“Hey, beautiful.”
“Ethan,” she says. She sounds weird. Maybe she’s tired. “Can you come over? Like, right now?”
I check the time, and it’s just after eleven. “You asking for a booty call?” I say playfully.
She sighs.
Okay … clearly this isn’t a time for jokes. I clear my throat. “Yeah babe, I’ll be right over.”
A funny thing happened when I turned eighteen and graduated high school. My parents got really chill. I guess because I’m a legal adult now, they just stopped putting rules on me. My dad said it’s also because I’m a good kid, so he doesn’t worry. I know I can leave the house right now without asking permission, but it still feels weird. I guess I haven’t been an adult very long.
Dakota is still awake in her room, so I tell her I’m headed to Ella’s.
“Gross,” she says. “I don’t need to know about your sex life.”
I leave before she says anything else. As far as I’m concerned, my fourteen year old sister doesn’t need to know a damn thing about my sex life. Hell, I wish she didn’t even know what the wordsexeven means.
My chest is tight with anxiety as I make the twenty minute drive to Ella’s house. She sounded off, and although we have a great relationship, I keep getting these awful thoughts like maybe she’s about to break up with me. Maybe she’s met someone else. Maybe she thinks I’m just holding her back since she’s about to go off to college. By the time I pull into her driveway, I’ve worried myself into a panic.
I get out of my truck and close the door quietly and then make my way toward the front of the house. I start to send her a text to see if she wants me to knock or wait for her since her parents are probably sleeping.
“Hey.”
I jump. Ella is standing right here, in the darkness, waiting on me. “Shit,” I breathe. “I didn’t see you there.”
She grins. That’s good, right? It means this isn’t a break up visit. “Sorry, I wanted some fresh air so I came out here to wait for you.”
I want to kiss her but I’m still scared as to what this meeting is about. “What’s going on?” I ask.
She throws her arms around me and buries her face in my chest. “My mother.”
I breathe a sigh of relief. “What happened?”
She looks up at me and shakes her head, like she can’t believe whatever she’s about to say.
“My freaking mother … UGH!”
“Babe?” I say, leaning down to kiss her cheek. “What is it?”
“So there’s that stupid hurricane that’s hitting New Orleans,” she says. I nod for her to continue. “Mom just volunteered to go work at their hospitals over there. I guess they’re expecting a lot of hurt people or whatever, so they asked for nurse volunteers. And my mom signed up!”
“Wow,” I say. I’m having trouble understanding since my mind is still so relieved that this isn’t a break up meeting. Ella still loves me. Things are good. But this isn’t about me right now, it’s about her. “When does your mom leave?”
“Tomorrow,” she says, tossing her hands in the air. “And Dad is going with her too. Can you believe this shit? They didn’t learn their lesson from that tornado? They just want to rush out into harm’s way to help people?”
I take both of her hands in mine. “Well, babe, I think it’s kind of nice of them. Hospitals are built to withstand hurricanes, so they’ll be okay if they’re inside.”
She huffs, her nostrils flaring. “I mean, I know. I know you’re right, but … I’m just mad. I don’t want them to leave.”
“It’ll be okay,” I say, squeezing her hands. “They’re doing a good thing. And you’ll be staying here, right?”
“Hell yes I am,” she says. “I want nothing to do with any natural disasters.”
I smile and tilt her chin up, kissing her softly. “You could probably come stay at my house while they’re gone,” I offer.
She gives me the first real smile I’ve seen on her in days. “Or you could stay here.”
I slide my hands around her waist and pull her tightly to me. I cannot describe how good it feels to know that everything is okay with us. “Even better.”
