I yawned and wiped my sore eyes after some time had passed.
Looking at the clock on the wall, I saw that three hours had already passed in what felt like the blink of an eye.
I put my books away and got up to stretch the kinks out. I checked on Noah, confirmed that he was sleeping peacefully then went to take a shower.
I dressed in an old tee shirt and a cotton panties. I pulled my hair up into a messy bun then patrolled the house one last time to make sure everything was secure.
I was about to turn into bed when my cell phone rang.
My heart jumped in my chest thinking it might be Wyatt despite the horrible way the talk we had had gone a few hours before. I had mostly been successful in keeping my mind off him and what had transpired between us earlier but there was no avoiding it now.
I was resolved in keeping my distance from him.
For a moment while we talked earlier I had faltered, thinking I saw pain his eyes at my words but the imagined emotion was gone as fast as I thought it appeared. He had been his old, no-care self.
I was slightly disappointed. A small part of me had harbored a secret desire that he would have fought to convince we that we could be more than fuck friends. His phone calls after we had parted ways at the library made me think he might want more than “benefits”. But when his last words to me have been about sex in bio class, I knew it was hopeless for us.
Our talk just convinced me that I had made the right decision.
A clean break from Wyatt was for the best.
Still, I was frozen for a moment as I watched the phone vibrate on the bedside table.
I slowly reached for it and looked at the caller ID.
I released the breath I had been holding as I read the name.
It wasn’t Wyatt.
It was my dad.
I answered, “Hey Dad, what’s wrong?”
It was minutes to midnight. He wouldn’t have called so late unless something was wrong.
“Hi honey, I’m sorry to call so late but I just had to talk to someone. I just had a big blow out with Joe and he ran out. I’m worried about your brother. He has been hanging with bad crowd lately and he gets testy every time I try to talk to him about it. I’m just worried he will end up in trouble.”
I bit back a sigh.
My parents adopted a very overprotective style of parenting and Joe hadn’t been reacting to the helicopter parenting well lately. He was a young man starting to form his own opinions about the world and their attempts to figuratively keep him protected in bubble wrap was causing tension.
They had had several blow ups as of late and if Dad didn’t let up, it wouldn’t get better any time soon.
Dad was most likely worried for nothing. Joe had a good head on his shoulders and wasn’t easily swayed by others. Still, I told my father what he needed to hear.
“I’ll talk to him, Dad.”
He made a sound of relief and replied, “Thanks, sweetie. If anyone can get through to him it is you.”
***
That next morning, Joe and I were seated at Angie’s Bakery having scones. I had kept my promise to my father, I’d check in. We’d eat some delicious baked goods and Joe would tell me he was fine and then we could all move on. I was sure of it.
Except when I arrived, it looked like Dad had been a least a little bit right. I noticed how tired Joe looked. Haggard even.
Finally, Joe broke our carb induced silence.
“Let me guess? Dad asked you to speak to me.”