Snapshot, p.15
Snapshot, page 15
I don’t think I could even if I wanted to with how weak my body is feeling. Pizza rolls are probably not what I need to give me energy, but I can’t be bothered to make anything else.
“Even if Elijah gave her a legitimate reason, you sure you want to get involved in all that? A girl who is going to take her brother’s word without even letting you explain what you need to?”
If Sawyer knew the extent of everything between Elijah and me, he wouldn’t be questioning me right now. In fact, he might hate me as much as Elijah—okay, probably not, but I might not be far off.
“She’s everything to me. You met me without Winnie, but you don’t know me when I’m with her. Everything is better. She makes me want to be the best version of myself. To you, I’m the hockey guy. You think that’s the one thing in life I love, but it’s not. Hockey is my life, but she’s my world, man.” I shudder. “It’s fucking me up. I know Winnie seems flakey to you, or whatever, but I’d bet money that she’s in worse shape than me.”
Famous last words.
“Well, okay. I just want to see you not so messed up. I’m meant to be the miserable one. It’s my thing, and you are stealing my thunder.”
I chuckle as best as I can and slap his shoulder on my way by. “Give me a few days to get to the bottom of whatever the fuck is happening, and then you can have your miserable title back.”
Winnie
“Turns out, the flash wasn’t on.” Oliver laughs, and I force one out as well. I don’t know if what he said was actually funny, though. I wasn’t listening.
“So, uh, before you go, I was sorta hoping to ask you something.”
Oh, God. Is he going to ask me out? I’ve never been asked out before. Not, like, officially or anything. I think some kid in eighth grade tried to ask me to the movies, but it was a movie Elijah and Reese had been talking about seeing, so I agreed to go, then invited them. It was weird, and I didn’t know it was meant to be a date until Elijah told me after. Then he told me I wasn’t allowed to talk to that kid ever again, which wasn’t a problem since I brought my brother and his best friend on what he thought was a date. He mostly avoided me after that day. As did most guys in school. I guess word got out about the weird date, and they figured it wasn’t worth even asking.
Oliver is nice and handsome enough, with his swoopy blond hair and bright blue eyes, but I’m in no place to even consider dating.
“Sorry, Oliver. As flattered as I am, I’m just really not interested in dating right now.”
He was in the middle of saying something, but he freezes. Mouth still half-open and his eyes wide with surprise. Geesh, has he never been turned down before?
“I was just going to ask if I could copy off you on the test on Monday…”
Oh.
Kill me. “Uh, yeah. Sure, that’s fine.”
He takes a step away, and an awkward pause stretches between us. “Well, I’ll see you Monday, then.”
“Yep.”
Then he turns and books it out of the building like he can’t get away fast enough. “Way to go, Win,” I mutter to myself.
But someone else answers anyway.
“He was definitely asking you out.”
I spin, clutching my chest, and gasp at Reese leaning against the wall outside of the door.
“What are you doing here?”
“You blocked me. You won’t talk to me and—”
Mr. Hudson steps out of the classroom directly between Reese and me. With his nose in his phone, he doesn’t seem to notice, but then he presses the power button and drops it into his pants pocket. Noticing me, he smiles. “Hello, Winnie. Did you have a question for me?”
Oliver is cute in the boy-next-door way. Mr. Hudson? He is hot in the “I’ll bend you over my desk and make you call me daddy” type of way. Not my type, but not a sight for sore eyes, for sure.
“Uh, no, sir.”
“You’re doing amazing in class, by the way. If you ever have a question, my door is always open.”
Pride blooms inside my chest, and I smile. “Thank you, Mr. Hudson, but no questions.” I take a hesitant step back, not realizing Reese has moved behind me and bump right into his warm chest.
Mr. Hudson flicks his focus from me to Reese and cocks an eyebrow.
“And you are?”
“Her boyfriend,” Reese bites out.
I gasp and shoot a look at him. He glares down at me as if to say don’t push it, but I don’t care what he’s saying.
