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Me:I’m not sure what you’re asking me.
Justin:I mean, if something were wrong, would you tell me?
Me:Depends on what’s wrong.
Justin:Anything.
Justin:Everything.
Me:Um. I don’t exactly want to come to you with my woman problems. That would be a very awkward conversation.
Justin:You’re right. That would be awkward.
I chuckled.
Justin:But I’d still listen.
Me:Justin, what is going on? Why the sudden interest if I have the sniffles or not?
Justin:You’re sick? Do you need me to bring you something?
Me:I’m fine, Justin. I’m currently doing homework. I decided to go in a different direction for my music class.
Justin:You were going to sing about your mom, right?
Me:Yeah, about Lindie. But I suddenly got motivated to write about my dad instead.
Justin:Lindie is your mom, right? Why do you call her by her name?
Me:Habit? She acted as my manager for a long time, and in front of clients and other people, I called her by her name. It stuck.
Justin:Oh, makes sense. So about your dad instead? You don’t want to talk about your mom?
I hesitated for a moment, trying to decide what to tell him. I realized they probably didn’t know much about me and my family. Heck, I didn’t know much about theirs either. I knew Paxon and Calvin lived with their dad because of a divorce. Justin was living with Toby at his aunt’s house, Seth lived alone, and Bryan still lived with both his parents, though he seemed to always be over at Seth’s house instead. But that was it. I didn’t know why it was like that. Only a reminder that I hadn’t known the guys for long at all, and yet it felt like it’d been an eternity.
Me:He left when I was ten.
It took a couple of minutes until Justin responded. By then, I was walking downstairs with the empty box. His words brought me to a halt.
Justin:His loss for missing out on watching his beautiful daughter grow to be a talented musician.
My cheeks never felt so hot before thanks to his compliment. I was glad that no one was around to see me flushing. It took a moment for me to respond.
Me:Yeah. His loss.
Justin:I have to go help Aunt Laura with something. Get some sleep. It’s already late. I’ll see you Monday, and I hope you’ll let me hear your song someday. I’m curious what a song about your dad would be like.
I cleared my throat, hating that he was making me get all choked up.
Me:Goodnight.
I spent the rest of the night on the song, obsessively working on it as I tried to polish it as best as I could. It had been a long time since I did an all-nighter. The song wasn’t perfect, and wouldn’t be in time for Monday, but it was still solid and did exactly what Mrs. Odera wanted. She wanted something real and emotional, and that was exactly what this song was.
By the time I crawled into my bed, the sky was lightening up as the sun rose. I flopped over in bed, turning to stare at the ceiling. My hand rested against my chest, and I could feel the palpitations as my heart beat fast against my chest.
Blowing out a breath, I settled deeper in bed, slowly letting the lyrics to my song play through my mind as I gradually fell asleep, exhaustion pulling at my eyelids.
“It’s okay,” I whispered to myself.
