Levi shuts the passenger side door and walks around the front of the truck. “Let’s get our homework done now so I can kick your ass in NHL 18.”
I roll my eyes at him and head towards the garage. “Everything you just said is ridiculous.”
He huffs a laugh and follows me.
“Hey, guys,” Dad says, wiping his hand on a rag as he steps back from a tractor with its hood up.
“Hey.” I stop beside him and glance at the tractor.
The front panel’s been removed, exposing a web of belts, hoses, and metal streaked with grease. A couple of parts are laid out beside it, and I let my eyes roam over them. A pulley assembly, throttle linkage, something that looks like it may be a water pump housing…
“What’s wrong with it?” I ask.
Papa leans back against the workbench. “It keeps running hot after a half hour. Just opened ’er up to figure out why.”
I nod and take a small step closer to the engine. Some of the seals look fine. But there’s a dried residue at the base of the water pump, and the thermostat housing looks newer than the rest of the engine. I scan the rest of the components as my fingers twitch slightly at my sides.
They already flushed the coolant, and the fan belt is still tensioned. But the wear on the gasket is uneven, and I’ve seen that before. In my truck.
When I turn back to Dad and Papa, Dad gives me a small, lopsided smile as he tilts his head towards the engine. “Thoughts?”
I shrug. “I don’t know.”
But Dad just keeps watching me as he crosses his arms over his chest and waits.
I blow out a breath as my eyes flick back to the engine. “Could be the bypass hose or the seal on the thermostat? If it’s leaking, even just a little, it could be screwing up the temperature reading.”
“Hm,” Papa hums, shoving his hands in his pockets and staring at the engine thoughtfully as a small smile plays at the corner of his lips. “You know, that does sound right.”
Dad smiles. “So what would you do next?”
My heart beats a little harder as I glance at the parts on the ground and back at the engine. “Pull the housing and check the gasket. If it’s warped, I’d replace it. And if the hose is dry-cracked, swap that too.”
Papa smiles widely and winks at me. “Looking forward to having you on full-time next year.”
A soft smile spreads across my lips, and I drop my gaze to the dirt at my feet, easing out of the uncomfortable weight of admiration and appreciation.
“So, Levi,” Papa says as he shifts his attention away from me, knowing it’s what I need. “Apply to any more universities?”
Levi chuckles, and I keep my eyes down. Because now I want to avoid reality.
He’s already applied to universities across the country, and I know he’ll get into all of them and have his choice to go anywhere he wants. He can, and he should. And he shouldn’tpick UPEI just because I’m here. He wants a tech-driven program in business systems or logistics, or something else that sounds like the future that I don’t understand. And he isn’t going to get that at a smaller university.
“Just a few,” Levi says, and I can feel his eyes on me.
“Good man,” Papa says.
I lift my eyes and meet my dad’s as he gives me a sad smile.
“Come on,” Levi says, gently shoving my shoulder. “Let’s get our homework done.”
I sigh as my entire body starts locking up, and the tension rises inside me to fight against that idea, and against the overwhelmingly strong urge to say no. To run away and do anything but that.
Levi always wants to do homework right away so we can get it over with and have the rest of the evening free. And I get it. He’s in IB, so he always has more than I do, and he’s weird and likes homework. But I’ve already spent the whole day barely holding it together just to please everyone else and meet expectations we all know I won’t meet. Every day feels like a slow walk towards my breaking point, and it’s always a gamble if I’ll make it there or not. Every day I worksohard not to just flip the fucking table and yell at everyone and storm out of the school… or my mom’s house. It’s so fucking hard.
But Dad catches my eye again. He smiles and tips his head toward the potato storage shed. “We need some dislodging done if homework can wait.”
Levi spins towards him with bright eyes, and a smile spreads across my face as the weight already starts to slip from my shoulders.