“No he’s not.” I clench my teeth. “Sorry, Mr. Hudson. Would you excuse us?”
He seems far too amused with whatever is happening in front of him, but I can’t even blame him because, from the outside, it probably is entertaining.
“Of course. I will see you next Friday, Winnie.”
I offer a smile and a small wave before grabbing Reese’s hand and forcing him to follow me outside. It’s not easy trying to drag a two-hundred-pound man, but eventually, we break into the cool autumn air.
“What the hell is your problem, Reese? We are not dating. Don’t tell people that.”
“You sure couldn’t wait to tell that prick we weren’t, too,” he bites out.
My mouth drops open as I rear back, dumbfounded that he has the audacity to be jealous right now. “You’re joking, right? That ‘prick’ is my teacher, and he was just being friendly.”
“Please, Winnie.” He scoffs. “Don’t be so naive. He was hitting on you, and we both know it. If I wasn’t there, would you have fucked your teacher?”
My eyes blow wide, and I stumble back as if he hit me. “How dare you.”
I spin on my heel and head for my car. Reese catches me around the wrist and spins me to face him again before I get too far. But, thankfully, he drops my hand before I have the chance to pull it away.
“Fuck, sorry. I’m not sleeping well, and that guy really rubbed me wrong. Sorry, none of that is your fault.”
“No, it’s not,” I repeat, just so he gets whatever is going on is definitely not my fault.
He drags a hand over his face and sighs. He does look tired. Deep bags rest under his usually bright eyes that are now a dull hazel. A black cap sits backwards on top of his head, hiding what I’m sure is messy hair. What the hell is happening to him? He said he wasn’t sleeping, but why?
“I know.”
“Okay.” I spin, continuing to my car.
“I think that teacher is a scumbag, though.”
Of course he does. “Thanks for the warning.” Sarcasm drips heavily from my voice. “Why didn’t you step in when Oliver was asking me out?” I ask, narrowing my eyebrows as I look over at him.
“It was painfully obvious you weren’t listening, and he knew it. That’s why when you turned him down, he lied about not asking you out.” He shrugs. “You weren’t into him.”
“And you think I am into my teacher?”
His smile slips and his jaw clenches. “No, but I think the power balance, or lack thereof, could lead to situations you don’t want to be in.”
My stomach turns at the accusations he’s making. “I’m a big girl, Reese. I don’t need you looking out for me like when we were kids.”
We’re at my car now, but he’s standing in front of my door, blocking me from getting in.
He tilts my head back with two fingers, and his eyes fall to my lips. “Maybe, but you’ll never be too old for me to look out for you, Win. I care about you.”
My stomach clenches, but it’s not bad or good. I wish it were bad. I wish his words had no effect on me.
“I don’t want to hear this.” Tears threaten to burn my eyes, but I close them, refusing to let any fall. I said I wasn’t going to cry over him anymore, and I’ve done a good job.
That’s a lie. I’ve cried basically every night, but it’s been in the privacy of my own room when everyone else is asleep or out. I can’t risk Elijah seeing me cry again.
“Why are you here, Reese?”
“You blocked me. On everything.” He drops my chin and pulls his hat off to scratch his head underneath, something he does when he’s anxious. “You left me no choice but to show up to your class. Just be happy I waited until it was over.”
“I’m not thanking you for not disrupting my class when you shouldn’t be here anyway. I blocked you for a reason, Reese. I need to move on. We need to move on. We’re not good together.”
Reese moves closer, not touching me but my feet are frozen to the ground, holding me in place. “You don’t mean that.”
“Yes I do.” My voice shakes. I slip around him to move in front of my door now. “I’m tired of getting hurt by you, and I can’t be with someone I don’t trust.”
Agony rips through him, and he stumbles back. I think seeing his genuine pain hurts most of all, but it doesn’t make sense because how can he act so surprised by what I’m saying?
“What the fuck happened when you left, Win? We had such a good night, and you promised to call but didn’t. Why?”
