Life Interrupted Read Online Free Page B

he’d touched me and kissed me like I was his girlfriend, and then he’d held me all night.  Stars clouded my vision and I snuck out of bed to use the bathroom and brush my teeth. When I returned, he was gone, a small text on my phone saying he had to go take care of something. 
    Something inside of me broke, left me feeling hollow and empty.   I waited for him to call all day, and when he never did, I told myself not to panic, but on Monday morning when he walked into school with Lovely Lauren, I knew.
    T wo weeks later Katie pressured me into going to Brooke Wilkins’s spring break party and when I walked in and saw Tripp in a lip-lock with Lovely Lauren, I got drunk and hooked up with Marcus Kash, secretly pleased when Marcus kissed me right in front of Tripp, even more so when he took my hand to lead me upstairs and Tripp tried to stop me.  I stood on the bottom stair, my hand in Marcus’s, my vision slightly blurry from my last drink, and I looked down at Tripp as he laid his hand on my arm.
    “Don’t do this, Rachel.” 
    In the background I heard Marcus say “Who’s Rachel?” but I ignored him and yanked my arm from Tripp’s.  “Lauren’s waiting for you.”  With that, I turned and walked up the stairs behind a guy I hardly knew, hoping that being with him would erase the memory of being with Tripp.  It didn’t, and six weeks later when that stick blared the words PREGNANT at me, it wasn’t Marcus I ran to, but Tripp.  We had barely spoken in the two months since we’d spent the night together, but one look at my tear stained face and he left class, taking my hand and walking to my car with me, promising me everything was going to be all right as I sobbed on his shoulder.
    Oddly, it’s Gracie that brought Tripp back into my life.  He was there when I sat down and tried to quit volleyball, bringing me back to life and reassuring me that my dreams weren’t dead, just postponed.  And he’s still here, just out of my reach, but here to grab onto if I really need him.  Even as I think it, Lovely Lauren glides over to his table and puts her arms around his neck from behind. I watch as his hands instinctively go to her arms and then I rip my eyes away from them and give my attention back to my math homework.

Four
    I’m walking to my car after practice when my phone buzzes with a text from Katie.
    Katie:               7pm Saturday night. Dinner with Richie and Doug at The Dream on campus
    Me:               Pizza?
    Katie:               u said u wanted normal.
    Me:               thx Katie
    Katie:               don’t 4get to ask G to babysit sat night
    Me:               bossy
    Katie:               damn straight. Richies HOT
    Me:               like dougie fresh hot, or normal, healthy boy hot?
    Me:               jk
    Katie:               no wonder he doesn’t like u. b nice sat
    Me:               yea yea
     
    I unlock my Explorer just as my phone buzzes with a text again, this time from Tripp.
    Tripp: u still here?
    Me:              parking lot about to leave
    Tripp:               hold up, I need a ride.
    Me:               k
     
    If Tripp needs a ride, it can only mean one thing: Betty is acting up again.  Betty is Tripp’s classic Ford truck and she’s always breaking.  His dad owns a garage downtown and Tripp and all of his brothers are car lovers, all owning classics that they bought and restored themselves with Mr. Jones.  When Betty’s working, she’s beautiful, just like Tanner’s original Shelby GTO and Griff’s Bronco.  But when she breaks, Tripp is carless until he has time to figure out what happened to her.  The downside of a classic is it requires more time and attention than most eighteen-year-olds have, hence the reason Tripp needs a ride every other day.
    S ince Tripp is slower than a group of