Several of our family members have come out onto the front porch. Nonna is halfway down the stairs.
“I never ran away from my family,” I say. “I wanted nothing more than to be with you and Charlie. And Wes. But that’s hard to do when y’all pulled away from me. You have no idea what it was like when I had to leave every Sunday, knowing you three would still have each other every day. You had other friends I didn’t know. And clubs I wasn’t a part of. And parties I wasn’t invited to. And you never really tried to make me feel like I was part of it. You think I disappeared? Y’all were the ones pushing me away.”
I’m on the verge of tears by the time I finish. I can tell they’re shocked.
Griffin is hovering close by. “Let me grab your bag for you,” he says, picking it up off the ground next to me.
“Look, I can’t do this right now. We’ll talk when I get back,” I say, moving past them.
I follow Griffin to his truck, where he stops in front of the open passenger door. Before I climb in, Laurel’s car is turning into Wes’s driveway just a few feet in front of us.
I can see his face as he looks between me and Griffin, before the car zips down his driveway and moves out of sight.
Yeah, I need to get out of here. “Let’s just go,” I say to Griffin.
Griffin walks around the front of the truck and hops in. I don’t look back as he pulls out of the drive.
We’ve only been in the truck for ten minutes, and the silence is awkward. Finally, he asks, “Want to talk about it?”
“No. Not really.”
“Are you ready to come back home now? I know how tired of your family you get when you’re stuck over there.”
I cringe, my argument with Olivia still too fresh. “Actually, it’s been good for me. I didn’t realize how much I missed them.”And Wes.
He lets out a grunt. “Yeah, looks like it’s been a great time,” he says sarcastically. “So who’s that guy that lives next door? You were in one of those pictures with him. Did y’all go on a date?”
I take a deep breath and blow it out slowly. How could I have been with Griffin for a year and never told him about one of my oldest friends?
“I grew up with him. We’ve been friends since we were little, and he’s Charlie’s best friend. And, no, I wasn’t on a date with him.”
I feel like I should know everything there is to know about Griffin, but I’m not sure what that slow nod means. I squirm in my seat, unsettled by how familiar yet strange it feels to be back in his truck.
Thankfully, he turns up the radio and a country song chases away the silence.
It’s actually one of the songs Olivia was making fun of on my last road trip.
“This song is like a Lifetime movie,” I say, hoping to lighten the mood.
He looks at me like I’ve said the dumbest thing ever. “What does that mean?”
I start to explain, but I can tell by his expression he doesn’t get it. “Never mind.”
Four songs later, we start talking about school, the only subject that feels safe and familiar.
“So I got some good news last week,” he says.
I turn to the side so I can look at him a little easier. “Oh, yeah?”
He nods. “Got an early acceptance to TCU.”
My eyes get big. “That’s huge! I didn’t even know you were applying there.” And why didn’t I know that? We’ve talked about Texas schools, but he never mentioned TCU. It’s not even on my list.
“Yeah, well, I didn’t want to say anything in case I didn’t get in.”
“So is that where you want to go?”
“If I can get the money, then yeah. That’s my first choice.”