I can’t believe he’s doing this to me. He knows why, and yet he’s acting so innocent. I bet this is his way of waiting to see what I say instead of having to own up to what he did.
I cross my arms over my chest. Gone are the sad tears, and in their place is anger. “You tell me.”
His jaw clenches. He flattens his hands above my head on my car and leans toward me. “If I knew, I would have fixed it a fucking week ago because this”—he gestures between us—“is killing me.”
Not as much as it killed me hearing you lied.
“You lied.” I wait for any kind of reaction, guilt maybe, but it doesn’t come. Only confusion.
“About what?”
I open my mouth but am cut off by his phone ringing. He digs into his pocket and mutes it. The third time it rings, he sighs and puts it to his ear but keeps me trapped so I can’t leave.
“What?”
His eyebrows furrow at whoever is on the phone. It’s a deep voice, and as much as I wish that doesn’t send a shot of relief through me, it does. “Why? Yeah, okay. I’ll be there soon.” He ends the call, then crowds me even closer than before, our bodies just barely touching. “That was Sawyer. I gotta get to practice early, but I’m not leaving here until you tell me what I lied about so I can fix it.”
“There’s nothing to fix.”
He slaps a hand against my window, and I jump. “Don’t play that fucking game. Tell me what happened. Did Elijah say something?” For the first time, a hint of guilt crowds his brown irises, and my stomach twists. If he’s feeling guilty when it comes to Elijah, then what Elijah told me must be true. Not that I didn’t believe him. I was just really hoping he had the situation wrong or something.
Apparently, it wasn’t. “I can’t do this with you, Reese.” My voice is small. “Please let me go.”
“I can’t.” His voice comes out equally as broken as mine, and I wish it didn’t affect me, but it does. Hearing Reese so torn up only reminds me of when we were kids, and that same little girl who would hold him while he would cry begs to reach out and grab him now. But this time he’s the one responsible for the tears that are refusing to fall.
“You have to try, Reese.” I grip his sweatshirt. I don’t know why, but this feels like goodbye, and I didn’t know the last time I got to touch him would be it. “I’m tired of crying myself to sleep over you.”
21
Reese
Flashback
“Elijah! Put that spoon down. Your dad is going to be back from picking your sister up soon, and if you eat all the ice cream before she gets to have a float, she’s going to be so upset.”
Elijah groans but drops the spoon into the sink and grumbles. “My birthday celebration and I can’t even have my ice cream when I want.”
I chuckle and clap his back. “Yeah, but your mom is right. Would you rather wait or listen to Winnie whine the rest of the night?”
He seems to ponder, then nods. “You’re right. I knew I kept you around for a reason. So, what did you get me for my birthday?”
I cock an eyebrow. “I gave you your gift last week, when it was actually your birthday, and we’ve been playing it every night since.”
“Yeah, but I figured since we are celebrating tonight, you’d get me something else.” He’s grinning, but I know he’s serious. Asshole.
“You owe me, like, twenty gifts. Christmases and birthdays alike.”
Elijah’s face splits even more with a guilty grin. “Call us even?”
I roll my eyes but take his extended hand. “Yeah, whatever. One day you’re gonna owe me something big, though.”
“Just say what and it’s yours, man.”
Oh, this could be good. I better save it for something really big. By the time I’ll cash it in, he’s going to owe me a shit ton of stuff, or something really big, anyway.
We’re playing the birthday gift I got Elijah when someone lets out a blood-curdling scream. If I was at home, I probably wouldn’t even react, and for a moment, I forget where I am because that’s not something I hear at the Lewis household.
Elijah jumps out of his chair and runs for his mom, and I’m not far behind.
My feet halt at the bottom of the steps seeing the flashing red-and-blue lights and two police officers with their heads hung low outside the front door. Elijah drops by his mom’s side.
“Mom, what’s wrong?” He shoots a panicked look at me, then up to the cops still standing there.
