Where My Heart Breaks Read Online Free Page B

expected a call hours ago.” Millie’s mock reprimand instantly brought a smile to my face. She and I rarely went a day without talking. Usually we spoke several times a day.
    “I am in the middle of nowhere. I miss you,” I said.
    Amelia St. John and I had been best friends since freshmen year of college. Millie was everything I longed to be, tall, beautiful, popular, and rich. We didn’t hit it off right away until we discovered our mutual love of all things Joss Whedon. Since then, Millie and I were inseparable. At least, we were until my parents decided that they knew better about my future than I did. As much as she loathed what I did to my life while Trevor was in it, Millie hadn’t deserted me like other friends. I considered her the sister I never had.
    “I miss you too! Especially since my dad is driving me crazy. We totally should have booked a flight to Hawaii after our last class and conveniently missed the return flight,” Millie said. “He won’t stop talking about Rick.” Fredrick Malone III was Mr. St. John’s desired choice to marry his only daughter. It was almost archaic how hard he was pushing Millie to get engaged now that she was ready to enter her senior year of college. Millie, for her part, wanted nothing to do with it.
    “Well, I’d still rather be where you are than here,” I said as I pulled back onto the highway and headed for Bleckerville.
    “Normally in this situation I’d tell you that you just need to meet a smoking hot guy and let him cool those jets of yours,” Millie said. “But remember…”
    “I know, I know,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Geez, you are worse than my parents. No partying. No drinking. No drugs. No one night stands. Shouldn’t be a problem in Bleckerville . If anything, I’m going to die from boredom this summer.”
    “Aw, poor Kate,” Millie said. There was no real pity in her voice. “I gotta go. Call me later.” Then she was gone.
    Just like Millie. Breezing in with words of caution and judgment and then breezing right back out. It frustrated me because she was right. Somebody needed to take me by the shoulders and forcefully push me in the right direction. The collision course I had been on wouldn’t have ended well. I saw that now. At the time, I just couldn’t find a way to get off the Trevor Franklin roller coaster.
    I found myself on the edge of the infamous town of Bleckerville before I knew it. I hit the brakes and cruised into town, staring at the place that would be my home for the next three months unless I found a way to escape to the Hamptons with Millie.  
    I saw a beauty salon named Mae’s Cut and Curl and couldn’t resist a chuckle. There was the post office next to the bowling alley. I saw a hardware store and the public library next to the police station. The street was complete with a pair of white haired men in overalls sitting on a bench outside the gas station who stared at me as my car passed them. Next to the gas station I found Bud’s Garage and Auto Body Repair. In a wonderful twist of fate, I saw that across the street sat Lula’s Bar and Grill.  
    Perfect.
    I pulled into Bud’s lot and parked next to an old black Buick that I noted had a rusting bumper. Before getting out, I pulled the gray hoodie up over my head revealing a form fitting red tank top underneath. I threw the hoodie on the passenger seat. I had no intention of putting it back on until I went back to the Willoughby. I flipped down the visor and pulled my hair out of its confining ponytail and tousled it so that the strands curled around my ears and just brushed the tops of my shoulders. A little bit of gloss on my lips completed the look. Not a total transformation, but a respectable one. I climbed out of the car and went in search of Bud.
    Both bay doors were open, but it looked dark inside. The heavy smell of oil and metal wafted to my nostrils as I stepped inside the bay closest to me.  
    “Hello?” I called out into the dimly lit room.