Read Promise Me Anthology for Free Online

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taken note of one of them, a jock called Henry who seemed to find
any excuse he could to touch Casey. Theo ignored it for the first
month, then couldn’t stand it any longer.
    He and Casey had been hiking around the lake
when he’d suddenly blurted the question that had dogged his mind
for days.
    “Are you in love with him?”
    Casey had turned to him, bewildered. “In love
with who?”
    “Henry. Are you?”
    “Of course not, Theo,” Casey answered with a
smile. “He and I have known each other since grade school—”
    Theo was so relieved he grabbed Casey in his
arms and kissed her, his desire to possess her and make her his
irresistible. Casey kissed him back, her mouth devouring his
eagerly as he pushed her back to a tree.
    Finally, they separated with a last soft
kiss.
    “I’m sorry I cut you off,” Theo said shyly.
Then he straightened and looked her in the eyes. “No, I’m not
actually. I’m not sorry at all. And I’d do it again because I’ve
wanted to kiss you for weeks now.”
    “I know,” Casey said coyly. “It’s been
obvious.”
    “Why didn’t you say anything?” Theo
demanded.
    “I was hoping for a kiss like that,” she said
hungrily, tracing his lips with her finger. “It was just as
passionate as I hoped.”
    “Then let me give you another,” Theo
murmured, covering her mouth with his own.
    * * * *
    The next year and a half passed like water.
Theo loved his art classes, excelling and getting A's, even as he
fed the EMT information Casey passed to him about her own medical
classes to his parents on his infrequent trips home.
    Theo and Casey became lovers within months,
that first encounter—like so many of their firsts—near Heart’s
Bells. They had driven up in the early spring before the tourists,
the road slushy with late winter’s snow in places. But the area
around Maroon Lake was dry. Parking in some trees to the side of
the parking area, they had walked to the amphitheater in late
afternoon. There, their sleeping bags zipped together, they had
made love under the mountain’s shadow.
    Theo had wanted that night to never end. Many
other times that summer, they had recreated it together, grudgingly
giving the tourists the days and claiming the nights for their own.
Theo had found a solace in Casey that he’d never known before. But
no one had ever told him before that he was free to be himself,
that his art was not only a worthwhile endeavor, but also an
exceptional one.
    All winter, he had waited for this night,
eager to propose to Casey, but wanting to do it here, in this place
that had come to mean so much to both of them. She’d agreed to be
his. Now there was nothing that could ruin their lives
together.
    * * * *
    When they got back to his dorm room the next
morning, Theo’s parents were there sitting on his bed, waiting for
him with cool expressions.
    “How long did you think you could hide this?”
his father said angrily, before Theo could say a word. “I didn’t
pay thousands of dollars for you to play with clay and paint—” His
eyes looked scathingly at Casey. “—or to stay out all night. Start
packing, Theo. We’re leaving.”
    Casey’s hand tightened on Theo’s, giving him
strength. “No,” Theo replied, his blue eyes flashing. “I’m not
leaving.”
    “I’ve paid for the classes this semester, but
that’s all,” his father answered, not backing down an inch. “You’re
dropping out, unless you can foot the bill yourself for this room
this summer.”
    Theo’s mother was already at his dresser,
quietly folding his clothes and putting them into his duffel bag.
Theo looked around, startled to see most of his personal affects
had already been removed and packed into boxes.
    “Have you ever even looked at Theo’s work?”
Casey accused, her eyes flashing. “He’s talented—”
    “I’m sure you think he is,” his father
countered, his double meaning clear. “You must think so, to help
him lie to us.”
    “I didn’t want to