Sunsets and storms ✓

Chapter 15

MEGAN

Right when Matthew said he wanted to forget about everything going on, I knew where to take him. There's one place on this island that always lets me forget about all of my worries, no matter how bad. I don't know what Matthew's going through, but I hope he can forget about it for an hour or so at least.

"Okay, we're here."

I park in one of the spaces near the edge of the road. It was only a fifteen minute drive here, but with the sun high in the sky I prefer driving over walking here. We get out of the car and I lead the way to the other side of the street, to the cliffs. They aren't high at this point, just a few meters above the water. There's a small beach on the top and I drop my towel on the sand as I quickly take off my sundress and sandals. Matthew looks at me as if I'm crazy. I ignore his look as I start running to the edge and jump straight into the water.

"Are you fucking crazy?!?"

That's the first thing I hear when I appear above the water again.

"You had me going mad for a second there."

"Come on, just get in already."

He disappears behind the cliff only to appear a few seconds later as he pushes himself off of the rocks into the air.

"This is amazing!"

"Told you so."

"Thanks for taking me here."

"No worries. Just let me know if I can do anything for you."

The rest of the afternoon we just swim around, not talking about whatever was bothering Matthew before. Only when the sky is starting to get cloudy we go back to the car. I wouldn't be surprised if it will rain for the rest of the day. When we get in the car, Matthew starts talking.

"It's my father. He's the reason I'm feeling like shit. He always is. We've always had a strained relationship but I'd go to him one weekend a month or so as a kid. At the end of high school I was dating this girl, Esme. We'd been dating for a year but as soon as we graduated she broke up with me. I lost all contact with her. Around the same time I turned eighteen and I stopped going to my dad every month."

I'm glad I haven't started driving yet. I feel like it wouldn't be safe to drive while listening to Matthew opening up. By the way he's looking outside, sitting tensed in the passenger seat, I can only imagine how much must be going to his head.

"When I went to see my dad during the second semester of my first year at uni he told me he had a girlfriend. I wasn't expecting Esme to walk through the door. She had been at my dad's in the time we were dating and apparently now she was dating my dad. I was angry, disgusted. I didn't talk much to my dad ever since. He said they saw each other at the store and they just matched. Two years later they were engaged. Worst of all was when they started calling Esme my stepmom. I refused to call her anything other than her name, I was not going to call someone my age anything with the word mom in it. However, my dad insisted. So, I gave him the choice between me or her and he chose her. That's the last I heard from them until my mum called me this morning and told me a wedding invitation arrived in the mail."

"Wow. I didn't know what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn't that. So, first of all, your father is dating your ex?"

"Yup..."

"Damn. I thought my father won worst father of the century but your definitely tops mine. Maybe you can send him a worst father trophy as a wedding gift."

I'm glad Matthew can laugh about my joke. I was a bit afraid he would take it wrong, but it's good he can already laugh about it. That's one thing I like about Matthew, how we have the same sense of humour.

"I'm just wondering if they really think I'm going to show up there. What am I going to do? Give a speech about the first time I met Esme? Well, that was when we met in English class when we were both fourteen. Must be a fun story right?"

This time it's me who's laughing. We continue joking about it until we get back to the house. Evan and Logan are already back when and Adele is bossing them around while they try to help her prepare dinner. They give me a hopeful look, probably expecting I'll put them out of their misery, but instead I tell them they look good in the aprons Adele must have forced them to wear and head to my room to shower. I don't look back but I can just imagine the looks on their faces by the way Matthew laughs.