“Then I guess this is it,” I concede.
“What’s it?”
“You’re not happy, Adam. And honestly, neither am I. We’re different people. We live in different places. This isn’t high school anymore. Maybe it’s time we realize that.”
“So, what, we’re breaking up?” Adam asks incredulously.
“Yeah. I think we are.”
The lack of fight from Adam tells me all I need to know. He wants out of this relationship as much as I do. The couple we were in high school is different to the couple we are now. There’s a romance about high school sweethearts staying together, getting married, having a family and being happy and in love until a ripe-old age, but the reality is as life moves on, couples grow apart. The kid on the football field is not the man in his business suit, and the girl in her cheerleader’s uniform is not the woman standing here now. My once lifelong dream drifts away in front of me and instead of feeling the devastation I was expecting, I feel a sense of closure.
After a few minutes, Adam looks over at me, his eyes red-rimmed. “I hope he keeps you happy, Thea,” he says in a low-pitched voice, before he turns and exits my room, leaving me alone with my memories and a new chapter about to start.
Sixteen
Kyler
With everyone gone,I invite my mom, Ally, and Lacey over to the house for Thanksgiving dinner. It won’t be much because none of us are the cooking type, but we’ll be together, and Lacey needs to have family around, especially during the holidays. Nolan joked I should pay Thea to make the meal, but I can’t imagine asking her to do such a thing, even if money is involved. I did, however, go through her cookbooks until I found what I needed and copied down the recipes accordingly. We’re having turkey, mashed (and undoubtedly, lumpy) potatoes, corn, green beans, rolls, and gravy. Granted, the gravy comes from a jar you heat up in the microwave but whatever. It’s food, and I’m sort of proud of what I created.
Lacey is having a field day, running up and down the stairs. She squeals in delight, and the sound echoes through the house. The last time I checked on my mother, she was sitting on the couch, watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and was doing her darndest to get Lacey to watch it with her.
Ally sits at the small table in the corner of the kitchen. She’s brought a tablecloth, napkins, paper plates, and cups, all decorated with a turkey. Even the plastic utensils she brought are orange and brown.
“Lacey really likes it here.”
I glance over my shoulder toward the doorway. “Yeah, she does. Too bad there aren’t apartments with staircases.”
“We can’t afford anything here, Kyler. We are going to have to move inland, more toward the capital where rent is cheaper.”
“I figured.” As much as it pains me to say and accept, I know this is the reality they face. It’s expensive to live near the ocean, and often locals can’t afford it. Never mind the fact my mom can’t hold down a good, steady paying job. And my sister is trying to raise her daughter on tips she’s earned at the diner. Since the tourist season is over, she’s barely scraping by. If they move . . . no, not if, but when, it means I’ll hardly see Lacey during the season because of the distance, and I don’t like that.
“It would be nice to have a big house like this,” my sister says.
“Don’t.”
“Don’t what, Kyler? Dream?”
“No, dream all you want, but don’t even think about asking me if you can move in here. It’s not even feasible. This has been a hockey house for as long as I can remember, and when I graduate, new guys will move. I’m not even going to broach the subject with Jude, Nolan, and Devon. Besides, there isn’t any space.”
Ally comes over and stands next to me. She takes the potato masher from me and starts pushing on the potatoes. “You have the whole attic room. I’ve seen it.”
I shake my head. “Thea lives up there.” Saying her name aloud makes me realize how much I miss her. I didn’t think I would, but something has shifted between us after spending the night with her. I was stupid to kiss her, but she could’ve stopped me and didn’t. If I hadn’t met her dumbass boyfriend, I probably would’ve screwed Thea in the office, and if not there, definitely in my bed because with her wearing a replica of my jersey—the sight did things to me. It made me feel like she and I were in a whole different world, shut off from the one we currently live in. Up until the other night, I’ve never slept with someone in my arms. I held her until the sun came up and missed her when she snuck off to her room. When she got upstairs, I heard the familiar creak of her bed and smiled, knowing she was still in my shirt and smelling like me.
“Thea?” she questions. “Who’s Thea, and why do you say her name like you’ve got a crush on her?”
“I didn’t say her name in any way other than saying her name.” Surely, I said her name as normal as possible.
“That makes no sense. Spill.”
“There’s nothing to say,” I tell her. I take the smasher from her and finish the job. The directions I copied say to add a slab of butter. What the hell constitutes a slab? After adding what I think is the right amount, I put the lid back on the pan and set it aside. “Can you finish up the veggies and the table while I carve the turkey?”
“No,” she says and stands in front of where I have the turkey resting. “Something’s up. You’re cooking, which you’ve never done before. You’re not all moody like usual. And you absolutely said her name with some sort of glee. You like her, don’t you?”
“What I’d like is for you to do what I asked.”
“Why won’t you talk to me?”
“Because you’re an annoying sister, and I want to eat,” I tell her. The reason I don’t talk to her is because she is, in fact, an annoying sister, even though she means well. The problem is Ally doesn’t care what people think about where we live, and I do. There isn’t anything wrong with people living in mobile home parks, but when yours is dilapidated, it’s embarrassing. Plus, I never know who my mother has living there at any given time. It’s either one of her loser boyfriends or some guy she’s just met who needs a place to stay. I never want to subject any girls to my life there.