Read TWIN PASSIONS: (A Logan Brothers Novel) for Free Online

never did. Still, she always looked prettier than the rest.
    I'd met her on a summer trip
before starting high school. I remembered the first time I'd really
seen her, up on that stage, a bag of nerves, forced to introduce
herself to everyone. She'd disappeared a little while after, and I'd
found her down at the lake. We clicked immediately, and even shared
our first kiss that night in the water under the stars.
    We grew close during that year
as freshmen, spending lots of time together outside of class. But we
were only ever friends. I knew she was too young and innocent for
anything more, even though I began to want to take things further as
we moved into our sophomore year.
    I never got the chance. Not
after what happened. Not after I was ripped from the school and sent
to board in another part of the state. I guess it was my fault, but I
never saw Gemma again after that.
    It was shortly after the death
of my mother, and I'd gone slightly off the rails. She was killed in
a car crash, and it destroyed me. I started acting out, causing
problems in class, neglecting my studies and getting into constant
trouble. I was put on probation and given a last warning.
    If you get into trouble
again, you'll be expelled.
    I didn't care, and it didn't
stop me. When I stole a teachers car and crashed it into a tree it
was the last straw. My father was furious, not only because I was
expelled but because I'd stolen and crashed a car. My mom had died in
just the same way, but it wasn't her fault. This was my fault, and I
knew it. He said I was reckless and was putting the family through
even more pain, that I needed more discipline and direction in my
life.
    I was sent away.
    My phone was taken from me. I
wanted to contact Gemma but couldn't. I tried sending letters but
never got a reply. I guess I always resented that a little bit. Maybe
she, like everyone else, was sick of me too.
    She looked at me now with bright
eyes, full of happiness at seeing me again. Yet there were also
questions behind them, things she wanted to ask me, things she wanted
to say.
    Her voice broke the short
silence, the noise of the gathering outside the door just a blur in
my head.
    “ I tried calling you, Zack,
after everything, but never heard back. What exactly happened back in
high school?”
    I sat down on the side of the
bathtub once more and she followed, sitting down beside me, just like
when we first met, when we first spoke together.
    “ You know what happened,” I
said, not wanting to bring up memories of the past, of my mothers
death. I didn't want to face those as well right now, not on a day
like this.
    “ Yeah, I know you were
expelled, but why didn't you stay in contact with me? You said you
would. You just, I don't know, vanished.”
    “ My dad took away my phone
Gem. Trust me, I wanted to call you, but I couldn't. This school I
was sent to, it was ridiculously strict. I couldn't even get to a
payphone. I tried writing, but...” my voice dropped as I spoke,
“...but I never heard back from you. I just figured that you didn't
want me in your life anymore.”
    Her eyes narrowed in confusion.
“You sent letters?”
    “ Yeah,” I said quickly, “I
sent a few.”
    She shook her head. “I knew
it. Stupid damn parents, interfering in my life. They must have
hidden them from me. They really didn't want me spending any time
with you after everything that happened.”
    I hung my head slightly in
shame, the thoughts of my reckless youth now infiltrating my already
vulnerable mind. Today wasn't the day.
    “ So you didn't just ignore
them?” I said. That was some consolation . “I thought you'd
had enough of me?”
    She grabbed my hand and looked
at me through welling eyes. “I'd never do that Zack. You were my
best....friend.”
    I lifted my hand to catch a tear
rolling down her cheek. Her skin was soft against my fingers, clear
and unblemished. Like the first time I met her, I felt an urge to
kiss her, to hug her tight. But no, I couldn't. Now