Every Little Piece - By Kate Ashton Page 0,2

her spirit.”

We joined hands in the middle and leaned forward so our heads were all touching.

“Where we going first?” I asked.

“No clue,” Kama whispered.

We burst out laughing. Figures. My phone buzzed from the nightstand. I pulled away first and then both Brin and Kama grabbed my arms.

“No way!” Kama screeched. “No Seth!”

I fought to get free. “It could be anyone. Maybe the party was cancelled? Or moved to a different house? Or maybe it’s my brother and he’s broken down on the road somewhere.” I was about to throw out about five more plausible reasons for me to answer the phone, but they let go.

“Fine.” Brin crossed her arms.

Kama leaned against the wall, her eyes never leaving me.

I inched toward the phone and saw Seth’s name on the small screen. “Just a sec.” I grabbed the phone and darted between them into the bathroom before they could wrestle the phone from my hands. I shut the door and locked it.

They banged on the door mercilessly.

“Promise!” I yelled. “I’ll be right out! Gimme a sec.”

They stopped trying to knock the door down and must’ve headed back to my room. They’d learned to share me with Seth. I glanced in the mirror and smoothed my hair as if he could see me when I lifted the phone to my ear.

“Hey, there.” My voice came out softer than I thought it would. I sat on the toilet lid and drew my legs up so my chin rested on my knees.

“Hey, babe. Thought you could use a friend.” The rich tones in his voice always got to me.

“What’re you talking about?” Seth understood my moods. Only he knew that I got hit with a wave of sadness the night before a big event. The night before my birthday I was at home watching movies that made me cry, eating popcorn, and drinking Dr. Pepper.

“Oh, I don’t know. Thought you might want to hang out and watch a movie before the party. Or hang out in a diner and talk about all the memories over bitter coffee.”

“Sounds nice,” I said wistfully.

“But?” he asked.

“But you know. Kama has the next three hours planned. We’re going on some adventure into the past.”

“Then I must be a pit stop in there somewhere. Can we hook up later and go to the party together?”

I sighed. “I’ll try but I doubt it. Can I just see you at the party?”

“Sure thing.”

“Are you mad?” I asked, biting my lip.

“Nah, I kinda expected it.” He paused but I knew he had something to add. “I have plans to shoot pool with Carter and Jamie.”

“What?” I gasped, pretending to be mad.

He laughed and my heart beat faster. His laughter was like medicine. So cliché, but it was true.

“Gotcha!” he said.

“You jerk!” But I couldn’t help but laugh back.

Someone knocked on the door. Warning me to hurry up.

“I gotta go,” I whispered.

Suddenly I got the intense desire to see him. To wrap him in my arms and smell his hair and the cologne he splashed on his neck. I wanted to feel his fingers play with the ends of my hair while he rubbed my back. I wanted to flop down on my bed with him and make-out for hours and then fall asleep so close that nothing could tear us apart.

“Wish I could see you.” My voice was shaky, the emotion having its way with me.

He heard it. “I can ditch the guys and be over there in ten. You just say the word.”

I paused, almost ready to take his offer. The giddiness of being with my friends had already faded within the minutes I’d been on the phone.

I heard giggling outside the door and hushed whispers. I needed my friends tonight just as much as they needed me. They were just as much a part of my high school life as Seth.

“I can’t. But I’ll call if I get a chance to sneak away.”

“My phone is on and in my pocket. Love you, babe.”

“Love you, too.”

I pressed End and shoved the phone in my back pocket. I stood in front of the mirror. This one had a tiny crack in the top right corner and the tiniest of slivers that stopped right in the center. Any day, any second, it could shatter into pieces on the floor. Scattered shards. Impossible to put back together. But it had been that way for years and probably would be for another twenty.

My greenish-brown eyes stared back at me, questioning. I’d promised to spend the rest