little farming town in Iowa on her eighteenth birthday, she thought she was
finally free. She didn’t have to live in fear anymore wondering which day was
going to be her last. For those two years, she was able to live in peace. She’d
made a new friend, was going to a school she loved, and was setting the path
for her future career.That all changed with one phone call from her mother.
With the push of her best friend, Randi, Lainey goes back into the town she
once promised was forever in her rear-view mirror. The dark memories of her
past loom around every corner, and Lainey can’t seem to conquer the demons
inside of her in order to fully move on.
Bryce, on the other hand, had moved on. During middle school and high school,
Lainey was his best friend, and it tore him apart when she left with only a
note. A simple note saying good-bye and have a great life.
Without his best friend around, Bryce’s life quickly spiraled out of control.
He got into drugs, had some trouble with the law, and found himself partying a
little too hard. Sweet Annabeth brought him out of that stage in his life, and
ultimately saved his life.
With Lainey back in town, Bryce is at a loss at what do. She wants nothing to
do with him or the town, but he is the only person who knows her full history
and may be able to help her. Knowing that Lainey’s a flight risk, and with one
wrong move, she’d pack everything up and leave again, Bryce steps out to help
her find the one thing she doesn’t know she needs.
Redemption.
Lainey
“Bryce, I’m not here to relive any memories. If you weren’t holding me here and threatening to chase after me if I left, I would be gone, and you know that.”
“Lainey, you need to move on,” he says. “You’re spiraling downward and spiraling very fast.”
“I have a parachute. I’m doing just fine on my own,” I tell him. “I don’t need any of your help, Bryce, so let me go.”
“Not ‘til you tell me what is going through that mind of yours and get some of that baggage off your chest.”
“Stop trying to save me,” I whisper to him.
“Lainey,” Bryce starts, “I’m not trying to save you. I just want to help you.”
“Are the neurons in your brain misfiring?” I ask him. “What isn’t connecting? I don’t want or need your help. Don’t you get that?” I hit him on the chest.
“No,” he tells me. “I don’t get that. I don’t get how with everything happening, you won’t talk to anyone. You used to always talk to me. I used to be the person you would come to when you needed to talk over something.”
“Times have changed since then,” I state. “I don’t talk to people. I deal with my problems on my own.”
Without saying anything, Bryce reaches forward and pulls me toward him. When I feel his arm wrap around me, I tense. Besides Mom, no one has voluntarily hugged me. Bryce has held me a few times since I’ve been back, but that was because I was either passed out or fighting against him.
“Stop trying to run away and just let me help you,” he whispers, resting his chin on top of my head.
I feel his hand move through my hair, but I still don’t move. I try to push away from Bryce, but he tightens his arms around me.
“Lainey, let me be your umbrella. Let me bear this storm with you. Let me block out the rain and keep you dry. I want to be here. For once in your life, just let someone help you. Let me help you.”
Currently a student at Ball State University, Kaitlyn Hoyt is pursuing
her passion for writing while working towards a Wildlife Biology and
Conservation degree. Vegetarian. Proud tree-hugger. Lover of comic book movies.
Avid Reader. She has an unhealthy obsession for the soothing music of Josh
Groban. She discovered her love for writing during the summer of 2012 and
hasn’t stopped writing since!
