Page 145 of Never Stop

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Easton

Exhausted couldn’t describe how I felt the last two weeks.

My heart was breaking as I watched Brooke suffer, but there was nothing I could do except comfort her, and I tried. When she told me she wanted to die, I knew she didn’t mean it. It was the drugs talking. But what do you tell someone who tells you they want to die and not keep living in pain? The only thing I could tell her was that it would pass. I didn’t know when, but that was one thing I was certain of.

Luckily by day fifteen she was back to normal. And thankfully all this shit happened during the summer so Cheyenne could stay at Courtney’s or my parents. There was a night she even stayed at Avery and Nicole’s. I couldn’t tell her what Brooke was going through because I knew she wouldn’t fully understand. Hell, I didn’t completely understand. Brooke didn’t have the same reaction when she was getting off Norco. One day Cheyenne might know, but it wouldn’t be when she was eleven.

“Want to go to lunch with me?” I asked Cheyenne. I’d really missed her the last two weeks. I saw her, but it was more like she was at summer camp and not home.

“Can Courtney come?”

I shook my head. “You’ve been spending a lot of time with her. Let’s just the two of us go.”

“What about Brooke?”

“She’s resting.”

“Okay. Can we get pizza?”

I smiled. “You read my mind, Peanut.”

We pulled up to the pizzeria and entered the building. Instantly, the unmistakable smell hit my nose. I could eat pizza every day.

“Anchovies and broccoli?”

“Eww,” Cheyenne gagged. “That’s disgusting.”

I laughed and stepped forward in line. “A large pepperoni with extra cheese and a side of ranch. Two fountain drinks, too.”

I paid, and then Cheyenne and I filled our cups and went to sit in a booth to wait for our pizza. “Enjoying your summer?” I asked.

Chey took a sip of her soda. “Yeah, we’re learning how to play pool at the park.”

I choked a little on my own drink. “Pool?”

“Yeah. You know with the balls you hit with a stick.”

Oh, I knew the game all right.“Uncle A and I used to play.”

“Were you any good?”

I shrugged as if it were nothing. “A little.”

“When I get better, I’m going to beat Uncle A.”

I smiled. Those two had such a rivalry.

They brought our pizza, and we dug in, both of us enjoying the cheesy goodness when Cheyenne asked, “Is Brooke dying?”

I paused, the pizza in front of my mouth. “What? Why would you ask that?”

Cheyenne shrugged. “Because she’s been sick.”

I set the pizza down on my plate. “No, Peanut, Brooke isn’t sick anymore. She’s just recovering from surgery.”

“But she sleeps all the time like when I’m sick.”