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“It’s fine,” I told them, hugging my pillow. “I’ll see him when he gets back.”
“Hailee…” Mama sighed. “You’ll regret not getting that hug from him. He’s your best friend.”
Didn’t she know that I knew that? I also knew that a final hug would feel like a final goodbye. After Aiden succeeded, which he would, he’d be given more opportunities and more reasons not to come back. He was leaving me with a wish and a prayer that we might be able to finish our senior year together.
I wasn’t real keen on wishes and prayers—they didn’t fit into my pie charts.
I listened as I heard the car next door start. My heart began pounding wildly against my chest. Dad walked into my bedroom and sat beside me. He looked like a giant linebacker who could’ve been the meanest person alive, but he was truly nothing but a big giant teddy bear. He was the gentlest man I’d ever known. From his brown eyes to his soft smile, my father oozed kindness.
“Hailee…Imagine if every time I headed to Los Angeles or around the world to film a movie, I didn’t say goodbye to your mother. Don’t you think that would hurt her?”
“Of course, it would.”
“And wouldn’t it make you sad if I never said goodbye to you?”
“Yeah…”
“So why would you do that to Aiden?”
I parted my lips to speak, but only a whisper came out as my voice shook. “I’m scared he might not come back.”
“I get that fear. I’m not going to pretend that Aiden isn’t insanely talented because he is, but still…he’s your person. And you always say hello and goodbye to your person.”
“Even when it’s hard?”
“Especially when it’s hard.” Dad leaned in and kissed my forehead. “You can do difficult things for love, sweetheart. The love is what makes it a little easier.”
Love.
Was that what this was between Aiden and me?
Love?
I can do difficult things.
I rose from my bed as my heart pounded within my chest and then began running out of my bedroom, through the front door of my house, and as I stepped foot on the grass, I watched as Aiden’s car began to drive down the street.
No.
I felt it as it happened—my heart shattered in my chest.
I broke out into a sprint in the middle of the street. I waved my hands around like a madwoman as I shouted his name. “Aiden! Aiden, wait!” I screamed. My lungs felt like they were inflamed, and my body ached because a runner was the last thing in the world I was. But I ran for him. I ran as fast as I could, pumping my arms, on the verge of tears. The moment I saw the car brake, I came to a stumbling halt as I slammed against the back of the car.
My breaths were erratic, and my heart was pounding against my rib cage as the back door of the car opened. Sweat dribbled down my forehead as I stood in my Nike sweatpants and sweatshirt.
Aiden climbed out of the car. The moment he saw me, he smirked. He placed his hands against his hips, and with his smug face, he said, “Did you just run down the street for me?”
I rolled my eyes, out of breath as my knees throbbed. It was no secret that I didn’t have knees like Meg the Stallion. My knees were more like the ninety-three-year-olds down at the nursing home.
I crossed my sweaty arms. “Whatever, Aiden.”
He stepped toward me. “Are you here to tell me you’ll miss me?”
“What? No. I told you, missing is a dramatic term and a weak human emotion that—”
“Keeps people from focusing on their lives. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Blah, blah, blah.” He bum-rushed me and wrapped his arms around me. He was so good at affection. Me, on the other hand? Not so much.
“Aiden, stop. I’m sweaty.”
