A New Excerpt from Chapter 1

A New Excerpt From Chapter 1

I asked you to share my stuff and spread it around and you did. I finally reached 100 likes, so as promised, here it is, anothor excerpt from Coast to Coast. 

Any of my lighthearted joy about heading to the beach tomorrow had evaporated the second I discovered how drunk Logan was.  I found him standing at the kitchen sink shoving potato chips in his mouth.  I dug in my purse for some aspirin and poured him a huge glass of water.

    “Take this and drink the whole cup.”  I put the aspirin in one of his hands and took the bag of chips out of his other.  He swallowed the aspirin and chugged half the glass of water. 

     “Now tell me what happened today.  Something had to happen to make you get like this.  This isn’t like you Logan.  Now spill it.”  He moved over to the couch and plopped down.

    “I blew the interview.  It was my last chance and I blew it.  I’m done with school and I have nothing.  Four years at Harvard and nothing.  My Dad’s gonna kill me.  He’ll say I wasted an Ivy League education.  Good for nothing, just like I always was.  I don’t know what made me think I was better than him.  What made me think I could ever escape Lemon Cove.  All I did was move thousands of miles away and spend thousands of dollars on tuition.  For what?  Emerson, what was I thinking?  Nothing.”  He closed his eyes and dropped his head back on the couch.  I hated when he got like this.  He’d get all down on himself and there was no talking him out of it.  When he was sober he was the most confident person I knew.  He could even be a little cocky sometimes.  But a few too many drinks and he just kept digging himself deeper and deeper in a whole. 

 “Come on Logan, let’s go to bed.  You’ll feel better after some sleep.  And don’t forget, every dark situation looks better in California sunshine.”  I winked my eye and smiled, hoping to get a little rise out of him.

      “FUCK that SHIT Emerson!  I can’t go running off on vacation with you when I have nothing.  This is my life that’s on the line.  I need an internship, a job, something.  I have to stay here and make that happen.  I don’t have time to go play with you on the beach.”  My eyes were wide with shock and tearing up.  I couldn’t breathe and my heart was pounding.  Logan had never yelled at me like that.  In fact, I’d never heard him yell like that ever, drunk or sober.  It scared me and made me angry at the same time. 

  “Well fine then Logan.  Fuck you too.  And just in case you need to be reminded it’s not just your life, it’s OUR life.”  I stormed into the bedroom, grabbed a pillow and blanket, and threw it out on the living room floor.  “Get used to it.  Looks like you’ll be alone all summer.  Oh no, I take that back, you’ll have your ego to keep you company.”  I slammed the bedroom door shut, flopped down on the bed, and let the tears flow.  How had all my plans changed so drastically since this morning?