One of them, the one I recognize from seeing him drop my dad off a time or two, is eyeing me. Almost like he’s judging me, and it’s making me uncomfortable.
“There’s been an accident, son,” the cop who isn’t glaring at me says.
My heart slams against my chest.
An accident.
Mrs. Lewis crying.
Winnie.
Fuck, please don’t be Winnie.
“W-what do you mean?” he asks. “Mom, what’s he mean?”
Mrs. Lewis wipes her face, but there’s no point since the tears are still falling. “Your dad was in an accident, and…”
And…
“He didn’t make it.”
Elijah doesn’t move. I watch as the life drains from my best friend right in front of my eyes, and all I can do is stare at him.
Mr. Lewis is… dead? But, if he was in an accident, does that mean—
“What about Winnie?” Elijah thankfully asks, his voice hollow.
She shakes her head, and it takes everything in me not to throw up.
“She’s fine. She’s still at the airport. She doesn’t know.” The Lewises collapse together, their sobs filling the small room. It’s suffocating. On one hand, I’m relieved Winnie wasn’t involved, but I loved Mr. Lewis. I loved him more than I could ever love my own dad, and now he’s… gone.
I don’t know how long passes, but eventually, Mrs. Lewis pulls away and stands on shaky legs. She turns to me, but I keep my head down because it’s not fair for me to cry when I’m not the one who lost my dad.
She cups my face and tilts it up to look at her. “Can you do me a favor, Reese?”
Anything. I say the word in my head because I don’t trust myself to say it out loud.
She nods as if understanding. “Can you go pick up Winnie? The police officers offered to do it, but I think it would be best for one of us to do it, and we are in no state to drive.”
“Of course.” My voice is hoarse and hurts from biting back my emotions.
“We have to head to the hospital.” Another sob rips from her, and she cups her mouth. And, finally, my dam breaks. I wrap my arms around the woman who’s always been like a second mother, and I hug her soft body as tight as I can without actually hurting her.
I can’t imagine the pain she feels. I’ve never seen someone as in love as the Lewises, and now… now she has to go through life without him.
A few minutes pass, and then she pulls away, once again calmed down enough to speak. She wipes my face before I get the chance. “I love you, Reese. You know that, right?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Never forget it, okay? Promise me.”
I don’t understand why she’s telling me this now, but I guess it’s one of those things where you hold your loved ones closer after a tragedy; I’m just glad to be considered one of them.
“Promise, Mrs. Lewis.”
She taps my face and lets me go. “You better get going. She should be landing anytime now.”
“Okay.” I reach into my pocket and pull out my keys. Keys I was so excited to hold a few days ago when I finally saved up enough money to fix up my truck. It’s a piece of shit, and the gas mileage is ass, but it’s mine. I don’t have to fight with my dad to get him to let me borrow his, and that’s the best part about it all. I texted Winnie a video of it finally running, and she said she couldn’t wait to ride in it. Sucks the first time she gets to, I have to tell her that her dad died.
“You can just come back here. We shouldn’t be too long, and she doesn’t need to see anything.” Her lips wobble, but she doesn’t let it out this time. “Elijah, you might want to stay—”
“I’m coming,” he snaps. He hasn’t moved from the floor. Hugging his knees and leaning against the wall.
I’m not used to seeing Elijah not smiling. He smiles more than anyone I know, but right now, he looks so lost, like he’s never smiled before in his life.
I crouch next to him on my way out. Unsure what to say, I rest my hand on his knee. He looks up with lost eyes and lays his hand on top.
“Brothers,” I mutter. It’s been something we’ve done forever. Usually when one of us is pissed at the other and we need a reminder that, even though we’re pissed, we are still here for each other.
“Yeah.” He lets out a long breath and winces. “Drive safe, please.”
Winnie
“Wooowie. Listen to her!”
Reese leads me to the truck that’s been sitting across the way, unable to move for so long. “It sounds even shittier in person,” I joke, but he doesn’t smile. I think he’s trying, but it doesn’t work. He’s been quiet since he met me at baggage claim. I was expecting my dad, but I’m also happy to see Reese. I just wish he was happier to see me.
