AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I hoped not.”
“Then come stay with us. With me.”
“Luke.”
“Give it one more chance. This town, our friendship, me. Just… please,” I finished.
“Okay.”
That night,Cindy showed up at my doorstep with a small rolling suitcase, a duffel bag, and a weary expression on her face. I took the heavy bag off her shoulder and showed her inside and up to the guest room.
“Whose room was this?” she asked as she heaved her suitcase up onto the bed.
“Max and Henry’s,” I answered. “But don’t worry, there’s no danger of the two of them coming back any time soon.”
“It is weird? I mean, being here with just your mom after growing up in such a full house?” she asked.
“Yes. Elias and Carter come around a few times a month, and Max comes home for breaks from school. But Henry left and basically never came back,” I told her. “It’s so quiet here sometimes. It feels like a totally different house.”
“I’ll bet. But I guess if it still feels like home…”
“Actually, sometimes it doesn’t,” I confessed. “It hasn’t since my dad died. Or maybe since I moved back in after living with Emmeline’s family. Everything changed. Then, one by one, my siblings all moved out and the place just got lonelier.”
“You’ve still got Laura.”
“For another few months. She got into Yale.”
“Wow,” Cindy exclaimed. “You must be so proud of her.”
“I am. But, fuck, do I feel old. And unaccomplished.”
“You’re not unaccomplished, you…”
“I know,” I backtracked, putting up a hand to stop her from giving me a compliment I didn’t deserve. “I’m sorry. This wasn’t supposed to turn into rehashing my whole sob story. I’m going to make some dinner. Are you hungry?”
“No, I ate before I came here. Thanks, though.”
Cindy pursed her lips. Her expression was polite, but she clearly wanted to be alone.
I didn’t see her for the rest of the night.
I hoped this wasn’t going to be what it was like while she was here: Cindy in her room, hiding from me, only running into her as we came and went like ships in the night.
It wasn’t. What happened was worse.
One night,we sat on the sofa in the living room watching a true crime show with my mother. Cindy smiled politely. I tried to pay attention to the show. But my mother hated silence. So she insisted on small talk.
“So I heard your sister is getting married,” my mother said.
“She is. They’re thinking about this summer,” Cindy told her.
A moment passed in total silence. Cindy crossed her legs. I ran my hands through my hair.
“That’s soon, isn’t it?” Mom asked. “Six months.”
“I guess so. But they don’t want to wait.”
More silence. More shifting. My skin crawled.
