party. Coming back here with Dalia. This wasn’t how I pictured the night ending, passing out on one of the hottest girls in school. I close my eyes and drift off. Desperate for water but not wanting to wake her. She’s still, and beautiful.
A door bangs upstairs. Footsteps sound on the floor above us. My heart spikes into my throat. Fuck. Her parents.
The door is like an alarm. Dalia shoots straight up. “Shit.”
She lets the blanket drop and scrambles for her clothes. She throws mine at me as footsteps come down the stairs.
A man with dark hair stands at the bottom step. I hold my jeans up to me. Dalia screams and dives for the blanket.
I have no words. No explanation. Because the scene explains everything. I take a step back.
“That’s right. Step away.” The man approaches, his face turning various shades of red, his chest puffing out. “Coward. How dare you?”
“Daddy!” Dalia cries.
For a moment, his attention flickers to his daughter. “Get your things and go up to your room right now.”
Obediently and shaking, she grabs her clothes and runs upstairs with the blanket wrapped around her. He takes another step toward me. “Do you have an explanation for this?” he asks, his voice cold and accusing.
“I know it looks bad, sir. We fell asleep…”
He winds up and punches me. The pain shoots through my head and I fall back.
“You’d better leave before I end up killing you.” He shakes, on the edge of losing it. “I don’t want to hear your lies.”
I whip on my jeans and leave. Shaking. My thoughts go to Dalia. Hoping she’ll be okay.
***
My energy deflates and I take my time jogging home. The thrill at my newfound realization, the letting go of the responsibility was cut short when I thought about the past. I have to completely let go of that first. But I don’t know how.
I slow to a walk close to home. A figure sits on the front step, hunched over, her head on her arms. The long brown hair is immediately recognizable. I move into a jog and stop right in front of her.
“Carly?” I don’t know what to expect. Tears? More heartache I can’t solve?
She lifts her head. “Hey. Sorry to barge in on you unannounced. I was only going to wait a few more minutes, hoping…”
“You wanna come in? Just give me a second to change.” The words slip out but my instinct is to send her home. I could easily do that but instead I’m determined to figure this out. Resolve the past by working on the present. Learn to trust again.
Upstairs, I slip into old jeans and a tee then go downstairs. A flurry of anticipation and nerves settles in my stomach. Not sure why she’s here.
“You hungry?” I open the freezer, pull out a frozen dinner and stick it in the microwave.
“Not really.” She’s playing with the ends of her hair, twirling it around a finger. She studies a nick in the table.
Silence falls between us and I flash back to our time at the ice cream parlor. This is like a repeat.
“I’m sorry for the other day, for shutting down like that,” she blurts. Her cheeks immediately blush. “You don’t have to talk about anything you don’t want to.”
I sit down and eat the lasagna and green beans, thinking. I don’t want to wait too long to respond. She hasn’t removed her bottom lip from between her teeth. “No, you had every right to be a little prickly.”
She pushes her hair away from her face. “I’m serious. It’s just that, well, I kinda like you and, well, that’s just the way I am sometimes. I get hurt and I close down.” She lets out a big breath. “I know. It’s all kinds of screwed up.”
I laugh. “Join the club.”
A seductive smile sweeps across her face. Suddenly the heat in the room skyrockets. She walks over to me and pushes my dinner away. In one movement, she straddles my lap.
“I’ve wanted to do this for a long time,” she whispers, then presses her lips to mine. Her fingers find my hair and the soft spot behind
A door bangs upstairs. Footsteps sound on the floor above us. My heart spikes into my throat. Fuck. Her parents.
The door is like an alarm. Dalia shoots straight up. “Shit.”
She lets the blanket drop and scrambles for her clothes. She throws mine at me as footsteps come down the stairs.
A man with dark hair stands at the bottom step. I hold my jeans up to me. Dalia screams and dives for the blanket.
I have no words. No explanation. Because the scene explains everything. I take a step back.
“That’s right. Step away.” The man approaches, his face turning various shades of red, his chest puffing out. “Coward. How dare you?”
“Daddy!” Dalia cries.
For a moment, his attention flickers to his daughter. “Get your things and go up to your room right now.”
Obediently and shaking, she grabs her clothes and runs upstairs with the blanket wrapped around her. He takes another step toward me. “Do you have an explanation for this?” he asks, his voice cold and accusing.
“I know it looks bad, sir. We fell asleep…”
He winds up and punches me. The pain shoots through my head and I fall back.
“You’d better leave before I end up killing you.” He shakes, on the edge of losing it. “I don’t want to hear your lies.”
I whip on my jeans and leave. Shaking. My thoughts go to Dalia. Hoping she’ll be okay.
***
My energy deflates and I take my time jogging home. The thrill at my newfound realization, the letting go of the responsibility was cut short when I thought about the past. I have to completely let go of that first. But I don’t know how.
I slow to a walk close to home. A figure sits on the front step, hunched over, her head on her arms. The long brown hair is immediately recognizable. I move into a jog and stop right in front of her.
“Carly?” I don’t know what to expect. Tears? More heartache I can’t solve?
She lifts her head. “Hey. Sorry to barge in on you unannounced. I was only going to wait a few more minutes, hoping…”
“You wanna come in? Just give me a second to change.” The words slip out but my instinct is to send her home. I could easily do that but instead I’m determined to figure this out. Resolve the past by working on the present. Learn to trust again.
Upstairs, I slip into old jeans and a tee then go downstairs. A flurry of anticipation and nerves settles in my stomach. Not sure why she’s here.
“You hungry?” I open the freezer, pull out a frozen dinner and stick it in the microwave.
“Not really.” She’s playing with the ends of her hair, twirling it around a finger. She studies a nick in the table.
Silence falls between us and I flash back to our time at the ice cream parlor. This is like a repeat.
“I’m sorry for the other day, for shutting down like that,” she blurts. Her cheeks immediately blush. “You don’t have to talk about anything you don’t want to.”
I sit down and eat the lasagna and green beans, thinking. I don’t want to wait too long to respond. She hasn’t removed her bottom lip from between her teeth. “No, you had every right to be a little prickly.”
She pushes her hair away from her face. “I’m serious. It’s just that, well, I kinda like you and, well, that’s just the way I am sometimes. I get hurt and I close down.” She lets out a big breath. “I know. It’s all kinds of screwed up.”
I laugh. “Join the club.”
A seductive smile sweeps across her face. Suddenly the heat in the room skyrockets. She walks over to me and pushes my dinner away. In one movement, she straddles my lap.
“I’ve wanted to do this for a long time,” she whispers, then presses her lips to mine. Her fingers find my hair and the soft spot behind
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