“Even if Elijah gave her a legitimate reason, you sure you want to get involved in all that? A girl who is going to take her brother’s word without even letting you explain what you need to?”
If Sawyer knew the extent of everything between Elijah and me, he wouldn’t be questioning me right now. In fact, he might hate me as much as Elijah—okay, probably not, but I might not be far off.
“She’s everything to me. You met me without Winnie, but you don’t know me when I’m with her. Everything is better. She makes me want to be the best version of myself. To you, I’m the hockey guy. You think that’s the one thing in life I love, but it’s not. Hockey is my life, but she’s my world, man.” I shudder. “It’s fucking me up. I know Winnie seems flakey to you, or whatever, but I’d bet money that she’s in worse shape than me.”
Famous last words.
“Well, okay. I just want to see you not so messed up. I’m meant to be the miserable one. It’s my thing, and you are stealing my thunder.”
I chuckle as best as I can and slap his shoulder on my way by. “Give me a few days to get to the bottom of whatever the fuck is happening, and then you can have your miserable title back.”
Winnie
“Turns out, the flash wasn’t on.” Oliver laughs, and I force one out as well. I don’t know if what he said was actually funny, though. I wasn’t listening.
“So, uh, before you go, I was sorta hoping to ask you something.”
Oh, God. Is he going to ask me out? I’ve never been asked out before. Not, like, officially or anything. I think some kid in eighth grade tried to ask me to the movies, but it was a movie Elijah and Reese had been talking about seeing, so I agreed to go, then invited them. It was weird, and I didn’t know it was meant to be a date until Elijah told me after. Then he told me I wasn’t allowed to talk to that kid ever again, which wasn’t a problem since I brought my brother and his best friend on what he thought was a date. He mostly avoided me after that day. As did most guys in school. I guess word got out about the weird date, and they figured it wasn’t worth even asking.
Oliver is nice and handsome enough, with his swoopy blond hair and bright blue eyes, but I’m in no place to even consider dating.
“Sorry, Oliver. As flattered as I am, I’m just really not interested in dating right now.”
He was in the middle of saying something, but he freezes. Mouth still half-open and his eyes wide with surprise. Geesh, has he never been turned down before?
“I was just going to ask if I could copy off you on the test on Monday…”
Oh.
Kill me. “Uh, yeah. Sure, that’s fine.”
He takes a step away, and an awkward pause stretches between us. “Well, I’ll see you Monday, then.”
“Yep.”
Then he turns and books it out of the building like he can’t get away fast enough. “Way to go, Win,” I mutter to myself.
But someone else answers anyway.
“He was definitely asking you out.”
I spin, clutching my chest, and gasp at Reese leaning against the wall outside of the door.
“What are you doing here?”
“You blocked me. You won’t talk to me and—”
Mr. Hudson steps out of the classroom directly between Reese and me. With his nose in his phone, he doesn’t seem to notice, but then he presses the power button and drops it into his pants pocket. Noticing me, he smiles. “Hello, Winnie. Did you have a question for me?”
Oliver is cute in the boy-next-door way. Mr. Hudson? He is hot in the “I’ll bend you over my desk and make you call me daddy” type of way. Not my type, but not a sight for sore eyes, for sure.
“Uh, no, sir.”
“You’re doing amazing in class, by the way. If you ever have a question, my door is always open.”
Pride blooms inside my chest, and I smile. “Thank you, Mr. Hudson, but no questions.” I take a hesitant step back, not realizing Reese has moved behind me and bump right into his warm chest.
Mr. Hudson flicks his focus from me to Reese and cocks an eyebrow.
“And you are?”
“Her boyfriend,” Reese bites out.
I gasp and shoot a look at him. He glares down at me as if to say don’t push it, but I don’t care what he’s saying.
“No he’s not.” I clench my teeth. “Sorry, Mr. Hudson. Would you excuse us?”
