Parachute [Book 4]

Chapter 27 - This Christmas Song

“I’m so glad you’re back… did I tell you that?” Angie said as we walked up the steps of my house after Glee club that afternoon. She was swinging her house key on her finger, just like I used to do whenever I neared the front door.

“You’ve told me that like, fifty times, Ange. I also heard it from Melissa a lot this afternoon.” I laughed as I leaned against the rough brick wall by the door. The feeling of the brick felt so familiar, and I was shocked when I realized I missed leaning against it every day.

Angie shrugged as she shoved the key into the hole and turned it until the door opened. “I just missed you a lot… is that wrong?” She batted her eyelashes at me and pouted.

I leaned forward from my spot up against the brick wall and gave Angie a soft shove on the shoulder. “Not wrong at all; I missed you a lot, too.”

“Really?” Angie stepped into the house and pushed the door open wider, just for me to get through after her. I walked in and she pressed the door closed, locking it behind her. Mom was in the lounge room, reading, and she glanced up at me and Angie to wave joyfully before looking back down at her book. Angie set the keys down on the table as she spoke again. “I didn’t think you were actually missing me at all. I mean, you were happy in New York with Ryder so I just guessed-“

“Well you guessed wrong.” I grinned at Angie and pulled her into a tight hug, resting my head on her shoulder and giving her a squeeze around the waist. “I missed you and here a lot more than I thought I would.”

Angie dug her face into the crook of my neck and took in a deep breath, breathing it out again onto my shoulder. “I miss Jake still.” Angie whispered, almost inaudible.

I pushed her off of me and gripped onto her shoulders, forcing her to stand in front of me. She looked up at me again, her green eyes wide and her bottom lip between her teeth. “I mean, I’m so glad you’re back, Marley – more than glad, ecstatic – but I just… I miss Jake a lot too, and he hasn’t come back.”

Sighing heavily, I pulled her in for another hug and rubbed her back as comfortingly as possible. I knew what she was going through – I had been in her exact situation when Ryder was in Miami and I was back here.

Ryder. I had forgotten about how he and I were still fighting, and the second the realization came back to me, I felt like I had been hit in the face with a ton of bricks.

With all of the excitement that afternoon in Glee club and with all of the hype of being home, I had forgotten that Ryder and I were still pissed off at each other. I hadn’t even heard from him in the past couple of hours and it made me worried – where could he have gone?

“Mar?” Angie whispered in my ear, knocking me out of my daze. I pulled away from our hug and looked her in the eye, raising my eyebrow, asking her to continue. “How did you and Ryder remain together when he wasn’t here?”

I shrugged to myself and dug my hand into my jacket pocket. “I honestly don’t really know because it was so long ago… we’ve moved on from then, I guess. We’re sorting out other things now.”

Angie frowned at me and threw her bag off of back, onto the ground. “Other things?”

I immediately felt bad for bringing it up, feeling as if I had changed the subject direction to me too quickly. I waved it off instead of talking about it. “It’s nothing, Angie. Just a few problems Ryder and I are having, and I don’t really want to talk about it.”

Stepping backwards, Angie walked into the kitchen and opened up the refrigerator door, peeking inside. “Is that why you guys didn’t come into Glee club together?”