I scoff. Let’s just say that I don’t have many fans around here anymore – yet another reason to avoid slinking back. But hey, I have a daughter to raise and a life to put back together. I have to start somewhere, right?
“Why don’t you two go out, maybe get a drink?” my mother suggests.
“Why should we?”
“A little fresh air will do you good.”
“I don’t think that’s true. I’m pretty tired from the journey, you know…”
“Three hours in a car?” my dad asks.
“And then there’s Skylar…”
“We’ll be here with her.”
“Do you really think it’s wise for me to leave my daughter on her own on our first night here, just to go to the pub?”
“I don’t want to be rude, honey, but your daughter told you exactly where to go.”
“Well, she didn’t say itexactly…”
“She told us where to go, too – implicitly,” my father adds.
“Go on, have fun.”
My mother pushes me towards the living room. I don’t really understand her hurry to get rid of me – I’ve just got here. Didn’t she say she was happy to have me here?
“Skylar will be fine. And, with a little luck, so will you.”
“What should I do, then? Shall I go?” I ask my father, who currently seems to be the more rational of the two.
“You’re no use moping around here.”
“Come on, Kerry. A few pints in the pub, a quick game of darts,” Tyler encourages. “What could go wrong?”
“Nothing?” I say, hesitantly.
“I’ll have him home before midnight,” he says to my parents, almost dragging me towards the front door. I can’t do anything but hope that he’ll stick to his word.
Niall
“Is it just me, or does this all seem a little weird to you?” I ask Tyler as we walk towards his car.
“What are you talking about?”
“You, here, at my house. My mother inviting you over. The two of us.”
He shrugs indifferently.
“Come on, Tyler. We haven’t seen each other for…how long?”
“I have no idea.”
“Exactly!” I throw my arms into the air, exasperated.
“What’s the problem, Kerry?”
“We’re not even friends anymore,” I say sincerely.
