“I’m not finished.” Her words are stern and forceful.
I shut up. My tears ducts are drying up. Rosa always has a way of making me feel better. I’m a puzzle with missing pieces and she’s putting me back together again.
“Best friends remind you that you’re a beautiful, amazing, person who deserves a guy who’s just as devoted to you as you are to him. You deserve to be his one and only.” She gazes intensely into my eyes and I smile. “Finally, best friends have each other’s backs no matter what and no matter how this whole Henry thing turns out, I’ll support you. Even if I don’t agree with it.”
“Thank you.”
A soft smirk appears on her lips. “No problem.”
She releases me and we turn, heading down the driveway toward the booger. “And another thing,” she states and I look at her. “If he really is back with Callie, don’t worry about killing him because I’ll kill him first.”
Chapter 16
“Love has features which pierce all hearts, he wears a bandage which conceals the faults of those beloved. He has wings, he comes quickly and flies away the same.”~ Voltaire ~
Saturday comes. An early morning gust of wind whirls through my window and carries the scent of autumn in with it.
I’m not ready for the seasons to change from summer to fall. I’m not ready for change, period.
There’s a bite of chill from the wind hovering above my bed. It stings my cheeks and I shiver. My eyelids flutter open as goose bumps line my skin. I look over at Rosa. She’s hogging the blanket. Then I stumble out of bed, over to the window and close it with a growl.
Leaving my window open is a habit I’m going to have to learn how to break. Henry is a habit I’m going to have to learn how to break.
I’ve heard it takes twenty-eight days to break a habit. If that’s true, I’m certain the twenty-eight days I have ahead of me will be the most torturous and grueling twenty-eight days of my life.
Before sliding back into my bed, I check my cell. No missed calls. No texts.
It’s over, I tell myself. Stop thinking about him. But that’s easier said than done.
Henry made feel special. He made me feel fearless. He made me feel loved.
As I climb back into bed, I yank the blanket away from Rosa. She groans rolls over, and plows the heel of her hand into my shoulder. Searing pain spreads across my arm and I wince. I express how the pain feels silently so that I don’t wake her up.
After lying in bed awake for a while, I decide I can’t lie there and listen to Rosa’s light snoring anymore. I get up and go downstairs.
Metal gleams from the kitchen and casts a dancing light along the walls of the hallway. Our stainless steel refrigerator comes into view and a white piece of paper is hanging on the top by potato chip magnet.
I’m still freezing and I read the note as I rub the warmth back into my arms.
Riley,
Had to go into the office. I’ll be home a little later.
Love you, Mom.
I’m glad she’s not home. She’d notice that I’m upset and she’d want to know what’s wrong with me. I don’t feel like explaining nor do I want to.
Rosa grunts behind me. I look over my shoulder and she’s stretching. “Good morning, sleeping beauty.”
She laughs and runs her fingers through her bed-head hair. “I know.”
I turn back around, tug on the fridge door, and examine our options for breakfast. “You hungry?”
“Meh. I usually just have coffee.”
I pull out the milk and grab the frosted flakes from the top of the fridge. “Okay, I’ll make a pot.”
Rosa nurses her cup of coffee and I sit down across from her with my bowl of cereal. A lawnmower buzzes and I catch a glimpse of my neighbor riding around his yard. I can practically smell the musty fresh cut grass from where I’m sitting and my heart feels heavy.