Page 37 of Rough Start

“I’m sorry,” Kye said, standing. His attention wasn’t on Henry, though. His eyes were mournfully looking at Eliana. “You need to go.”

“What?” she asked, feeling paralyzed with fear. “Kye, no!”

“Henry, I’m in love with your daughter,” Kye said as a single tear fell from his eye and rolled down his cheek. “I need you to take her as far away from Pine Hill as you can. Don’t tell anyone where you are and don’t come back. No matter who wins this war, you’re both in danger.”

“Kye…”

“I’ll take your truck and lead them away. If you love her, you’ll take her. Now!” Henry didn’t hesitate as he grabbed Eliana by the arm and pulled her toward the still running moving truck.

“Kye! No!” Eliana shouted. She pulled away from Henry and threw herself into Kye’s arms. He caught her and let her kiss him. Though he stood stoically, internally his heart was breaking. The bikes were drawing near. “I love you,” she wailed as Henry grabbed her around the waist and carried her flailing body. “Kye! Kye! Don’t leave me!” Henry forced her into the cab of the truck before climbing in after her.

“I love you too,” Kye whispered as more tears fell. He caught one last glimpse of her pounding on the passenger window as they drove past. Sliding into Henry’s smoking, silver truck, Kye managed to turn the vehicle around to face Wayne’s men. The ride leading them was clearly dead. “Come and get me, you son of a bitch…” he muttered and pressed the gas pedal to the floor.

“Shots!”

Eliana was laying on the poolside lawn chair when two of her friends, Lyndsey and Kate, came racing over in their bikinis carrying trays of brightly colored liquor in plastic shot glasses.

“Here,” Kate said, handing one to Eliana before sitting next to her. The music was blaring as the sun began setting, and nearly thirty college students were mingling around the sorority house. “You earned it, girl,” Kate said, and they slammed their glasses back.

“Yes, I do,” Eliana declared boldly and with a slight slur.

“Come here, come here!” Lyndsey beckoned as she jumped on the chair behind her. She pulled Eliana and Kate into the frame of her cell phone as she took the selfie. “This is going on Instagram!”

“Don’t tag me!” Eliana ordered, and Lyndsey rolled her eyes.

“I know, I know, you’re afraid of identity theft!” Lyndsey teased, and Eliana swatted her hand away before adjusting her own two-piece swimsuit.

“Cyberstalking is a real thing,” Eliana muttered, and Kate handed her another glass. “Mmm, not too much,” she protested. “I still have to finish writing my speech.”

“Girl, stop,” Kate said, lounging back on her lawn chair. “You’ve rewritten the damned speech seventeen times. Do you know how I know that?”

“How?” Eliana asked, feigning indifference.

“Because we’ve heard it seventeen times!” Lyndsey chimed, and both girls laughed.

“Fine, I’ll read it to someone else next time!”

“No, you won’t, you skinny bitch; you love us,” Lyndsey teased, and Eliana threw an ice cube from her drink at her. Lyndsey shrieked and grabbed Eliana by the foot and dragged her into the pool with a large splash. They both surfaced laughing and splashing each other.

“God, I’m going to miss this,” Kate sighed from the edge of the pool. “Why can’t you go to medical school with Lyndsey and me?”

“Because,” Eliana replied as she wiped the water out of her eyes, “someone has to bail your asses out when you get sued for malpractice!”

“Did she just say…?” Kate began, but Lyndsey, who was likewise scoffing, was already tackling her friend again. Kate jumped into the pool, and the three commenced in a splash fight that drew several onlookers in to join the fun. With final exams finished and ink drying on their diplomas, there wasn’t a soon-to-be Harvard graduate who wasn’t ready to cut loose!

* * *

“There you are!” Lyndsey said as she stumbled through the door to Eliana and Kate’s shared bedroom on the top floor of the sorority house. She was carrying a bottle of tequila and three cups. The party downstairs was raging, and the house shook from the blasting music. Lyndsey kicked the door shut behind her, and stumbled over to Eliana’s bed where they were lounging. “It’s so loud,” she complained and flopped her head onto the pillow.

“Why do you think we’re hiding up here?” Kate asked rhetorically.

“How sad does this room look?” Lyndsey stated as she observed the boxes her two best friends were storing their lives in. “I can’t believe we graduate in two days. I don’t know how I would have survived these last four years without you two.”

“You mean, who would you have cheated off of?” Kate asked, and all three of them burst into laughter. “What is all this stuff anyway?” Kate slid off the bed and began rummaging through the perfectly alphabetized boxes at the end of Eliana’s bed.

“Just some old stuff,” she said nonchalantly. Her head was still spinning from the several shots she’d taken, and she was only vaguely aware of the items Kate was discovering.

“I’ve seen this,” Lyndsey said, grabbing a white leather-bound notebook Kate was holding. Standing on Kate’s bed, she flipped it open and pretended to read. “Dear Diary, today I had passionate, wild sex with Alan Meinke from Poly-Psy…”