I only worked every other Saturday at the store. Today was my day off. So why the hell I was awake and dressed before 9:00 a.m.? Oh, yeah, I knew: because I hadn’t slept a wink thinking about Jake all night. Who knew a simple hug could turn me into a flustered mess?

I paced the house looking for something to do to take my mind off of the dilemma I’d found myself in. I even helped Alice wash and dry the laundry before folding it and putting it all away. Alice was shocked I’d offered my services. She acted as though it wasn’t something I usually did. It wasn’t that I never offered to help before. I did… sometimes. Granted, it usually only happened when I had a lot on my mind and needed an escape, but still… Alice would usually tell me no, anyway, saying that it was her job to make sure the chores were done. That morning she let me help her. I guess I hadn’t realised myself how much I needed the distraction. Alice did, though. Instead of shooing me away like she normally would, she dumped the overfilled laundry basket in my hands and left me to it.

By 11:00 a.m. I was crazy bored. Having tackled three loads of laundry and ironed a few shirts and skirts, I settled onto the sofa and fired up a new TV series. Thirty minutes later and I had no idea what the hell I was watching. I couldn’t focus on a single thing. My thoughts constantly went back to Jake and how amazing it felt being in his arms. I needed to let out my frustrations, so I made my way over to Frankie’s, praying she’d have some gossip to share from her night out.

I turned the handle on the front door of her apartment. It opened straight away. I cursed at Frankie under my breath for leaving it unlocked, yet again, and made my way into the kitchen where I dumped my bag on the marble island. The apartment was quiet as I trudged through to the living room. An empty bottle of wine sat on the small table in the middle of the room and a wine glass, half full, sat beside it. I instantly felt bad knowing she was home alone last night when I should have been with her.

Frankie was asleep in her bed when I made my way through to the bedroom. A pink sequined eye mask covered her eyes. Her lips parted slightly then closed as she drew in a heavy breath. I kicked my feet out of my pumps and flopped onto the bed with a heavy sigh. She didn’t even stir as my weight fell to the mattress with a thud.

Tucking my hands under my head, I glanced across at her. There was a bright green ear plug sat lodged in her left ear and another sat on the pillow to her right. I reached a hand out, gripped the green squidgy plug between my fingers and pulled. She stirred a little, rolled over and let out an unattractive snore. I rolled my eyes, pulled out my phone from the back pocket of my jeans and flicked through my playlists. I settled on a Katy Perry song and hit play. Still, Frankie made no attempt to move. I narrowed my eyes, increased the volume and pressed the speaker to her ear.

Frankie screamed and pushed the mask up to her forehead. Her eyes flew wide open, just as Katy sang about streaking in a park and getting kicked out of some bar.

“What the hell?” she yelled, scrambling to a seated position as she blinked back at me.

I snorted a laugh and switched the music off.

“Morning.” I grinned.

“Is it?” Frankie asked, removing the mask from her head and chucking it on the bedside table.

“Has been for twelve hours now,” I stated proudly.

Frankie groaned and dropped her head back on the headboard. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

I shrugged. “Couldn’t sleep.”

“So, you thought you would wake me up from a perfectly good dream, all because you couldn’t sleep in?”

“Yep.”

Frankie scrubbed her face with her hands and frowned at me. “What happened to you last night?”

“I told you. Jake stopped by the store and asked if I would watch a movie with him.”

She continued to frown. I guess she was already drunk by the time I’d called her to say I couldn’t make it.

“Did you at least get laid?”

“Why would you ask that?”

“It’s the only excuse worthy of letting your best friend down.”

“In that case, no, I didn’t get laid.”

“Why the hell not? Are you on the blob or something?”

“Firstly… eww. Secondly, we’re friends. That’s it.”

Frankie snorted. “And whose stupid idea was that?”

“His. Mine. Both.” Frankie raised her brows. “Okay, fine. It was his, okay?”

“And you’re okay with that?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You guys have a history. It’s hard to believe that anyone can be friends after all that.”

“Well, believe it because we are.”

“It’s a shame I don’t believe you.”

“Believe me or not. I don’t care. You know I can’t get involved with anyone. Not when I plan on leaving soon.”

“You can’t still be serious about that…”

“Why not? Nothing has changed.” I shrugged.

“And Jake knows you’re leaving?” she challenged.

I sighed. “No. He doesn’t need to know, either.”

“If you’re friends, like you say you are, then surely it makes sense to tell him.”

I frowned. Maybe she had a point. It wasn’t a big deal, and besides, it wasn’t like he’d try to convince me to stay. Football season was coming up anyway. From what I read in the papers and heard on the news, it seemed like he wouldn’t be playing for Winslow F.C. next season which meant he would be playing farther afield. Whenever I tried to ask him about it, he’d change the subject. I wondered if there were legal technicalities set in place which meant he couldn’t talk about any new contracts.

“I bet if you told him your plans to leave he’d tell you the same thing I have.”

I sighed. “Stop it, okay. I’ve already told you. There’s nothing left here for me. And even if there was, I want this. I deserve this.”

“There’s nothing out there that you can’t have here, Mel. And you wanna know what I think?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“Nope.” I closed my eyes, held in a breath and waited for what was to come. “I think you’re stupid.” My eyes flew open and my mouth practically hit the mattress. “Yeah, you heard me. I think you’re stupid. You think running away will solve all your problems? Well, it won’t. Running away won’t fix what’s going on in your life, Mel. Running away won’t make Shawn’s death any easier. And it won’t make people forget what you did to them. It’s easy to run away and pretend your life is perfect. It’s a lot harder to stick around and face everything head on. I know you. And I know you’re stronger than that.”

I let her words sink in. She was wrong. I wasn’t running away from my life. I was trying for a better one. I shook my head. “I’m not running away. That’s not what I’m doing.”

“That’s lie number two right there.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You. Lying to me.”

“I never. I…”

“The first lie was you trying to convince me that you were okay with just being friends with Jake. The second lie… that was you telling me that running away wasn’t what you were planning to do. You can lie to yourself, Mel. But you can’t lie to me.” Frankie shook her head and threw the covers back. I watched her leave the room and threw my head against the pillow with a groan.

Maybe I was trying to run away from my problems. That didn’t mean that leaving was the wrong decision, though. I was still too young to be tied down to one place. I wanted an adventure, like Aubrie and I always insisted we’d have once we were old enough to travel alone. Winslow was a small town with not much going for it. If I wanted to make something of myself then I couldn’t do it here. I needed to branch out, spread my wings and soar my way into something meaningful. Something that would help me grow. Somewhere I could show off my talents and prove that I wasn’t just Jessica’s daughter, trying to follow in her footsteps. Frankie might have thought that I was running away, but I’d prove her wrong. I’d prove them all wrong.