Leaving Home (On Hold)

Chapter 7

“I miss you,” Kodi’s little soft voice came through the speaker and into my ear.

“I know little one. I miss you too,” I responded, my voice just as soft.

“Why can’t you come here?” she asked, sounding upset.

“I have school and my friends here,” I answered.

“We go to school here. You can, too.”

“It’s not the same Kodi. This is my last year and I want to graduate with my class.”

“But I want you here,” she said and I could hear her tears through the phone.

“I know honey, I know,” I answered, feeling tears of my own build up in my eyes.

She was silent for a while, but I could hear that she was crying. It broke my heart to listen to her tears and it was even worse when I thought about the fact that I’m the reason she’s crying.

“Hey sweetie, put Dad on the phone. I want to talk to him,” I requested after a few minutes, not being able to handle her tears anymore.

“Okay. I love you Kaysie,” she said, her voice slightly muffled through the tears.

“I love you Kodi,” I said, trying to keep her from noticing my own tears. If she knew I was crying, she’d feel bad for making me cry and that’s the last thing I wanted.

I could hear Kodi talking to Dad in the background and the phone being passes off.

“Hey sweetheart,” Dad said through the phone.

“Hi Daddy,” I responded in a voice barely above a whisper.

“What’s wrong honey?” he instantly asked, his voice filled with concern.

“Nothing. I just hate it when she cries,” I answered.

“I know sweetie. She’ll be okay. She’s just not used to being away from you,” Dad responded in a soothing voice, trying to make me feel better.

Dad and I continued to talk for another hour. He asked the usual questions about how I was doing and how everything was going for all of us and then he started telling me about England and the branch of the company that was being built. I listened enthusiastically. I had always loved hearing about the company. I loved the fact that my grandparents had started it from scratch and it had gotten so big so fast. I used to love it when I’d go into work with Dad. I’d spend the day going back and forth from office to office, visiting my different family members.

“Okay sweetheart, I have to go. Have fun this weekend and don’t get into too much trouble. I love you,” Dad said after I heard a phone ringing in the background. It was probably someone calling him about something to do with the company. Dad’s phone was always ringing, but not as much as my grandfathers’.

“Okay Daddy.  I will and I love you too,” I responded before hanging up the phone.

With a sigh, I set my phone back on my bed and turned back to my half-packed duffle bag to continue packing.

                Tomorrow is the last football game of the season and we were going camping to celebrate. The guys decided that after a long and hard season, they deserved a weekend away. We were leaving early Saturday morning and wouldn’t be back until Monday night since there was something going on Monday so there was no school. I was excited to go, especially when I found out that Aubree and Emery were going with us, too. It felt like it had been forever since I had seen my best friends and I didn’t like it one bit. Emery was bringing his new girlfriend as well, so that should be interesting. I knew who she was because I had seen her around campus before I moved in with the guys, but I didn’t actually know her. She seemed to make Emery happy so that’s all that mattered.