"half my life's in books ' written pages. live and learn from fools and from sages. you know it's true, all the things come back to you. "
- Aerosmith
Mobile, Alabama. Population: 192, 904
Addison Brooks overthi...
"What is she doing here?" I ask wide-eyed to my dad. Ashley is sitting with my dad at our table, just having a conversation, it seems. Dad knows some of the crap she's pulled (mainly glitter bombs and feathers in my locker) but, not the major stuff. I'm surprised he let her in.
"She came by wanting to talk to you, Addy, and I suggest you listen. I'm gonna let you guys talk, I'll be in the backyard straightening up," he says and leaves the room. I sit down in his place and give Gray a look, silently telling him to go in the kitchen or upstairs. I turn back to the problem facing me, literally. I get straight to the point.
"Why are you in my house?"
"I wanted to apologize."
Huh?
"Why? Where's Nat?"
"It's just me, Addy. Look, I shouldn't have said what I did at the store. I was way out of line and I shouldn't have done that," she explains. "I don't know where Nat is. After we left I dropped her off at her house, put my stuff away at mine, and drove here. Your dad said you had just left to get lunch, but he let me in and we talked for a bit. I told him I was sorry, too."
"Why do you feel sorry now? You didn't feel sorry when you gave me all those Weight Watchers ads or all the times you tripped me up in the hallways, so why now?"
"Look, Addy, there's a line in every circumstance, and I crossed it. Saying that stuff about Andrew really wasn't okay and then I thought about all the other stuff I've done, and I just can't do it anymore. You've done nothing to me and it's exhausting trying to keep up with Nat all the time anyways. I guess I was just jealous that you show up to a party with a cute new guy and I'm always stuck with gross manwhores that never stick around. I know you aren't dating or anything, and I'm not trying to like, swoop in or whatever, I'm just saying it wasn't a good reason and I'm sorry," she finishes. I'm speechless. Ashley Easton just apologized for everything she's done to me, and I'm about to accept it. Woah, slow down Addy.
It took a lot of guts to come knock on my front door and ask forgiveness from me and my father. I can tell just by the look on her face and the sincerity in her voice that she means every word she says.
"Look, Ashley, you suck at apologies but," I take a deep breath," yeah, I forgive you. I've been through too much crap to hold a grudge against anyone anymore. Are you still gonna hang out with Nat, though?"
"Addy, the way that Nat is to everyone at school and the way she is when she's with me is completely different. I really don't know why she's so awful to you. I just kind of went along with it. I'll try to figure it out and convince her to chill out, but until then, she's still my best friend," Ashley explains.
"It's fine, I guess. You came and apologized. That's all that matters," I say and stand up from my seat, tired of this conversation. She does the same and we make our way to the door so she can leave. Aaron and Gray are somewhere, probably my room, so we're unbothered.
"Thanks for listening, I'll try to find out what the deal is with Nat. I'll make this up to you, I swear, Addy." .....
"Well?" asks Gray.
"That happened. She apologized, I forgave her, she's gone. Are you staying when Uncle Robbie gets here?"
"Yeah, I probably will if it's fine with Aaron. I told my parents I'll be gone the whole day so it's cool."
"Alright so what's next on our list of things today? It's only like one o'clock," Aaron chimes in.
"I don't know. Y'all wanna eat first?"
Nobody answered, we just got off the bed and went down to the kitchen to eat the chicken we forgot about.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
We open up our boxes and while the boys start eating, I go grab my dad from the backyard. My mom must've joined him back there at some point, because she's sitting on the back deck talking with him while he cleans his grill. I slide open the glass doors and let them know that we're eating and they follow me inside.
"Uncle Robbie will be here this evening, so what are you guys gonna do in the meantime?" asks my dad.
"I was thinking we could go to the hardware store or something. My dad's been meaning to get some new bulbs for the lights above our counter and I think I want to pick them up today," Gray answers.
We all agree that it's a good idea and continue eating. My mom is pretty quiet throughout lunch. She smiles at some jokes and asks a few questions but other than that, she's silent. She's still grieving, though. I've done pretty well, considering it hasn't been long at all since Andrew was killed. My dad is just being strong for mom and I guess I am, too. She's always been the more emotional one while I'm usually stuck in my head.
Most of the time I let my emotions out late at night or in the early hours of the morning, when I miss him the most. Gray keeps me busy, and I'm grateful, but when he's not here I get lost in thought. My mind wanders to what could've happened if the traffic light would've turned red three seconds earlier, or if one person could've made the right decision. I know it's too late to hope for such things, but I can't help but wonder.
When I snap out of my thoughts, Gray and Aaron are staring at me.
"What?" I ask innocently.
"We said your name like nine times," answers Aaron. "You ready to go?"
I nod. We go back outside and climb up into the truck. While on the road, Aaron nudges me and motions for me to lean my ear close to his mouth. The radio is playing and Gray doesn't seem to notice.
"I think it's good we're doing this today. You seem like you need to be kept occupied."
"Why?"
"Addy, I know a ton about you from Gray. You're a thinker, I get it... But..." he trails off.
