I couldn’t stand it today, not talking to you, not seeing you, because this thing between us is special. You’re special. I meant what I said in the car. You’re more real to me than anyone else in my life right now. If all we can ever be is friends, I will accept that, as long as you’re in my life.

  Tears sprang to Natalie’s eyes. She felt the same. There was something special between them.

  Nat:

  I want you in my life too.

  25

  Trust

  It’s supposed to rain today,” Trinity announced with annoyance in her voice as she stared at the day’s forecast on the local morning news program. “I came here for the beach. Why won’t the rain stay away?”

  Natalie wandered to the sliding glass door. The ocean was churning with waves, and the sky was dark in the distance. She could see the rain dropping from the clouds far out over the water. She slid the door open and a blast of sticky, humid air blew her hair back.

  “Shut the door!” Olivia hollered from her place still in bed.

  “Sorry.” Natalie shoved it closed and turned her attention to the meteorologist on the television.

  “Looks like we’re in for some storms, folks.” He pointed at the cluster of reds and yellows on the radar and reported an eighty percent chance of thunderstorms throughout the day with the possibility of some becoming severe in the evening.

  Natalie immediately tensed up. She had woken with a smile and a fresh perspective. All was well with Olivia again. She and Colton were determined to be part of each other’s lives. And she was one day away from her eighteenth birthday. She thought nothing could possibly ruin her happy mood. Until she saw that forecast.

  “So much for a day at the beach,” Trinity said.

  Rain pelted the windows of the hotel restaurant
as the girls ate their lunch. Natalie still shivered when the thunder boomed, but she tried to focus on her nice memory of Colton from the last storm they had encountered.

  She took a bite of caesar salad, and her phone rang.

  “Hey, Dad.”

  “Hey, Natty Gann.” His nickname for her from the movie they watched often when she was a kid. “Are you ready to come home yet?”

  “Today, I could probably be persuaded.” She chomped on a crouton.

  “Why, what’s the matter?”

  “Storms.” Her dad understood her fear of storms. Many nights, he had knelt by her bed and prayed her through them.

  “Ah, I see. Are you OK, sweetie?”

  “I’m fine, Dad. How’s everything there? How’s my car?”

  “Car’s in the shop. But the good news is it should be ready by the time you get back.”

  “Awesome.” She took a deep breath. “Are you still mad?”

  “I wasn’t mad. Not at you anyway. I was more worried about you.”

  “I know.”

  “I’m just glad that boy got you to the school. I was nervous the entire time thinking about you riding with him when he caused your accident.”

  Her stomach sank.

  “If I never see him again it will be too soon.”

  She had to come clean. She couldn’t hide it anymore. “Dad, there’s something I need to tell you.”

  “Sounds serious. Everything all right?”

  “Colton gave me a ride here.” She spit the words out as quickly as she could.

  Trinity and Olivia stopped eating and stared at her.

  “I know he did,” her dad replied.

  “No, not to the bus.” She held her breath. “To Virginia.”

  “Wait, what? What do you mean? You didn’t ride the bus down there?” The volume of his voice raised with each question.

  She could picture the surprise and disappointment on her father’s face, and it broke her heart. “We missed the bus, Dad.”

  “Natalie Jean Rhodes!”

  She held the phone away from her head, and her friends’ eyes widened.