He seems far too amused with whatever is happening in front of him, but I can’t even blame him because, from the outside, it probably is entertaining.
“Of course. I will see you next Friday, Winnie.”
I offer a smile and a small wave before grabbing Reese’s hand and forcing him to follow me outside. It’s not easy trying to drag a two-hundred-pound man, but eventually, we break into the cool autumn air.
“What the hell is your problem, Reese? We are not dating. Don’t tell people that.”
“You sure couldn’t wait to tell that prick we weren’t, too,” he bites out.
My mouth drops open as I rear back, dumbfounded that he has the audacity to be jealous right now. “You’re joking, right? That ‘prick’ is my teacher, and he was just being friendly.”
“Please, Winnie.” He scoffs. “Don’t be so naive. He was hitting on you, and we both know it. If I wasn’t there, would you have fucked your teacher?”
My eyes blow wide, and I stumble back as if he hit me. “How dare you.”
I spin on my heel and head for my car. Reese catches me around the wrist and spins me to face him again before I get too far. But, thankfully, he drops my hand before I have the chance to pull it away.
“Fuck, sorry. I’m not sleeping well, and that guy really rubbed me wrong. Sorry, none of that is your fault.”
“No, it’s not,” I repeat, just so he gets whatever is going on is definitely not my fault.
He drags a hand over his face and sighs. He does look tired. Deep bags rest under his usually bright eyes that are now a dull hazel. A black cap sits backwards on top of his head, hiding what I’m sure is messy hair. What the hell is happening to him? He said he wasn’t sleeping, but why?
“I know.”
“Okay.” I spin, continuing to my car.
“I think that teacher is a scumbag, though.”
Of course he does. “Thanks for the warning.” Sarcasm drips heavily from my voice. “Why didn’t you step in when Oliver was asking me out?” I ask, narrowing my eyebrows as I look over at him.
“It was painfully obvious you weren’t listening, and he knew it. That’s why when you turned him down, he lied about not asking you out.” He shrugs. “You weren’t into him.”
“And you think I am into my teacher?”
His smile slips and his jaw clenches. “No, but I think the power balance, or lack thereof, could lead to situations you don’t want to be in.”
My stomach turns at the accusations he’s making. “I’m a big girl, Reese. I don’t need you looking out for me like when we were kids.”
We’re at my car now, but he’s standing in front of my door, blocking me from getting in.
He tilts my head back with two fingers, and his eyes fall to my lips. “Maybe, but you’ll never be too old for me to look out for you, Win. I care about you.”
My stomach clenches, but it’s not bad or good. I wish it were bad. I wish his words had no effect on me.
“I don’t want to hear this.” Tears threaten to burn my eyes, but I close them, refusing to let any fall. I said I wasn’t going to cry over him anymore, and I’ve done a good job.
That’s a lie. I’ve cried basically every night, but it’s been in the privacy of my own room when everyone else is asleep or out. I can’t risk Elijah seeing me cry again.
“Why are you here, Reese?”
“You blocked me. On everything.” He drops my chin and pulls his hat off to scratch his head underneath, something he does when he’s anxious. “You left me no choice but to show up to your class. Just be happy I waited until it was over.”
“I’m not thanking you for not disrupting my class when you shouldn’t be here anyway. I blocked you for a reason, Reese. I need to move on. We need to move on. We’re not good together.”
Reese moves closer, not touching me but my feet are frozen to the ground, holding me in place. “You don’t mean that.”
“Yes I do.” My voice shakes. I slip around him to move in front of my door now. “I’m tired of getting hurt by you, and I can’t be with someone I don’t trust.”
Agony rips through him, and he stumbles back. I think seeing his genuine pain hurts most of all, but it doesn’t make sense because how can he act so surprised by what I’m saying?
“What the fuck happened when you left, Win? We had such a good night, and you promised to call but didn’t. Why?”
I can’t believe he’s doing this to me. He knows why, and yet he’s acting so innocent. I bet this is his way of waiting to see what I say instead of having to own up to what he did.
