“You lied to my teacher?” His eyes went wide.
“No, it is an appointment to eat pie. We just don’t need to fill in all the details.”
I could hear my father now, saying, “You reap what you sow,” and that if I taught him to lie, it was going to be a problem later. But I just needed him with me and far away from the hockey players, and I needed some Junior time.
Rupert was thrilled to see everyone at the diner. They spoiled him rotten when he first came and made his days so much brighter. He sat in the booth as they brought him milkshakes and pie and fries. While he was having the time of his life, I snuck out back and told Junior what had happened.
“I don’t think I can go back. Seeing him brings everything back to me. I know it’s not him, but I can’t. I can’t.”
Junior pulled me in for a hug. “Take a deep breath. And believe my words: you’ve got this. It’s going to be hard, but you can’t give up now, not when you’ve come so far.”
I wanted to believe him. I really did, but it was all so raw.
“Rupert’s in an excellent school district, your townhouse is leagues above this place, and you’re making enough money thatyou can start saving instead of wondering if the next growth spurt is going to deplete your savings.”
He went on and on, my number-one pep squad, until I calmed down enough to go back and join Rupert. The last thing he needed was to see my struggles. He had enough of his own.
