AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But that was the life of a military brat. We didn’t choose where we moved. We just did. We got along. Made friends. Blended in until it was time for another move.
But Mom had decided this was the place for Dad. And I didn’t know how I could stay here when every place I passed held so many memories of Diego. He’d walked me to every class. Carried all of my books. Worn my backpack so easily over his broad shoulders. Held my hand so securely in his own.
I’d never see those hands without knowing they were the same hands that had wrestled my dad to the ground.
Diego had been trying to defend me—I knew that deep down—but it didn’t change the images in my mind that appeared every time I closed my eyes.
Finally, the lunch bell rang, and I hurried to the locker room, not even bothering to bring a tray. I just needed some peace—some time away from every student aiming their silent questions at me. I felt like they could see my guilt like a sash across my chest.
That’s the girl who ruined Diego De Leon’s senior year.
I reached the bottom of the steps, and my eyes immediately landed on the locker.
The one Diego had shown me during homecoming.
I covered my mouth, a lump forming in my throat.
I’d forgotten the gift he’d prepared for Sadie and me. And it made my heart fracture that much more. Diego was the dream boyfriend. He’d done so much for me. And I’d ruined everything, just like I knew I would.
“April,” Sadie said from the stairs.
I turned to face her, seeing a confused look on her face.
“What happened to Diego’s arm?”
Guilt wracked through me, slicing like a hot knife. I blinked quickly, looking away.
“Did something happen after homecoming? I thought maybe you and Diego just skipped out and forgot to tell me you were leaving...”
My gut clenched with even more guilt. I’d left my so-called best friend at the dance without so much as a text explaining why I had to leave. I wassoselfish. I couldn’t sit with myself, much less Sadie, or I’d implode. “I just can’t right now. Okay?”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
Why was it so hard to get my point across? “I need some space, Sadie.”
Hurt, confusion, both emotions crashed across her face. “Did I do something?”
My chest ached. “No. I did.”
Then I walked out to the parking lot to go home, because I knew I couldn’t make it through another second here.
* * *
I pulled up to the house, seeing Mom’s car out front, and breathed a sigh of relief.
My mom was more than my best friend. She was the person who understood all of this better than anyone else.
I got out of my car, leaving my backpack in the back seat, and went to the front door. But when I got inside, I didn’t see Mom in the living room or kitchen where she usually worked with her laptop while Dad went about his day.
“Mom?” I called out.
“April? Is that you?” she yelled back, coming out of Dad’s room.
Confused, I looked over her shoulder. Dad’s room was a mess, filled with suitcases and his clothing strewn all over the place.
I walked past her, my eyebrows drawing together as I took in the scene. My brain couldn’t quite piece it together. “Are you cleaning?”
“April, I—” she began, but then her voice faded as I stepped through the doorway.
