AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The blaring of my ringtone is deafening when you are trying not to split open and let the world see your pain ooze out. I stare at my father’s name on the screen, and can’t help but feel a tremendous amount of shame.
“Hi, dad.” I answer the phone, trying my best to sound glee.
“Hey, boy. Are you coming over today? Given it’s my wedding anniversary and all?” he says happily.
“You know what? I’ll be there.” I say firmly, “Tell Christine I’m finally coming to meet her.”
“You’ve just made my day, son. See you in a few.”
“Bye, dad!” I click the call off.
Today was the last day of me trying to find her. If it was meant to be, it would’ve been by now.
Right? Wrong.
I feel like shit, and I probably won’t stop searching for her soon, so why not make some other people miserable too. I can already see myself roaming the streets of Silver Lake, like a lost puppy, sniffing around for her scent, hoping to find it and follow the trail right back to her.
Pathetic.
***
The drive to my dad’s was a few hours long, since he lives two towns over, and as if I wasn’t already all stiff from driving from place to place, I can’t make myself leave the goddamn car. Tia has called me three times to tell me that she can see me sitting in the parking lot looking like shit. Well, if she had my day, she would’ve felt like pure shit too.
I can’t stop the beating of my heart getting faster and faster every time I look up at the house. I have a bad feeling in my gut. Something bad is about to happen.
Picking up my leather jacket from the passenger seat, even though it’s almost August, I finally get the strength to leave the car. Tia instantly opens the door, spreading her hands wide to welcome me. She looks weird, like she’s sick, but I decide to not comment on it and just pull her into a tight hug.
“They are waiting for you. Put your hair down and go win that lady over!” I cringe at her words, feeling a lot of pressure radiating from her body.
“Why me? She’s known you for quite a while now!” I whisper and whine.
“Well, I got the feeling I’m not exactly her fave. Plus, I have some big news to share, so I need you to be charming and all that jazz.”
“You didn't get pregnant by that asshole, did you?” I stutter, pushing her away slightly to look at her, but she says nothing, “Okay, did you at least find a building for us to branch out to here?”
“That I did, but it might take a bit over a year for us to do so.”
Turning on her heel, she leads the way to dad’s living room. Dad is sitting in his armchair, holding Christine’s hand. He hasn’t aged a day in the past year. She looks a bit younger than him, and to be honest I didn’t expect to see a beautiful blonde. In my mind she looked somewhat similar to the Wicked Witch of the East, even though dad sent me a few photos of them together. Her eyes are terrifyingly familiar to me, I feel like I’ve seen them before, like I know them.
She gets up, almost screaming my name and rushing into my direction. Slamming into me with her full body, she hugs me hard, her palms sitting spread on my back. Since I’m not exactly returning the favor, she steps away.
“It’s so nice to meet you, Noah! I’ve heard so much about you!” Her voice is a few octaves too high, too sweet, too everything, and my intuition tells me it’s all fake.
“Yeah, nice to meet you too, Christine. I hope you’ll keep making my dad happy, or we’ll have a problem.”
“Jesus, Noah.” my dad says, “Of course she will. Be nice.” He pulls me in, hugging me tightly, and I feel utterly stupid for avoiding him. He could’ve helped me. I know he would’ve loved to do it. “Looking good, boy!”
A strong hand grabs my shoulder, and I feel my stomach collapsing. Why are people touching me so much?
“Hey, man! Long time no see!” Gregory says, “Missed you, my guy!”
“I can’t say the same, Greg. I bet Marko would agree with me, but he loves Tia too much to say anything.” I bite out. I hate this guy.
He is my sister’s newest boyfriend. He looks like Rolf from Ed, Edd and Eddy, and he’s not that bright. We all hate him, I’m not even sure Tia likes him, but, oh well. To be honest, at first he seemed like a decent guy, until he screamed bloody murder at my sister a few months ago for not serving him dinner first and letting it get cold on his plate. It took Jensen and me a lot of patience not to break his bones on the spot. We dragged Tia out of her flat, convincing her that she should leave the asshole, but she just said he was tired from work. We both knew she was lying, but at the end, it was and always will be her decision.
“Stop that, Noah. Please.” Tia says, as she pulls Gregory to the couch.
My younger brother, Jensen, screams from the kitchen that he needs some help, so I gladly step away from the crowd.
