AllFreeNovel
Share Us
BEN
“You didn’t have to wait up for us.” Josie speaks for the first time in over an hour. The moment she said her dad was off-limits, I realized she’d taken it as me trying to hurt her. At least, that’s my best guess because no other words were spoken after that, and even now, she’s only engaging with my sister, who has greeted us outside the B&B as we grab our bags out of the trunk.
“Oh, no biggie.” Sarah reaches into the trunk and grabs one of Josie’s bags, slinging the strap over her shoulder. “Every time I close my eyes, all I can see is Eric stepping on my train and it tears away from my dress, the skirt along with it as I stand in front of everyone half-naked.” She shutters with a nervous laugh as we walk up the porch steps.
“Not gonna happen since your dress doesn’t have a train.” Josie gives her a reassuring pat on the shoulder as Sarah loops an arm around her friend’s neck.
“Good point. You’re still the best bestie ever.” After she releases herbest bestie, we stand on the porch for a few seconds as Sarah looks between Josie and me with curiosity. “Is everything okay?”
“Yep. Everything’s good.” Josie responds while I remain silent.
“Yeah. Y’all haven’t said a cross word to each other, and it’s been a whole five minutes.” Sarah scrunches her nose as she retains an intrusive watch over us.
“Right. Because everything is good.” Josie tries, but I don’t believe it and Sarah doesn’t either.
“Yeah. No. Bickering is normal. Silence between you two is bad.” Sarah lets out a snicker as she motions for us to follow her. We quietly make our way upstairs and down a hallway until my sister points to two doors next to each other near the end of the corridor.
“Your rooms,” Sarah whispers, motioning for us both to follow her into the first room. Once we’re in there, she speaks a bit louder. “They’re adjoining”—she points to a door on the side that leads to the other—“but at least each room has its own bathroom. And there’s a door on both sides, with locks, so y’all don’t have to worry about barricading it.” Sarah laughs and drops Josie’s bag on the bed, but Josie picks it up immediately.
“I hate to be a pain, but is there something on the first floor? You know how I get woozy sometimes with the long car rides.”
Sarah looks to me instead of her best friend who just asked the question. “No, these are the only two rooms left. Mom and Dad are on the first floor because Dad doesn’t handle the stairs well. And Eric’s parents are in the other one downstairs.”
“Understand that. I’m sure the woozy feeling will pass once I’m showered and in bed.” Josie gives a forced smile. Sarah must see it for what it is because her sneer at me grows as Josie makes her way to the adjoining door. “Good night,” Josie tells Sarah and gives her a real smile then, all while completely ignoring my presence.
The door quietly shuts behind her, the lock clicking into place. And it’s a split-second later when Sarah has her finger pointed in my face, her angry expression reminds me of when she accused me of hiding the rope latter so she couldn’t get up to the tree house. “What did you do?”
And just like then, I’m unquestioningly the guilty party. “It was a long ride.”
“Bullshit. Y’all didn’t say one cross word to the other. No looks of loathing. No barbs dished out. Nothing.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?” I ask, but I agree with Sarah. It sucks. Closed-off Josie is the worst. Because that’s when she’s hurting the most.
“Fix it, Benjamin. Or I will help Josie put clown masks in your room.”
“I knew y’all did that.” I let out a humorless laugh, picturing the two dirt-covered kids running away from the tree house. I never could prove they did it, but I knew it was payback for whatever torment I’d dished out to them.
“Seriously, make it right.”
“I’m trying.” The words taste bitter because every time I’ve ever thought about fixing anything between Josie and me, I’ve only made it worse. Tonight was a case in point.
“Try harder.” Her hand slaps across my shoulder as she walks by, leaving me alone in the room with my eyes frozen on the adjoining door. The one Josie has already locked and hidden behind. Much like her heart because there’s always been a barrier around it. It wasn’t because of me, but I’ve hit it enough to know I didn’t help in bringing it down any, only ensured she’d build it up stronger.
Time. I’ll give her a little breathing room. But it won’t be much. There’s no way I’ll be able to do anything other than think about her and fixing this mess while she’s just beyond the wall. Grabbing my duffel bag, I head into the bathroom, turn the shower on, and step underneath the cold spray until it gradually heats up.
“Don’t fuck this up again,” I remind myself. Because eventually I’ll run out of opportunities to fix it. And that will be the worst outcome possible.