I cross my arms over my chest. Gone are the sad tears, and in their place is anger. “You tell me.”
His jaw clenches. He flattens his hands above my head on my car and leans toward me. “If I knew, I would have fixed it a fucking week ago because this”—he gestures between us—“is killing me.”
Not as much as it killed me hearing you lied.
“You lied.” I wait for any kind of reaction, guilt maybe, but it doesn’t come. Only confusion.
“About what?”
I open my mouth but am cut off by his phone ringing. He digs into his pocket and mutes it. The third time it rings, he sighs and puts it to his ear but keeps me trapped so I can’t leave.
“What?”
His eyebrows furrow at whoever is on the phone. It’s a deep voice, and as much as I wish that doesn’t send a shot of relief through me, it does. “Why? Yeah, okay. I’ll be there soon.” He ends the call, then crowds me even closer than before, our bodies just barely touching. “That was Sawyer. I gotta get to practice early, but I’m not leaving here until you tell me what I lied about so I can fix it.”
“There’s nothing to fix.”
He slaps a hand against my window, and I jump. “Don’t play that fucking game. Tell me what happened. Did Elijah say something?” For the first time, a hint of guilt crowds his brown irises, and my stomach twists. If he’s feeling guilty when it comes to Elijah, then what Elijah told me must be true. Not that I didn’t believe him. I was just really hoping he had the situation wrong or something.
Apparently, it wasn’t. “I can’t do this with you, Reese.” My voice is small. “Please let me go.”
“I can’t.” His voice comes out equally as broken as mine, and I wish it didn’t affect me, but it does. Hearing Reese so torn up only reminds me of when we were kids, and that same little girl who would hold him while he would cry begs to reach out and grab him now. But this time he’s the one responsible for the tears that are refusing to fall.
“You have to try, Reese.” I grip his sweatshirt. I don’t know why, but this feels like goodbye, and I didn’t know the last time I got to touch him would be it. “I’m tired of crying myself to sleep over you.”
21
Reese
Flashback
“Elijah! Put that spoon down. Your dad is going to be back from picking your sister up soon, and if you eat all the ice cream before she gets to have a float, she’s going to be so upset.”
Elijah groans but drops the spoon into the sink and grumbles. “My birthday celebration and I can’t even have my ice cream when I want.”
I chuckle and clap his back. “Yeah, but your mom is right. Would you rather wait or listen to Winnie whine the rest of the night?”
He seems to ponder, then nods. “You’re right. I knew I kept you around for a reason. So, what did you get me for my birthday?”
I cock an eyebrow. “I gave you your gift last week, when it was actually your birthday, and we’ve been playing it every night since.”
“Yeah, but I figured since we are celebrating tonight, you’d get me something else.” He’s grinning, but I know he’s serious. Asshole.
“You owe me, like, twenty gifts. Christmases and birthdays alike.”
Elijah’s face splits even more with a guilty grin. “Call us even?”
I roll my eyes but take his extended hand. “Yeah, whatever. One day you’re gonna owe me something big, though.”
“Just say what and it’s yours, man.”
Oh, this could be good. I better save it for something really big. By the time I’ll cash it in, he’s going to owe me a shit ton of stuff, or something really big, anyway.
We’re playing the birthday gift I got Elijah when someone lets out a blood-curdling scream. If I was at home, I probably wouldn’t even react, and for a moment, I forget where I am because that’s not something I hear at the Lewis household.
Elijah jumps out of his chair and runs for his mom, and I’m not far behind.
My feet halt at the bottom of the steps seeing the flashing red-and-blue lights and two police officers with their heads hung low outside the front door. Elijah drops by his mom’s side.
“Mom, what’s wrong?” He shoots a panicked look at me, then up to the cops still standing there.
One of them, the one I recognize from seeing him drop my dad off a time or two, is eyeing me. Almost like he’s judging me, and it’s making me uncomfortable.
