Page 120 of The Girl with No Name
I head out the back door and take a deep breath on the deck.
Mason follows me. She’s not there.
I check my phone for the time. It’s been an hour and half now.
“What? She leave you? Dude, I told you. You can’t trust her. You can’t trustanywoman.”
“She’ll come,” I say. “I have faith.”
I shoot another text to Luna, and there’s no immediate response.
But a few moments later, my phone rings with Luna’s number.
“Hey.” I walk back inside and into my room for privacy. “What’s up? Where are you?”
“Reed…I have some bad news.”
I instantly feel a knot twist in my stomach. “Luna. Where are you?”
“I’m at the end of the block, parked.”
I hustle out the door, then start down the front staircase so Mason won’t see me. “Which end?”
“It doesn’t matter, Reed, because I can’t do this. I can’t…” She sniffles, her voice laced with teary emotion. “I’m doing this thing I always do. I’m falling for you too quickly. And I barely know you.”
My heart is beating a million miles a minute. I run out the stairs to the sidewalk, then glance both ways. It’s hard to miss Luna’s big red van at the end of the street. I start running.
“Luna. It’s going to be okay. I see you. Wait for me.”
I run full speed until I reach her van, and peer in. She’s sitting at the steering wheel, and her eyes are foggy with tears. I open the front door and get in the passenger’s seat.
“What’s the matter?”
“I’m scared.” She says the words looking straight forward with her eyes on the road, like she’s getting ready to run again. “I was thinking about everything on the way over here. I barely know you. I slept with you. And now you’re roommates…with him?! I always do this. I fall head over heels for someone just like that.”
“I can see why you’re scared. This is crazy. But look at me, Luna.”
She turns her head, with her eyes looking down, and brings them up to meet mine. “It’s going to be fine.”
I kiss her, and she nods.
“It’s going to be fine,” I repeat. “You’re unsure. Of something. What is it?”
Her eyes are wet with tears. “How can you love someone like me? I don’t see it. Why couldn’t I have met you like five years ago, before I was all fucked up?”
“Luna, don’t you see? Ithadto be like this. I wouldn’t have been ready for you five years ago, and you wouldn’t have been ready for me. Youhadto go through these things. So did I. And I love you, now. I love all of you. I love the parts that you think aren’t ‘healed.’ I love you, all the way through. You’re the one I want.”
There’s silence in the vehicle for a few moments.
“Okay.” Her voice sounds choked up. “Okay.” She sounds more resolute now. “Let’s go.”
She throws her ridiculously oversized van into drive, and I guide her how to get to my alley so we can pick up my things.
I jump out, load up a few of the bags that I already brought down, then head up the stairs for my guitar.
“Dude,” Mason says when I get to our deck on the second floor. “Really? Nother, man.”
“Look man. Every person is complicated, and you’re no different. You’ve got a lot of great qualities. Your main problem is, you refuse to admit you might not know everything there is to know. You’ve got your point of view and that’s okay. But not everyone will see the world like you. And that’s okay, too. I love her. Now. Here. I don’t care where she’s been. I trust her. And if she makes a fool out of me? Well, I’ll deal with that.”