Forever Second

008

Dan and I were in the middle of eating breakfast when his phone rang. It had been two weeks since the party, the fight and my return.

You know how people say be careful what you wish for because it just might come true? Well, it’s accurate. I had wished for everything to go back to normal, and it had. Dan and I were close again and Phil was back to acting like I didn’t exist. I’ll admit that things were awkward at first, but that’s the thing about time. It really does heal all wounds. I know it’s a cliché thing to say, hell I never believed people when they said it, but after everything we had been through, it was nice to get some sense of normalcy back.

The first night I came back, the three of us had spent the day having a Supernatural marathon on Netflix. As the last few rays of light disappeared over the horizon, Dan stood up and announced he was going to bed. Phil and I protested until he reminded us that he had been awake for well over twenty-four hours. I groaned, conceding to his argument and kissed him goodnight.

Once he was out of the room I turned to Phil and thanked him immediately. His eyebrows scrunched together in confusion but he remained quiet.

“I mean it! Thank you.” I said again.

“Autumn you don’t have to, it’s okay. I know what you guys mean to each other and if it helps any, I’ll just pretend it didn’t happen.” He replied without looking at me. His eyes were lowered to the ground while he picked at a loose thread on his pants. Every time Phil was nervous about something, he always looked away and started picking at things with his hands.

My mouth hung open as I continued staring at him, my mind utterly blank. As soon as he said the words all my confidence and rational thought flew out of me, leaving me completely deflated. I closed my mouth and turned back to the TV.

“You want to continue with season two?” I asked, changing the subject.

“Yeah, lets go for it!” He replied with his normal enthusiasm. So we sat there watching it until I slumped sideways onto him and fell asleep. He was nowhere to be found when I woke up the next day, and I haven’t really properly talked to him since. Every time I’ve tried to start a conversation he just makes something up and leaves. I guess we can’t have everything we want.

“Hey Cassidy!” Dan said enthusiastically into his phone. He smiled at me and pointed to the phone forming the words ‘It’s her!’ with his mouth.

Confusion spread across my face and I searched through my memory until I realized who he must have been referring to—the girl at the party.

“Sure I’d love to! I can pick you up if you’d like and you can come hang out over here with us.” A pause. More than anything I wished I could hear the other half of the conversation. “Sounds like a plan Cass, I’ll see you soon!” He said hanging up.

“So I’m guessing party girl is coming over?” I asked casually as I pushed around the food on my plate with my fork. My appetite had completely disappeared and had been replaced with a giant knot of uneasiness in the pit of my stomach that churned continuously.

“Her name is Cassidy—and yes! She just got out of the facility today and I thought it’d be nice if she came to hang out.” His face was lit up with excitement, from his sparkling eyes to the huge grin on his face.

“Oh! Well okay. When are you going to pick her up?” I had gotten up from the table at that point and was rinsing off my plate in the sink.

“I’m actually heading there now. I’ll only be a few minutes; it’s just up the street. Can you do me a favor while I’m gone and wake Phil? I think it’d good for them to meet.”