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Frustrated, Adrianna didn’t know what to say to them. No matter what, they would disagree, just like Jack did, just like Jason did, and while she had let a little bit of her guilt go after talking to Jason, there was still a part of her that would never get over surviving the accident when her best friend didn’t.
“Regardless of how I feel,” Adrianna stated, still weeping, “I just wanted you to both know that I had been lying but I’m getting better. I’m starting with personal trainer next week to help with my back pain and I’m going to get a job. I have Jack and I’ll make new friends and I’ll be okay.”
“Move back home,” her father demanded.
“No, Dad,” she told him. “Things will be a lot worse if I came back here.”
“The hell they will,” he insisted. “Your mother and I will be able to keep an eye on you.”
“I don’t need you to keep an eye on me; I’m twenty-six-years-old. I made some bad choices but I’m fixing it. Please, don’t make me regret telling you. I wanted to be honest but I need you to have some faith in me, please.”
Adrianna looked pleadingly at her parents, switching her gaze from her father, to her mother, and then back again. They sat in silence for several painful minutes.
“I’m finished with my supper,” her father finally said quietly. He stood without looking at his wife or daughter and left the table.
When Donna also stood, without a word, to clear the dinner plates, another lead weight dropped into Adrianna’s stomach.
Feeling heavy with dread and fatigue, she helped her mother clean up dinner and then returned to her room. When she closed the door and collapsed on her bed she felt like she was living her life from two years ago. She pulled out her phone to call Jack, needing to get some comfort from his voice.
“Hey, it’s Jack, leave a message.”
Adrianna was disappointed that he didn’t answer but she knew he was busy at work on a Friday evening.
“Hey, it’s me,” she said, making her voice sound light despite her sorrow. “Just calling you like I said I would. I’ll talk to you later.”
A few minutes later her phone chimed with a text message.
Sorry, we’re slammed. Everything okay?
Yeah, I’m fine. Just wanted to say hi. Talk to you later?
Ok. Xx
Jack didn’t call her later that night. Adrianna fell asleep and woke several times, checking her phone each time for a call from Jack. There weren’t any. She felt hurt and worried that with her gone Jack was able to see that she was more trouble than she was worth. When he still didn’t call by eleven o’clock the next morning, her stomach ached with the amount of tension taking up residence there. With every glance at her silent phone she heard another thunk, thunk, thunk.
Needing to get out of the house, Adrianna took her mother’s car Saturday afternoon just to drive around the town she grew up in. She passed her old elementary, middle, and high schools and she felt so old for her twenty-six years. It felt like a lifetime ago that she had attended them. She drove passed the major intersection in town that held most of the popular hangouts for kids around there. There was the burger joint she and her friends used to drive to at lunch time, the movie theater they frequented once a month, and the skating rink that was now closed and boarded up. How depressing. Why did she think this was a good idea?
She found herself pulling on to Rachel’s parents’ street and before she could talk herself out of it, she drove the Lexus onto their driveway. More memories flooded her as she walked the short distance from the car to the front door. She rang the bell, thinking what a horrible idea it was and hoped no one would answer. However, after a few seconds, the familiar figure of Rachel’s father stood in the doorway.
“Hey, looks who’s here,” Mr. Simms said kindly, with a smile. Adrianna looked at him closely. He looked so much older than she remembered. Most of his hair was gone and the wisps that were left were white. His body was thin and frail looking.
“Hi, Mr. Simms,” she spoke, stepping through the door when he invited her in and accepted a hug.
