Love you all!!!!
********************Sneak Peek of Where She Belongs**********************
Prologue
“Patrick, give me a
push!” Nora shouted as she pumped her legs to get the swing moving. It was fun
having a best friend who was a boy. The other girls thought boys were stupid
and gross, and Patrick could be both, but he had stuck up for her when mean
Jillian had made fun of Nora last year at recess. They had been inseparable
since that day, especially since Patrick had been called to the principal’s
office to explain why he made Jillian cry.
“Give me a minute!” Patrick shouted
back then threw his baseball in the air once more and attempted to hit it with
his new Louisville slugger. It fell to the ground and Patrick spun himself
around with his swing. “Darn it,” he muttered and tossed the bat to the ground
beside the ball.
He walked over to where Nora sat,
her messy ponytail blowing in the breeze. School started tomorrow. Seventh
grade. They were the youngest in the school again. But it was okay. They had
Nate going with them and all the teachers knew Nora because they had taught all
her brothers and sisters. He and Nora were spending the last day of summer
vacation together, just like they had spent almost every other day of summer
vacation. It was nice having a girl as a best friend. They didn’t compete for
sports… okay, that wasn’t true. Nora always tried to beat him but they didn’t
play on the same sports teams.
Patrick stood behind Nora, waiting
for her to slow down a little so he could give her a push. “You’re going to
kick me in the face, blue eyes,” he told her making her laugh but she stopped
swinging her legs.
Patrick grabbed the chain on the
swing to slow her down even more then gave her back a push. His hand accidentally
brushed the smooth skin on her shoulder exposed by the tank top she wore. Stop
it, he commanded himself. This is
Nora, your buddy. Not just some girl.
“Are you nervous about tomorrow?”
she asked him, drawing Patrick out of his head.
“No. Why?”
She shrugged and brushed some hair
out her mouth. “We’re going to be in middle school then in a few years high
school then college.”
“We’ve got a ways to go before that,
Nora,” he chuckled.
Nora dragged her feet in the mulch
to stop the swing then turned to look at him. “We need to make big decisions
about life soon, Patrick. Like what we want to be, where we want to live and go
to college.”
“Nora, we’re twelve. Why do we need
to think about those things now? Turn around so I can push you.”
She sighed but turned around.
“Promise me something,” she said softly before he could give her another push.
“What?” Patrick grabbed the chain of
the swing and twisted, forcing Nora to face him. “What do you want me to
promise?”
She smiled up at him, her sunburned
nose peeling a little, her blue eyes twinkling in the sunset.
“That we’ll be best friends forever.
That no matter what happens we will always have each other. Middle school is
going to be hard and high school even harder but I know it will be okay if I
have you.” Having four older siblings had made Nora wise beyond her young
years.
Patrick smiled at her and shook his
head. “You’re stuck with me, blue eyes.” When she just continued to stare at
him, he sighed. “I promise. Now you make the same promise.”
Nora stood up and jumped when the
twisted swing righted itself and smacked her in the back of her legs. “I
promise too. You are my best friend in the whole world. We will always be
friends.”
Patrick spit in his hand and held it
out to her, grinning.
“This is gross,” she muttered but
spit in her own palm and shook his hand. “Now I need to wash my hand.” When he
laughed at her, Nora stepped closer and wiped her hand on his face. “Ha!” she
shouted then took off running when Patrick gave chase.
She shouted when he tackled her and
pinned her shoulders to the ground. “I have three brothers who will kick your butt!”
Patrick grinned and leaned down,
rubbing the cheek covered in her spit on her face.
“Stop! That’s so gross!”
“I can’t believe you wiped our best
friend handshake on my face.”
“I can’t believe I touched your spit
with my hand!” she retaliated and struggled to free one arm. Will had taught
her how to punch. She just needed one arm free to make her best friend bleed.
“I can read that look in your eyes,
Nora.”
She sighed and relaxed. “Fine.”
Patrick shook his head. “I am not
stupid. I’ve seen you wrestle with Nate. Plus I’ve helped you sneak attack Cam
and Will a few times. You may be small but you are feisty. I am not moving
until you promise you won’t hit me.”
Nora rolled her eyes. “Fine. I
promise I won’t hit-”
“Or kick,” Patrick interrupted. Then
stared at her when she clenched her jaw.
“Okay, okay, no bodily harm shall
come upon you. Now let me up. Mama is going to be mad that I got my clothes
dirty.”
Patrick stood and held out his hand
to help her up. “C’mon blue eyes. Let’s go to my house and clean you up first.”
Nora took his hand and let him pull
her up then followed him back to their bikes they had left laying on the field
outside the gates to the park. “Even though you’re gross, you’re still my best
friend,” she told him.
He laughed and shook his head. “Even
though you fight dirty, you’re still my best friend.”
Yeah, it was nice having a girl as
his best friend. And nothing would ever change that.
***
Patrick stood on the playground, staring at the swing
where he had once pushed Nora. Where they had promised to be friends forever.
God, he needed her back here, but he had no idea where she even was.
He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed the
number from memory. He waited for voicemail to pick up, because it always
picked up when he called. “Hey, it’s me. Just wanted to see how you were doing.
I’m doing great…” He stopped and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose
between his thumb and forefinger. “That’s a damned lie. I miss you. I wish you
would come home. I have so many things I want to say to you that I can’t do
over the phone. I need you, Nora, so much. You’re too important to me.”
He knew his time on the call was running short. “I’m
still here, waiting for you, blue eyes. I’ll always wait for you.” He hung up
before he could say the words he wanted so badly to say. The words he’d said
thoughtlessly to her so many times before. The words that he knew would
devastate her more than she already was. “God damn it, I love you,” he
whispered hoarsely to the empty park surrounding him. He needed her home.
Patrick sighed again and turned back to the parking lot,
needing to get home himself to the son he couldn’t regret, the son he wasn’t
sure Nora could ever love.
