Read Online Catalyst (The Best Days #1) by Delaina Lake - Free Book Online
Authors: Delaina Lake
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day?” Rory asked. It was too cold to go swimming, Sheck didn’t fish and the leisure centre up there didn’t open until the end of May when people started camping and going to their lakeside cottages for weekend getaways. She couldn’t imagine spending the whole day there with no electricity and no one to talk to.
“I mostly just sat in my car and listened to music and got high,” Sheck confessed, reminding Rory of a puppy that knows it’s been bad and is in for a scolding. “I didn’t drive back until I’d come down,” he added quickly. After a moment of hesitation, he added, “but I did light up again in the driveway when I got home.”
“ You were smoking pot?” Rory asked, surprised. Even though Sheck hung around with a few known stoners at the skate park from time to time, she didn’t know he was into that. She’d never tried anything other than wine coolers and beer. “What’s it like?”
Sheck grinned sleepily, dimples on display. “ The best,” he replied. “It makes you not care about anything. I need that right now.”
He cleared his throat and then informed his best friend in a small, childlike voice, “My dad moved out last night. He...he’d been sleeping on the couch for a while, and they were fighting all the time...but yeah, he’s gone now.”
Rory was stunned. She hadn’t seen it coming, not even after her conversation with Val. She’d always admired the way Sheck’s parents seemed completely, utterly in love, sometimes staring at each other like they were still infatuated teenagers. She wondered if Sheck had been as blindsided by it as she was.
A million questions were swirling around in her head. Why had Sheck’s parents split up? She knew from observing her own parents that married couples got on each others’ nerves and argued sometimes, but what had been so bad that the Jacksons had decided to call it quits? Where had Clive gone? How was Val taking it?
Rory finally settled on a question that was, more than anything, intended to offer some hope. “Maybe it’s only temporary? Maybe they just need some space and he’ll come back in a few days?”
Sheck looked lik e he was fighting back tears. Rory knew that even though he good-naturedly complained about his longwinded stories, Sheck had always idolized Clive. “He took his hockey sticks and everything,” he replied, his voice sounding strained.
Rory felt defeated. That did sound serious.
Sheck stretched and set his now-empty plate on Rory’s desk, barely managing to find an empty space due to all the makeup. “Do you mind if I stay here tonight?” he asked, practically begging. “I really don’t want to go home.”
Rory shrugged . “Sure.” He grabbed a pillow off her bed but made no move to get up.
She hesitated and then offered, “You can get in the bed, you know.” It was a double and there was plenty of room for them both. In fact, they’d had sleepovers in that very bed as children, Sheck sneaking out of Justin’s bedroom in the dead of night to make shadow puppets on the walls with Rory.
“I’m good here,” Sheck replied from where he was curled up on the floor.
“Okay.” Rory shut off the light and climbed into bed. She was relieved to finally be under the cover of darkness. It meant she didn’t have to try to keep the shocked expression off her face or the sadness out of her eyes.
She just couldn’t believe Clive had moved out. If Val and Clive of all people couldn’t make it work, then that didn’t leave much hope for the rest of the world. It didn’t leave much hope for Rory.
She wa sn’t positive but she thought Sheck might be crying. She’d never heard him cry before except for one time when they were in the third grade and found a dead bird in his backyard. She listened helplessly, her heart breaking for him. Part of her wanted to say something but she had no idea what she could possibly
“I mostly just sat in my car and listened to music and got high,” Sheck confessed, reminding Rory of a puppy that knows it’s been bad and is in for a scolding. “I didn’t drive back until I’d come down,” he added quickly. After a moment of hesitation, he added, “but I did light up again in the driveway when I got home.”
“ You were smoking pot?” Rory asked, surprised. Even though Sheck hung around with a few known stoners at the skate park from time to time, she didn’t know he was into that. She’d never tried anything other than wine coolers and beer. “What’s it like?”
Sheck grinned sleepily, dimples on display. “ The best,” he replied. “It makes you not care about anything. I need that right now.”
He cleared his throat and then informed his best friend in a small, childlike voice, “My dad moved out last night. He...he’d been sleeping on the couch for a while, and they were fighting all the time...but yeah, he’s gone now.”
Rory was stunned. She hadn’t seen it coming, not even after her conversation with Val. She’d always admired the way Sheck’s parents seemed completely, utterly in love, sometimes staring at each other like they were still infatuated teenagers. She wondered if Sheck had been as blindsided by it as she was.
A million questions were swirling around in her head. Why had Sheck’s parents split up? She knew from observing her own parents that married couples got on each others’ nerves and argued sometimes, but what had been so bad that the Jacksons had decided to call it quits? Where had Clive gone? How was Val taking it?
Rory finally settled on a question that was, more than anything, intended to offer some hope. “Maybe it’s only temporary? Maybe they just need some space and he’ll come back in a few days?”
Sheck looked lik e he was fighting back tears. Rory knew that even though he good-naturedly complained about his longwinded stories, Sheck had always idolized Clive. “He took his hockey sticks and everything,” he replied, his voice sounding strained.
Rory felt defeated. That did sound serious.
Sheck stretched and set his now-empty plate on Rory’s desk, barely managing to find an empty space due to all the makeup. “Do you mind if I stay here tonight?” he asked, practically begging. “I really don’t want to go home.”
Rory shrugged . “Sure.” He grabbed a pillow off her bed but made no move to get up.
She hesitated and then offered, “You can get in the bed, you know.” It was a double and there was plenty of room for them both. In fact, they’d had sleepovers in that very bed as children, Sheck sneaking out of Justin’s bedroom in the dead of night to make shadow puppets on the walls with Rory.
“I’m good here,” Sheck replied from where he was curled up on the floor.
“Okay.” Rory shut off the light and climbed into bed. She was relieved to finally be under the cover of darkness. It meant she didn’t have to try to keep the shocked expression off her face or the sadness out of her eyes.
She just couldn’t believe Clive had moved out. If Val and Clive of all people couldn’t make it work, then that didn’t leave much hope for the rest of the world. It didn’t leave much hope for Rory.
She wa sn’t positive but she thought Sheck might be crying. She’d never heard him cry before except for one time when they were in the third grade and found a dead bird in his backyard. She listened helplessly, her heart breaking for him. Part of her wanted to say something but she had no idea what she could possibly
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