AllFreeNovel
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I park the car in the driveway next to Dan’s car, while Dad’s car lies inside the garage. I smile to myself when I see the garage door open. Dad always forgets to close it.
My stomach growls loudly when I walk through the front door and smell spaghetti.
Dan lounges in the living room, watching TV and sipping a beer. I stop to greet him, and he taps the couch for me to sit next to him.
“How was your day?” I ask, taking the beer from his hand and having a sip before handing it back.
“It was fun. It’s always nice to spend some time with the old man that doesn’t involve sports socks and jockstraps.”
I giggle but can’t help but be reminded of the fact that he spent this time with Andrew too.
Don’t ask about Andrew, don’t ask about Andrew, don’t ask about…
“Did you get to talk to Andrew?”
Damn it.
“Yup.”
Dan does not seem happy to be sharing that information. “He didn’t have much time but stayed with us during his breaks.”
“Oh,” I say, willing to end the conversation there.
“He asked about you,” he says softly, as if sharing a secret.
“Really?” I say with barely disguised interest. “I mean, so what?”
Dan chuckles, and looking at me sideways, says, “Are you ok? I mean, with him being back and all like this?”
I bite my lip, pleasantly surprised that Dan would ask me that. I just nod.
He continues, “He saw a picture of Alissa.”
My eyes go wide. Suddenly my mind goes on a loop, returning to the moment I last saw him in person at the airport the day after prom. I recall the last text messages we exchanged, promising a call that never happened. Six months later, I decided to block him on all social media and cut him out of my life for good.
“Um…” I tuck a lock of hair behind my ear. “What did he say?”
Dan shifts his focus to the TV. The local news is on, and some police operation just scored a ton of drugs from a traffic ring.
“He said she was cute,” Dan mumbles distractedly without looking at me.
Dan never stops talking about ‘his friend in the NHL,’ but I know he resents how close Andrew and I were.
Andrew was always there for me, always ready to stand up for me, even if it meant confronting Dan directly.
I remember vividly a time when I had accidently got a virus on Dan’s computer from a game I had downloaded. Dan was livid, and Andrew stepped in, threatening to knock him out if he didn’t stop yelling at me.
Dan doesn’t want me close to Andrew, and I think I can live with that. Or I think I should live like that. Keeping my distance from Andrew.
What’s that saying?
You broke my heart. Shame on you.
You break it again? Shame on me.
I nod my head resolutely and make a promise to myself.
I won’t let that happen.
