The Summer of a Lifetime

chapter 30

Things were a bit different for a while at home after that.

Alexia and Lucas still live with us, but you'd never know it. They don't come out of their rooms very often.

They know that this is all for the best but they're still kind of sad. Because, no matter how crappy a parent is, you still love them no matter what, even if just a little.

My mother has been having to work way more to support us, so I've barely seen her.

My grandpa also came to live with us a few days ago, since my mom thought we needed someone around while she worked constantly.

He mostly just sat in his chair and stared sadly out the window. I asked my mom why he did that a lot, and she said that he just missed grandma. We never talked about that though.

One day, I was about to go play baseball, when my grandfather stopped me.

"Where ya goin' kiddo?" He asked with a smile.

"Just playing baseball with some of my friends," I told him, sitting on the floor and putting on my converse.

"You're just like your mother when she was younger. She didn't have many friends who were girls, she liked to play football with the boys," he smiled slightly at the memory.

I smiled at him and he continued talking, "I wouldn't want to make you late. Have fun," he said, smiling as I walked out the door.

I walked to the sandlot as I held my glove in my hand, and I waited for a second so I could walk with Andrew, but he didn't ever come out of his house.

I remembered that I was leaving pretty early and that he probably wouldn't be leaving yet, so I just walked to the field.

When I got there, I put a piece of gum in my mouth and walked to the dugout.

I was shocked to see Andrew there already, he was just staring down at his glove and distracting himself with it.

"What's wrong?" I asked softly, sitting beside him.

He looked surprised to see me, but only for a split second before he went back to messing with his mitt.

"Why are you here so early?" He asked, attempting to change the subject.

"I don't know, I just decided to leave earlier this morning. Now what's wrong?" I said a little more impatiently.

"That's weird, I thought you didn't really like waking up early," he said.

"Would you quit trying to change the subject?" I asked annoyed.

He sighed slightly.

"Come on, you can trust me. Just tell me what's wrong," I said softly, cupping his face and making him look at me.

He stared at me for a second, and his eyes looked a bit glossy.

He looked away, biting his trembling lip and breathing slowly.

"It's my parents. They're just...they're getting a divorce," he said softly.

Instantly, I could identify with his pain. I knew how much it sucked for your parents to divorce.

I quickly pulled him in and hugged him tightly, running my hands through his hair.

I felt his entire body shaking and heard him crying softly.

"I know this is hard," I said softly.

He wiped off his eyes and stared at the ground.

"Does it get any easier?" He whispered, the morning light shining on his face.

"It hurts a lot at first. And then after a long time, you start to get over it. You're finally able to live your life without thinking of it all the time. But, I'm not gonna lie to you, you'll probably do things or go places where you used to go all together and then you might get really sad. But, you're strong. I know you'll be okay," I said softly to him.

"I just don't get it. How do you love someone so much and then just...stop? How do you care for someone so much and one day just change your mind after years of being together? I thought once you got married you were supposed to love each other no matter what. I thought you were supposed to promise each other you'd always love each other. How can it all end like that?" He asked sadly.

"I don't know, I think maybe, some people are in love, and just aren't meant to be together," I muttered shrugging, "maybe they're just too alike to be together, or maybe the timing wasn't quite right."

He glanced at me and gave a soft smile, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.