Page 17 of From the Ashes

“And? What the hell does it matter?”

“If my parents find out… I don’t know what they’ll do.”

“Then tell them yourself.BeforeJordan gets the chance. There’s still a week until school starts.” I paused, a moment of curiosity taking over me. “How does Jordan know in the first place?”

Even in the moonlight, I could see Patrick’s cheeks turn red with embarrassment. “I… I did some stuff with him at a party once when we were both drunk.”

“Did he start that or did you?”

“He did.”

I nodded, blowing out a sigh. “Fucking figures. The people yelling obscenities are always the ones with the secret.” I turned back to Patrick. “Sounds like you have some firepower of your own if he starts spouting off at the mouth.”

“You’re asking me to go to war with the captain of the football team,” he replied, shaking his head. “If I do that… I might never play again. Then I can kiss my football scholarship goodbye. I can’t do that.”

All the progress we’d made seemed to disappear in an instant.

“Whatever,” I huffed, pushing myself to my feet. “Make your choice, Patrick. You can play it safe and be miserable for the rest of your life if that’s what you want.” I leaned down, pointing a finger in his face. “But one day you’re going to wake up a middle-aged man with a wife, kids, and life you can’t stand. And on that day, you’ll have nobody to blame for your misery but yourself because you gave up all your happiness forease.”

I took a few steps before I stopped, turning back to him.

“And Patrick,” I growled. “If you ever try to fuck my best friend again, I’ll make sure you wear dentures for the rest of your life. Understood?”

His eyes were wide with fear, which I found hilarious considering he had a good six inches on me. But he nodded anyway, clearly worried I might make good on my word.

“Good,” I huffed.

With that, I headed back down to the party, a sense of pride filling my chest.

CHAPTER 6

Phoenix

“Phoenix McKean!”

I stepped up onto the auditorium stage as my name was called, the black polyester gown flowing around me. I felt like a dollar-store extra from some wizard movie. The square cap on my head was itchy and barely balancing in place. And yet I couldn’t help smiling as I crossed the stage to get my diploma at last.

There was polite applause from the onlookers. However, I heard my mom, stepdad, and Mrs. Miller of course, calling out from the crowd and whooping like they were at the homecoming football game. I felt larger than life for a moment, like I’d accomplished something great. Of course, I knew it was just high school, but still. It was the moment I’d been waiting for since the fourth grade. I was free of this place at last.

I took my diploma, turned my tassel to the correct side, and raised a hand to my parents crying out from the bleachers. But, when I reached the bottom of the stairs on the other side, I didn’t continue to my seat like I was supposed to. Instead, I stopped and turnedaround, waiting for the person that I cared for more than anyone in the entire world.

“Charles Miller!”

Another boy… wellman, stepped up onto the stage. He was an easy six foot if he was anything, a full four inches taller than me. He had dark hair, stubble on his jaw, and dark brown eyes I could get lost in. I’d gotten lost in them quite often in fact. Not that he knew about that. Whenever he caught me staring, he just allowed it without ever making a comment. He was my best friend in all the world and the one man that had stolen my heart long ago.

I’d actually planned on telling him that night how I felt. It seemed like the right time to do it. We had one summer left to figure it all out before we headed off to college. And maybe, if I was really lucky, he might continue to be friends with me after I admitted everything to him. I still hadn’t quite tacked down his sexuality, not that I’d been brave enough to ask him outright. But he never flinched at the idea of girls or boys. He was just always at my side, happy to listen to anything I had to say no matter how stupid it was.

I let out a loud whoop as Charlie took his diploma. His dark eyes found me instantly, a smile filling his face. I loved the way his cheeks turned pink when he saw me. I’d embarrassed him, but he was just as happy as I was to finally be free of this place. Our entire lives were laid out before us and neither of us could wait to see what that meant.

Charlie was the introverted one, to be sure. I knew transitioning to college would be tough for him. But I was extroverted enough for the both of us. Besides, after his coding bootcamp the previous summer, he was excited to get into his computer classes and start learning even more. He had everything all planned out down to the amount of salary he’d pull his first year as a junior full stackengineer.

Me? Well, I had a half-written book that I’d rewritten so many fucking times I wanted to puke. And I had a dream of being on the bestseller list. Other than that, college was just putting off the inevitable four more years. I wanted as much time to think and write as I could get before I had to go to work at some dead-end job in a cubicle farm. But I knew that if I put my head down and really worked, I could get more than one book finished during college. I might even start looking for an agent.

I just had to finish thatfuckingbook.

“Fantastic performance, as always,” I said, holding out my hand to Charlie as he came down the steps.

He grinned, rolled his eyes, and took my hand anyway. “Thanks. They said my Oscar should be in the mail in six to thirty-five business weeks.”