Beach days, swimming in the local lake and all manner of embarrassing mishaps, all of which she shared with her best friend Jessica. As the holidays h...d drawn to a close, the responsibilities began to weigh on Rosie's shoulders, but at least she could see her other friends. She'd kept in touch with them over the summer, and had come to the realisation that she hadn't been the only one to bare all in public.The first day of college rolled around, and whilst everyone else woke up bright-faced and. We have a porch out back, with a comfy couch. But the view isn’t as nice as at your aunt’s. And my folks will be around. We could go to the pier, if we want to be alone,” Heather suggested.“Mm. I’m a little tired, though. Let’s just crash at your place. That couch sounds good. I just want to be with you.”Heather gently ran her hand along my cheek, between gear shifts. I smiled at her, even though I knew she probably couldn’t see it. I knew she felt it.Heather’s parents were playing cards at the. Tom was approaching, probably to kill me, and I couldn’t even move my fingers. My body still felt as if all my nerves had been frayed and weren’t capable of passing messages to my limbs. I felt helpless as Tom reached me and mentally prepared myself for my inevitable death.To my surprise, Tom said, “You are lucky that I have been instructed to spare you. It seems that you are still of some use, even though I can’t see what it possibly could be, the absolute waste of an Untethered that you. And you're bigger than me." Not anymore." Well... you're older."She wiped her nose. "Yeah, but you're catching up." She crumpled the towel and pitched it on the floor and took the fresh towel that I had in my hand. "What a big grown up girl *I* am, right? I can't believe I broke into tears just because I fell on my rear end." Stop apologizing for being worn out." Listen... how the heck are we gonna get you home?" I don't wanna go home." I'll call a cab." That costs too much." I can afford it..