“There’s been an accident, son,” the cop who isn’t glaring at me says.
My heart slams against my chest.
An accident.
Mrs. Lewis crying.
Winnie.
Fuck, please don’t be Winnie.
“W-what do you mean?” he asks. “Mom, what’s he mean?”
Mrs. Lewis wipes her face, but there’s no point since the tears are still falling. “Your dad was in an accident, and…”
And…
“He didn’t make it.”
Elijah doesn’t move. I watch as the life drains from my best friend right in front of my eyes, and all I can do is stare at him.
Mr. Lewis is… dead? But, if he was in an accident, does that mean—
“What about Winnie?” Elijah thankfully asks, his voice hollow.
She shakes her head, and it takes everything in me not to throw up.
“She’s fine. She’s still at the airport. She doesn’t know.” The Lewises collapse together, their sobs filling the small room. It’s suffocating. On one hand, I’m relieved Winnie wasn’t involved, but I loved Mr. Lewis. I loved him more than I could ever love my own dad, and now he’s… gone.
I don’t know how long passes, but eventually, Mrs. Lewis pulls away and stands on shaky legs. She turns to me, but I keep my head down because it’s not fair for me to cry when I’m not the one who lost my dad.
She cups my face and tilts it up to look at her. “Can you do me a favor, Reese?”
Anything. I say the word in my head because I don’t trust myself to say it out loud.
She nods as if understanding. “Can you go pick up Winnie? The police officers offered to do it, but I think it would be best for one of us to do it, and we are in no state to drive.”
“Of course.” My voice is hoarse and hurts from biting back my emotions.
“We have to head to the hospital.” Another sob rips from her, and she cups her mouth. And, finally, my dam breaks. I wrap my arms around the woman who’s always been like a second mother, and I hug her soft body as tight as I can without actually hurting her.
I can’t imagine the pain she feels. I’ve never seen someone as in love as the Lewises, and now… now she has to go through life without him.
A few minutes pass, and then she pulls away, once again calmed down enough to speak. She wipes my face before I get the chance. “I love you, Reese. You know that, right?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Never forget it, okay? Promise me.”
I don’t understand why she’s telling me this now, but I guess it’s one of those things where you hold your loved ones closer after a tragedy; I’m just glad to be considered one of them.
“Promise, Mrs. Lewis.”
She taps my face and lets me go. “You better get going. She should be landing anytime now.”
“Okay.” I reach into my pocket and pull out my keys. Keys I was so excited to hold a few days ago when I finally saved up enough money to fix up my truck. It’s a piece of shit, and the gas mileage is ass, but it’s mine. I don’t have to fight with my dad to get him to let me borrow his, and that’s the best part about it all. I texted Winnie a video of it finally running, and she said she couldn’t wait to ride in it. Sucks the first time she gets to, I have to tell her that her dad died.
“You can just come back here. We shouldn’t be too long, and she doesn’t need to see anything.” Her lips wobble, but she doesn’t let it out this time. “Elijah, you might want to stay—”
“I’m coming,” he snaps. He hasn’t moved from the floor. Hugging his knees and leaning against the wall.
I’m not used to seeing Elijah not smiling. He smiles more than anyone I know, but right now, he looks so lost, like he’s never smiled before in his life.
I crouch next to him on my way out. Unsure what to say, I rest my hand on his knee. He looks up with lost eyes and lays his hand on top.
“Brothers,” I mutter. It’s been something we’ve done forever. Usually when one of us is pissed at the other and we need a reminder that, even though we’re pissed, we are still here for each other.
“Yeah.” He lets out a long breath and winces. “Drive safe, please.”
Winnie
“Wooowie. Listen to her!”
Reese leads me to the truck that’s been sitting across the way, unable to move for so long. “It sounds even shittier in person,” I joke, but he doesn’t smile. I think he’s trying, but it doesn’t work. He’s been quiet since he met me at baggage claim. I was expecting my dad, but I’m also happy to see Reese. I just wish he was happier to see me.
