“Bianca, come on. This is serious, honey.” She turns the steering wheel and my body sags in relief when I see the entrance to our home. She smiles slightly at the guard and henods at her as he presses the button to let us in. A little smile sprouts on the guy’s face, Mom looks away, and I look at her in confusion before we drive through.
“It was my fault, Mom. I told you. I wanted to be helpful and decided to take out our most aggressive dog on myfifthshift.” I shake my head at my literal stupidity. A sound of frustration leaves her, a hint of concern mixed in as she looks at the wrap on my arm. “And, I’m going back after this heals.” She opens her mouth to retort, but I hold up a hand, stopping her. “Mom, Ilovethat place. It was an accident, and my fault.” I close my eyes, inhaling deeply. “Let it go.”
There’s a familiar shriek when I walk inside the house and see Josh hugging none other than Olivia, and their eyes widen as they look at me. Her eyes trail down and she squeaks surprised when she sees the white bandage around my arm. Josh turns around at the reaction and his eyes zero in on me while Mom comes inside.
“Hey, Kate.” He kisses her temple before his eyes dart back to me. “What happened?” I sigh, knowing he might make a big deal out of it when I just calmed Mom down.
Barely.
“Accident at the shelter,” she answers.
His eyebrows raise and his gaze shifts back to me. “Well, it’s one she won’t be going back to.” He adjusts his tie, dropping the statement, and I look at Mom for help. She glances over to Josh, opening her mouth, yet her words seem to die on her tongue. I shake my head.
“It was my fault I got hurt.” He looks at me, most likely seeing defiance in my eyes. He takes a deep breath and tugs Mom to him.
He says firmly, “You won’t, and we’ll be suing.”
My eyes widen. “Don’t you dare, Josh.” I’m shocked at my tone as he moves closer to me.
“Watchyour tone,” he says, and that usually works on Mom, and surely works on Olivia, but all it does is make my blood boil.
“Or what?” I can’t help but taunt.
“Kate, a little help?” His voice hardens and her eyes flick between both of us.
“She does really like that place, Josh,” she defends softly, and a familiar warmth comes over me. “And, she’ll be more careful, right?”
I nod, helping her out. “I will. Please don’t sue. There’s no need,” I whisper. He looks unmoved. Mom places a hand on his arm before his face relaxes.
“I’ll consider it. Be careful with that tone, you don’t want to be perceived as disrespectful, hm?” Finality floats between his words, and I nod before he turns away. Olivia follows him like a little puppy, no longer paying any attention to me.
Mom gives me an embarrassed look. “Ignore Josh, hon. He’s just—”
“Stressed?” I finish, and she flushes brighter while I look down. The rock she’s wearing flashes slightly, and it makes me wonder if this is the price I’ll have to pay for her to wear the thing. I let out a deep breath before smiling at her. “It’s fine, Mom. He wants to protect me, right?”
She opens her mouth before closing it again, no words coming out, and resigns herself to a nod. Giving her a small smile, I walk away to my little corner of peace in the house before I make the mistake of telling her what Ireallythink. The mistake of telling her that Josh is not the same guy he used to be.
Or that he possibly was this man the whole time.
“Mmm, I can feel my metabolism speeding up,” Olivia says as she takes big bites out of her protein bar. I give her the biggest side glare. She’s wanting to rush for some sororities since she’s starting college in a couple weeks. I know because she’s been repeating it over and over, positively shoving it in my face that she was accepted to UPenn while I wasn’t. “Andthey’re gluten free!” she squeals excitedly, flipping over the package, and I glance at her in disgust. I don’t bother entertaining anything as I subtly open the pantry door in search of my sugary cereal.
“What are you girls up to?” Mom asks as she comes in and kisses me on the forehead and goes to hug Olivia. Turning around, she proceeds to tell Mom her whole spiel while I pour some Frosted Flakes into a bowl. I feel someone’s eyes boring holes into my back, and I know it’s Miss She-Devil. She subtly jabs by saying it’s a sorority at UPenn, and I scoff at that. I place a spoonful in my mouth as her smug smile drops. Mom chuckles softly while Olivia death stares at me, and I smile at her innocently, walking out of the kitchen with a smirk.
Heading to my room, I’m greeted with darkness and I slide open my curtains with my free hand. I take in my surroundings as I bring another spoonful to my mouth. The whole encounter with Liam yesterday has been fluttering through my thoughts like moths to a flame. I fear my heart has been replaying it over and over, wishing it hadn’t. His wall crumbled a bit, and I saw the old him—that kid that was my best friend—starting to shine through. Some moments, it’s like those five years never happened, and in others, they make up the rift between us. Feeling hurt for five years of my life has been fueled by his being a jerk and being nonchalant.
Though yesterday, all my defense mechanisms went down; I forgot about all the nights I cried, the feeling of being not enough for someone. Liam Jax Parker was in front of me, and he wanted to stay there. But then, it all comes down when I think about everything else we haven’t faced. Our friendship was probably the strongest relationship I had in my life; I thought I would always have him in my corner; I thought there was no way we would lose it.
It’s hard to think I’ve gone five years without him, and I hate that there’s a part of me that might think there’s still something worth saving. We were kids, and maybe, just maybe ... after all this time, we could try again?
Throwing on my—his—hoodie, avoiding my wrap as much as possible, I try to make myself look a little presentable. My frustration shows at my dark roots growing back out. My phone buzzes, and I smile when I see Jamie’s text message.
JAMIE:
Hey, B! Sorry I didn’t answer your message earlier, had to take my break later than usual.
How’s everything going?
ME:
