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I reach my hands out like I’m trying to tame a feral animal. I just want to calm her down. “Leah, it’s okay.”
She picks a pillow up from her sofa and chucks it at me. “I’m serious, Brennan, you need to get out of here right now!”
I catch it in my hands and give her a stunned look. “What’s going on? Why are you mad?”
I can’t recall ever being woken up like this on Christmas before.
“Brennan!” she screams. Then she turns away from me and hugs herself.
Not wanting to piss her off any further, I grab my coat and shoes, and walk out her front door.
I have absolutely no idea what just happened.
23
KENNETH
As I’m furiously driving away from my father’s house, Selena gently grabs my forearm. “Kenneth, please just pull over.”
“Why?” I snap at her. Looking around us, there’s nothing but big leafy trees.
“Because you shouldn’t drive when you’re upset like this. You could get us both killed.”
Those words make me stop and think for a moment. I don’t want to make Selena afraid—as angry as I am at my family right now—so I pull over to the side and put my car in park.
I heave deep, angry breaths, not wanting to look at Selena. I am embarrassed and ashamed. Not to mention hurt. Not to mention completely wrecked over the fact that my father is dying and doesn’t want me around him.
“Thank you,” Selena says. Then she unbuckles her seatbelt and opens the car door.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“Come on,” she says to me. She steps out of the car and starts walking into the trees.
“Damn it,” I mutter. Then I get out of the car and go to follow her, even though I don’t exactly want to be around her right now. I don’t want to be aroundanyone. But seeing as I’m the one who had this genius plan in the first place, I can’t just tell Selena to leave me alone.
Back at my dad’s new place, he had taken one look at me and said, “Go home, Kenny.” He didn’t even ask who Selena was or say anything about a merry Christmas. He has been a complete Scrooge, and I have no idea why. Just because we aren’t close doesn’t mean that I don’t care about him being sick. It doesn’t mean that I don’t see any point in trying to spend time with him before he dies. And I can’t think of what I possibly did to make him hate me so much.
Selena stops walking and looks up at the canopy of trees. “I can’t believe I’m not seeing snow,” she says, basking in the LA weather.
I stay silent next to her. I’m not in the mood to make small talk.
She closes her eyes and listens to the trees moving. I figure maybe I should do the same.
“It’s quiet out here,” she breathes.
I tilt my head back and keep my eyes closed, hearing nothing but the rustling leaves and the whooshing sound of passing cars. As I do this, I can feel my heart rate start to calm down.
Then suddenly, Selena puts her hand in mine. Instead of reacting right away, I keep my eyes shut and let her hold it.
“Kenneth, I have absolutely no idea what you’re going through, or what you must be feeling right now. But I do know that what happened back there doesn’t have to ruin our Christmas.”
A lump forms in my throat. It’s going to be really embarrassing if I burst out into tears right now.
Selena continues. “I think what your dad did is incredibly unfair and unreasonable. And it’s horrible that he’s keeping you away from him like this.”
If I speak now, my voice is going to crack, and the tears are going to escape. So instead, I give her hand a gentle squeeze. She squeezes it back.
Then she continues. “For what it’s worth, you are an amazing son. An amazing humanbeing, really. You care about people. You deserve better.”
