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The sooner we get this project over, the sooner I can cut her from my life.
“Where’s your parents?” she asks, and I run a hand across my face. Why can’t she take a hint?
“Peru, last time I spoke to them.” I kept my back turned and set my textbook on the table.
“Who is here with you then?” Her voice was speculative.
Nobody. I have nobody, Abbs. Why don’t you see that?
“They pay people to check in from time to time.” Not to mention the security system.
“But, you’re alone?” That tone of her voice, pity? Remorse?
“Don’t pretend you give a fuck about me. Let’s just get this assignment over with and get out of each other’s hair.”
About an hour into her being here, we are nowhere near where we need to be with this assignment. Part of it’s my fault. I can't stop myself from arguing with her, even when I know what she's saying is correct. But watching her here in my home has lit a fire in me, and I know that if I allow myself to succumb to it, she’ll win. Not that she even realizes the game she’s been playing with my heart since coming back into my life.
“If all you are going to do is disagree with everything I’m saying and fight me every step of the way, then what am I even doing here? I could have just stayed home, done the assignment myself, and slapped your name on it.”
“Then we would have failed for sure. I bet you're a D student. When's the last time you even aced a test?”
“You, Mr. Sports, are you worried about your grades? I find that hard to believe. How much do you want to bet that all the teachers let you slide and pass just because you are football royalty, and they refuse to be the one teacher to give you the failing grades you deserve.”
I get up from my seat and storm over to her as she stands up, and her chair flies backward, crashing to the ground.
“If you think for one moment that I have not earned everything I have ever worked for, you are dead wrong, Abigail.” My parents refused to encourage my football dream. They wanted me to be like them, art connoisseurs. I’ve had to hold myself accountable from the beginning. Find rides to games and late practices. That’s part of why I got a bike so young. You can ride it alone at sixteen, whereas with a car, you had to have an adult.
“And if you, Parker, think for one moment that I am some little girl you think you used to know, then you are dead wrong. You don’t know shit about me anymore.”
“Oh, you think I don’t know you? You think that just because you leave for a few years and come back, you are still not the same Abbs that I know, that I…” I slam my fists on the table and turn around, trying to avoid looking at her.
“That you what, Parker? You act as if you hate me. We were once best friends, or did you forget that? Did you forget every summer we would spend together? The three of us? Then, things changed for me the last summer I was here, but I never expected you to hate me after what you did.”
I turn around and look her right in the eyes. “What changed for you? Besides leaving and never looking back like a scared little bunny.”
“YOU! YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!” She drops her head, and I swear I see a tear rolling down her cheek.
I walk over to the kitchen counter to give us both some space. I try to collect my breathing, but seeing her like this, what does she mean that I am what changed for her?
“Parker, can we just get this done? I promise I will stay out of your way at school. I won’t sit with you and the guys; if I see you, I will look the other way.”
Fuck me.If I’m being truthful, I don’t want any of that. I want her. I’ve always wanted her, but she destroyed me when she left.
“Abigail, look. You can do whatever the fuck it is you want to do. You're grown now, right? You can take care of yourself. You don’t need me.”
“You're wrong, Parker. It kills me to know just how wrong you are, and you have no clue.”
I go back to the table, and this time, I sit in the chair next to her.
“Why did you leave? Why didn’t you ever reach out?”
“Parker… I… it was out of my control. My mom moved us without any warning. And once I was old enough, I felt that it was too late. So much time had passed, and I was not the same girl you once knew. I was too damaged.”
What does that mean? What does she mean she’s too damaged?
“Remember that day at Latchkey when you stood up for me after that boy pushed me? No one, Parker, absolutely no one, has ever made me feel how you did in that moment. Like I was worth protecting. Like I meant something. I carried that with me all these years. I never got a chance to tell you then, but I am going to tell you now.
Thank you.
