Lessons of the Heart
Lessons of the Heart
Copyright © 2016 by Jodie Larson
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media and incident are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
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Cover Design by Murphy Rae at Indie Solutions by Murphy Rae
Interior Design by Champagne Formats
Editor: Melinda Utendorf
Table of Contents
I truly believe that everything that we do and everyone that we meet is put in our path for a purpose. There are no accidents; we’re all teachers – if we’re willing to pay attention to the lessons we learn, trust our positive instincts and not be afraid to take some risks or wait for some miracle to come knocking at our door. –
Marla Gibbs
“W
HY DO I FEEL LIKE
I’m pulling teeth to get you to go to this party? You should have some fun before we’re too old to enjoy it.”
I shut my book and sigh. “It’s not that I’m opposed to partying. I just don’t actively want to participate in the stupidity of our generation. Is it so wrong to sit at home and read a book or study to get good grades in school?”
Penny stops pacing and raises an eyebrow. “
The stupidity of our generation
? Really? What are you, eighty?”
Her comment makes me laugh. “I’m just saying that going out and getting wasted is not my idea of a good time.”
“But it’s senior year. It’s our last chance to be stupid and crazy before we enter the real world.”
I rise from my bed and walk over to the window that overlooks our backyard. It’s mid-September and the chill of autumn is in full force. A cold gust of wind pushes against the window, making it moan with the sudden assault. Autumn in Connecticut is supposedly the most beautiful time of the year. The trees are beginning to turn, leaving their green hue for a more golden yellow with red and orange scattered in there.
Penny comes up and wraps her arms around me before giving me a supporting squeeze. “Please, Britta? For one night, I want you to forget about getting good grades or preparing to be the world’s greatest doctor. Be reckless.” She pauses before pulling out the big guns. “You don’t want me to celebrate our mutual birthday alone, do you?”
I glance over my shoulder. “You really know how to lay on the guilt, don’t you?”
Penny presses a kiss to my cheek. “It’s my special talent. Besides, I told everyone to be there for our party so you have to come.”
I pat her arm and lean my head against hers. “What would I do without you?”
“Die of boredom?”
I laugh and retake my position on the bed. “Probably.”
“Who knows, maybe Chase will be there.”
I scrunch my nose. “Ugh, I hope not. That boy will not take a hint.”
Penny laughs. “What can I say? The boy loves you.”
Chase Woodward and I have been friends since first grade. Sometime around puberty, things started to change and Chase was beginning to act differently around me. It’s been a fight to keep him at arm’s length, but who wants to be in a relationship with someone who hasn’t quite matured past the age of twelve?
“Maybe I’ll get lucky and he won’t show up.”
Penny tosses a pillow in the air next to me. “Or you’ll go there and fall madly in love with him and his boyish charms.”
I grab the pillow. “Gee, thanks,
friend
.”
“I can just see you both at our ten-year reunion, all married with babies everywhere…”
WHACK! A pillow to her face.
We fall all over each other in a fit of laughter.
A knock comes at my door, and my brother, Liam, walks in, grinning a sideways smile toward Penny.
“And just what is going on in here? Shouldn’t there be an Enigma song playing and the both of you in your underwear?” He pauses for a moment. “Well, maybe just Penny.”
I roll my eyes and launch the pillow at his head. “Get out of my room, perv!”
Liam ignores me and walks into my room. He sits on the chair at my desk and gives Penny a once over.
“So Pen, how’s it going?”
She leans back on her arms in a casual yet seductive pose. “It’s going well, Liam. How’s it hanging in your world?”
“Long and strong, baby. Long and strong.”
I make gagging noises. “Could you be any more inappropriate?”
Both of them laugh. Liam has had a crush on Penny for as long as I can remember. He would always try to be in the room with us, even if we were doing something he hated. He used to flick stuff at her or lightly tease her about some silly rumor going around the school. I think the day I knew for sure was in junior high when he beat up Chad Lortimer after making her cry.
“Don’t be like that, little sis,” he says, giving me his puppy dog eyes.
“Those eyes only work for people who aren’t me. Now, is there anything I can help you with, before you can
leave
?”
“I need to get going anyway,” Penny says. “My mom said if I’m late coming home again she’s going to flip her shit.”
Penny stands and stretches her arms above her head. Liam ogles her as his eyes fall upon the flash of skin at her stomach that’s now visible. It makes me want to throw another pillow at him.
I stand and hug her, making sure I block Liam’s view. “Call me later?”
Penny pulls away and nods. “Definitely. We have plans to make. You won’t be sorry! Bye, Britta. Bye, Liam.” She waves and lets her long red hair hang over her shoulder. He waves back and watches her walk out. I close the door behind her and glare at him.
He gives me an innocent look “What did I do now?”
I smack him on his shoulder before taking my perch back on my bed. “Stop ogling my best friend. It’s creepy, and it’s not going to happen.”
“Never say never.”
“What do you want?”
“You’re going out with Penny tomorrow?” he asks, his voice tinged with nerves.
I cock my head to the side and narrow my eyes. “Yeah. Why?”
He looks nervous as he picks at his jeans and flicks off some invisible lint. “Will you call me if you need a ride or anything like that? It’s just…I know how these high school parties can go….”
“This isn’t the first time we’ve been out before. Besides, would you willingly let your baby sister and the woman of your obsession go out into the cold, dark night and have unspeakable things happen to them?”
“Fuck no. That’s why I’m asking you to call me in case things get out of control. You know I would never let anything happen to you or Penny.”
I sigh. “Yeah, I know. But we’ll be okay. And if things get uncomfortable or weird, you’ll be the first person I call. Deal?”
“Deal.”
Liam visibly relaxes and it makes me smile. He may only be sixteen months older than I am, but I swear we’re more like twins. And it’s sweet that he cares so much about the both of us. I don’t know what I’d do without him.
A muffled beep comes from his pocket and he pulls out his phone. He types something across the screen before locking it again. “Gotta go. Douchenozzle is waiting for me.”
I roll my eyes. “Why do you hang out with him if he’s a douchenozzle?”
He shrugs. “Cause he works at a strip joint and has the connections to, you know…”
I jam my fingers in my ears and squeeze my eyes shut. “Don’t want to hear it.”
He ruffles my hair on his way out and closes the door behind him. I lie on my stomach, looking at the pictures that line the head of my bed. There’s a picture of Penny and me when we camped in the backyard. We couldn’t have been more than seven or eight. Several from our combined family vacation to Boston; one after Penny had just caught a foul ball at Fenway. But my favorite one is from the winter formal last year of us looking perfectly elegant and happy.
Penny’s right. This is our senior year. It’s our last year to enjoy our adolescence, be a little reckless before being thrust into the adult world.
Except I am ready for adulthood. I pick up my book and try to distract myself from wondering just what exactly I’m getting myself into.
“D
ID YOU HEAR THE NEWS?”
Penny asks me, linking her arm through mine.
“Probably not. I get all my gossip from you and since this is the first time I’ve seen you all morning I’m out of the loop.”