His eyebrows furrow in confusion, but he doesn't speak. He takes a step back, and I close the door and turn away. As I do, I see my family making their way down the staircase. I look back to see Anders's intense eyes on Liam, and my heart sinks into a panic. He looks like he's going to attack, and my heart picks up its frantic pace in my chest.
Liam throws a smirk at Ander, and I see Ander's fistball at his sides just as he turns and walks away.
On the drive home a bit later, disappointment and panic set in. I should have gone up to him. I have so many questions and feelings and no clue what they mean, and I can't get him out of my mind. I should have told him how I truly feel. I had all summer to discuss my feelings towards him, and what they meant, yet I chose the path of least resistance like I always do.
On my way home, I am stuck sitting next to Liam and pretending as if nothing happened.
"Oh, Via. Honey, what happened to your head?" My mom asks as she looks back. She was checking in on Natty and finally caught sight of me.
Before I can think of a response, I feel Liam's hand grasp my thigh and give it a tight squeeze— his little way of reminding me to answer appropriately.
My eyes flash to him for a split second, and I see him still looking off into the distance out of his window as if he isn't interested in the conversation.
Looking back to my mom, not meeting her eyes, I finally respond.
"I tripped going down the stairs. I'm okay."
"My girl. Clumsy just like her momma." She chuckled as she turned around and continued her previous conversation with my dad.
Annoyed by their blind ignorance and Liam's cruelness, I shut them all out.
I need music.
My cellphone finally gets a service signal. Now that we're off the island, I unlock it to open my music app and see a missed text messagefrom Ander.
Ander:"I never thought your ridiculous 'No goodbyes' rule was as stupid as I do now, but I won't piss you off and go against it. Since you shut me down before I could say it to your face like I want to, I'll say it here. I love you, Rosie. I always have."
That was it—that's all it took. I'll never forget that day, that moment, and that text.
My heart was made for and was meant to find Anderson Cole's.
Chapter three
Ander
2015
My friends back home didn't get it. They all fucked with me and would give me shit for constantly talking to "my summer fling" when I could easily get a girl here at home. I'd also get questioned by girls as to why I "had her" instead of a "real-life girl," as if she were just make-believe. None of that phased me.
The thing about Via is thatshe's always had me—since the first day I saw her. She had me when I saw her strength—she still has to be happy even though she has every reason in the world not to be. She had me when she took the time to understand the boy behind the grimace and pulled me out of my shell. She had me when I felt comfortable enough to open up to her about what happened with my Grandfather. I was able to tell her about how much it still haunts me every single day. She had me when she pulled us both out of dark places and radiated them with her light.
I'm not sure when things started to change between us. When I stopped considering her my best friend and justmine, I tried talking to her about it and acting on it, but she would always back out somehow.
The girls back home kept trying to get with me. A few years back, I gave in a few times and kissed some of them back. I even had sex with a few of them.They weren't Via. It didn't mean shit. If anything, it pissed me off— at myself. All these girls would throw themselves at me and make it seem so easy, yet the one I really wanted would make it so hard. It made me want her even more that she was so different from everyone else. Part of me worried she wouldn't want me back that way.
This past summer was my breaking point.From the moment I saw her step off that porch and run my way on my first day there, I knew things were different between us. The way my body reacted to her body was so much more than a friend. We both turned sixteen this year, and our bodies were changing even more; our hormones were raging, and I was already falling in love.
We spent this past summer attached to each other's hips like we always did, but every laugh, every touch, every adventure, every conversation, and every second spent together felt likemore.
I'm not scared of much, but I was afraid of fucking it up. I was terrified of pushing too hard or too far, spooking her, and ruining everything we had. I couldn't lose that.I couldn't lose her.
I held it together all summer—well, I tried to. I'm only human. My eyes would stay grazing over her perfectly curvy body longer than they should, my hands would linger on her skin more than ever, and I would hug and hold her tighter. I know she noticed, and I could tell things had changed for her, too. I tried to hold out—hold on to our friendship.
Until I couldn't.
On our last night together, I tried to kiss her. I did exactly what I was scared of doing, and I spooked the shit out of her. She should be on the track team because I've never seen someone dart away from a situation as fast as she did that night.
I wanted to talk to her about it the following day before she left. I couldn't. She wouldn't let me. Liam pulled another one of his asshole stunts and hurt her. I wanted to yell out exactly what I felt, but I couldn't get myself to do it; the timing wasn't right, and I was worried about her.
