Pushing Forward (Sequel to An Unlikely Duo)

Chapter 22: Finding Your Way Back

Warning I didn't have time to edit this!

Kayla's POV

The minute I realized my eyes were starting to tear up I jumped to my feet. Jake's arm fell off my shoulders and the sudden loss of contact left me feeling cold.

I would not cry in front of Jake or anyone for that matter. More importantly I would not cry over Andrew. Period.

"We should probably head back and call off the search" Jake held his hand out for me to pull him up off the sand.

"The search? What are you talking about?" I looked up at him confused.

"Paige, Angela, Jeremy, and Scott were out looking for you too" Jake shrugged as if I should've known they'd all be looking for me. Well looking back on it the odds of those five letting me go through anything hard on my own were slim to none.

What was going on? My dad who had been MIA for ten years was suddenly back in town. I skipped work, which was already starting to give me anxiety, and when all my friends decided I couldn't keep my composure alone it wasn't my boyfriend or any of my closest friends who found me: it was Jake.

I didn't have time to think about what that meant on some deeper level. I had too many other things on my mind. Well one thing. What was I going to do about Andrew?

I was busy pondering that and before I knew it Jake had picked up my surf board and was heading toward his truck.

"Hey I can carry that" I ran up beside him.

"Yeah yeah yeah you always say that when I help you. Save your strength for when you have to punch Andrew's stupid face in" Jake winked at me.

"Which is better my left or right hook?" it felt good to joke about the situation instead of worry about it.

I spent three hours that morning trying not to think about it, and I failed miserably. I had so many questions, questions I've had for years, and the only person who could answer them was finally back and he was the last person I wanted to talk to.

What was I supposed to tell Charlotte? It was hard enough for my mom and I to explain why all the other boys and girls had two parents and she only had one. Of course just like all little kids she had a million questions that all started popping up when she was about four.

Where's my daddy? Why did he leave us? Where is he now? Is he coming back? Did he leave because he didn't want me?

Each question broke my heart a little bit, but I knew it was worse for my mom. I was Charlotte's age when he left, but I still remember how upset she was those first few months.

I vividly remember listening outside her door when she was screaming into the phone. I didn't understand how someone could be so angry yet so sad at the same time.

She got through it though. She got a second job to pay the bills and made sure Charlotte and I always knew she loved us.

We bounced back, and we'd be stable and on our feet for years, but of course here was another curve ball. A wrench thrown in the works.

This was the last thing my mom needed.

By the time we got back to the volleyball beach I had decided I would call Andrew and tell him not to come back. My mom and Charlotte would never have to know. Would never have this weighing down their thoughts. That was the last thing they needed.

"Hey Kayla. Have you forgotten how to work the door handle?" Jeremy shouted through the window of Jake's truck.

I stuck my tongue out at him before climbing out of the car.

"The wayward child returns" Paige pulled me in for a hug.

"I was twenty minutes away. You all panic easily" I teased.

"Twenty minutes away young lady? That's supposed to reassure us. We were worried about you. Kayla Ryans didn't even follow her own plan. Work was part of the plan today and all of a sudden you're not there? When Kayla Ryans stops following her plans I assume the world is falling apart" Angela scolded me. Jeremy was grinning. I'm sure he found it refreshing not to be the target of her lectures for once.

Jer was always doing something lecture worthy. Not doing any of his homework, skipping his 8am class on Friday, eating ice cream for dinner, and snoring through movies we made him watch. That was how Angela and Jeremy worked, they were constantly fake bickering with each other over who knows what.

"I'm sorry for making you all worry, but hey you found me and I'm alive and well so there is no need to worry anymore" I gave them my best doe eyes smile hoping they'd forgive me. I didn't mean to make them worry, but I wasn't exactly thinking straight at the time.

"We didn't find you, Jake did" Scott pointed out. That was the first time he spoke since Jake and I got back.

I wanted to assure him that it was just a coincidence that Jake happened to find me, that Scott would've found me eventually, but I couldn't because that would be a lie. Scott wouldn't have found me at the beach because Scott didn't know that side of me. He didn't know I surfed. He didn't know it was my dad who taught me how to surf. He didn't know that my dad, Andrew, wasn't a part of my life and hadn't been for so long.

Well so what Scott didn't know the side of me that Jake new? He knew another side of me that Jake had never seen. The hospital side of me. I mean that was special right? It was the side of me that liked helping people, especially kids. Then again Jake saw that side of me at volleyball camp.

I shook my head to clear it from all these random thoughts zipping around.

"Jake was good at hide and seek as a child, I'm sure that's why" I joked trying to make light of the situation, but there was no laughter in Scott's eyes as he scowled at Jake. It was the same look that Jake was always giving Jeremy.

Couldn't people ever just smile at each other?

"Can we go get food? I'm starving" Jeremy whined.

"You're always hungry" Angela rolled her eyes at him.

"And you're always nagging me" Jeremy stuck his tongue out at her. We're a very mature bunch I know. I had a hard time reminding myself that we were all adults and had been for three years.

"Could you two knock it off? We all know this arguing is fake and you two just like getting on each other's nerves" Paige shoved them both toward the car so we could go get Jeremy some food.

"Why don't we go get Charlotte and then we can grab lunch" I suggested.

"I have to be somewhere, but I'll see you guys around" Jake waved before climbing back into his truck. It didn't cross my mind how awkward this must be for Jake. Hanging around with his ex- girlfriend, her friends, and her boyfriend.

Scott seemed noticeably relieved when Jake left, and I tried not to let that worry me.

We picked up Charlotte at day camp before heading to lunch.

Every single one of my friends loved Charlotte. Now that I think about it everyone loved Charlotte. Who wouldn't?

She spent the whole meal rambling on and on about who knows what. It wasn't every day that she had four "big kids" listening to her every word. It was chatterbox heaven.

Once Paige dropped us off at the house Charlotte told me she was going to go get the mail. I unlocked the door while she was down at the end of the driveway.

"Mom we're-" my shout was cut short when my eyes fell on my living room.

Andrew was sitting on the couch, our couch, talking to my mom.

Man people always seem to pop up at the most inconvenient times.

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