The days went by quickly. Rowan ate lunch with me
everyday, and it was a surprisingly welcome change. Kenny sat with us towards
the end of lunch everyday, sometimes pulling her longtime on and off boyfriend,
Jeremy, along with her.
“I still can’t believe that this happened,” Rowan
smiled the Thursday after our trip to the beach, “Who know that we would see
each other again?”
I nodded in agreement. Things had gone back to how
they were when we were little. Rowan continued to be an open book, telling me
everything. I continued to keenly hide the majority of my past from him. Even
when we were little, he had been the one to tell me everything. It made me
slightly envious of my friend. I wished that I could open up so easily.
“Are we going again this weekend? Up to the ocean, I
mean.”
“Oh, yeah,” I grinned, “We can if you want to. It’s
supposed to be way warmer this weekend, so it might be nicer anyway.”
“I honestly don’t care if it’s snowing. It’s our place
now, so we gotta make sure that we keep our plans every week?”
“We already have a special place?” I laughed, “That
seems awful fast, don’t you think?”
Rowan’s smile faltered slightly, “I don’t know. I just
thought we had a good time together. I didn’t mean to make it weird or
anything.”
I cringed slightly, realizing that I offended him. I
wasn’t very good at being social, or flirty banter. I made a mental note to ask
Kenny how she did it so well.
“You didn’t make it weird, I did,” I covered, “Yeah,
let’s definitely go there again this weekend. We can invite Kenny too, if she
wants to come.”
“My mom would totally love the
ocean,” Rowan picked at his salad gently, “She always talked about taking Mike
and I somewhere so we could see it.”
“I’m sorry,” I softened, “That’s awful. I can’t
imagine going through something like this without my parents.”
“You probably can though,” He paused, as if he might
offend me, “I’ve been here a week tomorrow, and you’ve told me all about your
Dad, step-mom, and siblings. But nothing about Maddie. I’m not saying that you
have to tell me all about it, but I’m just saying that I think you get it. It’s
just not easy being without a parent.”
I shivered slightly. The last thing I wanted to talk
about was my birth mom, but I knew that it was an important step in our
friendship. Especially already knowing all about his family life, and the
turmoil of it all. He wasn’t pressuring me, I could tell by the way he leaned
back in his chair casually, picking up his phone.
“I guess I do understand a little more than I
thought,” I prepared myself, as I was about to rip off the bandaid, “I haven’t
talked to my own mom in years. When they divorced, she left, I think. Went
somewhere warm like California or something. She wanted a whole new beginning.
As much as my Dad wanted it for me, I wasn’t going to force her to want me.”
Rowan jumped at my quick reveal, sympathy settling in
his eyes, “That’s exactly how I feel. If my parents could cut off one kid, I
would not be surprised if they did the other. I’m not going to ask them to be
my parents.”
We were more alike than I
thought. Even if Rowan was wholly trusting, and an open book, it didn’t mean
that we hadn’t gone through similar situations.
“But now, I have my Grammie, and you have your
family.”
I nodded in agreement. Even before my siblings were
born, or I had my stepmom, I always had Dad. Even when I could hear him crying
quietly at the kitchen table when I would sneak out of my bedroom, he would act
like everything was fine. We were a family, just the two of us. At night, when
I had a nightmare or a crying fit, he would take me outside. We would lay on
the grass, just the two of us, and look up at the stars. He never really
explained to me why they were so comforting to him, but it didn’t really
matter. Everything felt calm and still when we did that. He was my support.
“Hey, guys,” Jeremy sat down next to Rowan, scooching
over for Kenny, “Kenny thought we should come visit.”
My sister slid in between her boyfriend and I, “Of course
we should. We spend half the time with our friends, and half the time with our
real friends.”
She gestured to them, and to
us, “They’re your real friends too!” I pointed out, trying to get her to not
fall into my loner ways.
“Whatever,” Kenny said, brushing my comments off. I
guess she was used to them.
“Ken wanted me to ask you guys if you wanted to come
to my party tomorrow. I figured you’d say no, but I wanted to extend it anyway,”
Jeremy shrugged, clearly having no interest in asking me to a party. I almost
laughed out loud. I could picture my sister, begging him to invite me. I guess
she had always hoped that I would turn into someone like her, but it just wasn’t
how it happened. She wouldn’t want to change it in her heart of hearts.
“You know, I’m okay, Jeremy. I really, really appreciate
it though,” I denied the offer, giving him my best smile of encouragement.
“Yeah, okay,” Jer shrugged, clearly not surprised, “What
about you, Rowan? You haven’t been to one of my famous parties yet, right?”
“No I havent’t, but I think I’ll pass.”
“Oh, come on, Row!” Kenny complained, looking at me as
if I’d convince him.
“Go,” I heard myself saying, to my own surprise, “You
might have fun! Kenny would stick with you, I’m sure.”
“Look, Braylie, if you’re not
going, then I’m not going either. I barely know anyone here, and I would never
curse Kenny to babysit me. I am totally up for a night in anyway. Grammie needs
help baking for the library fundraiser.”
“That is the cutest thing I’ve ever heard,” My heart
melted as I pictured Rowan in the kitchen with his Grammie.
Rowan gave me a meaningful smile and Kenny huffed.
“Look, if you two want to talk about bunnies and
sunshine, then why don’t you just do it as a couple?” Ken prompted, shaking her
blonde head back and forth. The blood rose in my face, making me as a bright as
a red rose.
Simple part! It will get more interesting soon ;) Thanks for reading!
Points: 650
Reviews: 766
Donate