Page 108 of All This Time

Fletcher:Uh oh. Am I in trouble?

Me:LOL No. I just… really want to talk to you.

Fletcher:Sounds good, angel. See you in a few days

When I read his last text, I toss my phone to the side and kick my feet in the air.

This is the perfect time to tell Fletcher how I feel. We’ll have the chance to be alone, I’ll be at his school in less than six months where we could actually be together, and then all of these feelings for him I’ve been holding inside can finally come out.

It’s perfect. It’s fate.

I just hope that my gut is right and that he feels the same way.

***

“Who are all these people?” Rhonan asks as we stand in the kitchen, surveying our house full of people.

“Honestly, I’m not sure.”

“Jesus, Laney. Did you invite the whole school?”

“No, but people must have told other people, and you know what happens when word gets out about a party, especially in Blossom Peak.”

Rhonan takes a sip from his beer. He and Fletcher brought so much alcohol and now that I’m looking at how many people are here, I’m glad. However, I know neither of them are twenty-one, so I’m not sure how they got their hands on it. I don’t want to know though, so I don’t ask.

“Not many parties these days, huh?” he asks.

“My class isn’t as adventurous as your class was.”

“Not everyone can be as cool as us,” Fletcher says as he walks up to us, reaching out to poke my nose. I swat his hand away. “Great party though, Laney. Watching all these high school kids drink just reminds me of how much better I am at holding my liquor than I was at that age.”

“How drunk are you?” I ask, because my plan to talk to him tonight might have to be put on hold if he’s not coherent enough to remember the conversation. Although, if he gets drunk and turns me down, it might be easier to pretend like the conversation never happened. I wipe my sweaty palms on my dress for the hundredth time.

He holds up his red cup. “This is my first drink.”

Rhonan scoffs. “Dude, I’m on my third. Catch up, will you?” Someone calls out to him from the living room. “I’ll catch you two later,” he says before walking off, leaving me and Fletcher alone.

Fletcher moves in closer to me. “It sure is good to see you, angel.”

Staring up at him, I study the lines of his face. He looks different and yet the same. Only seeing each other sporadically over the past two years means each time we’re face-to-face, I spend severalminutes cataloging his features for my daydreams and fantasies. “You too, Fletcher.”

“So, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?” He leans against the counter behind us, crossing his arms over his chest while still holding his red cup.

“Oh. Well, we don’t have to talk about that now.”

“Nonsense. There’s no time like the present.” He grabs me by the hand before I can argue and pulls me down the hallway to my bedroom. He stops at the door, rattling the knob.

“You locked your room?”

“Um, yeah. I didn’t want people fucking in my bed.”

“Good thinking. You’re the only one that should be doing that.”

My cheeks turn red because not only does the mention of sex make me blush, but he has no idea I haven’t experienced that yet. “We can talk out here.”

I lean up against the wall as Fletcher rests his forearm above me, his other hand still holding his drink. “All right. We’re alone. Now spill.”

I drop my eyes to the center of his chest as I begin to fiddle with my hands in front of me. “Well, I uh…I sort of have feelings for someone and I’m not sure how to tell him.”