The Sweep (Tsundere Male x Reader)

Chapter 24 END

"Hey Mom, I'm just calling to give you an update." I balance my phone in between my ear and shoulder while using my hands to gather up scattered paper and put them into a folder. I've put all my time into studying and have been getting good grades so far. I had to move into a new apartment building since it is now only me living here. Kyira had moved out a week after getting back. We both decided it would be better to forget about it, and we couldn't do that if we saw each other every day here with the memories of Ana and Tanaka in every room.

"So, I paid off all my tuition and I'll be graduating next week." I had worked every hour that I wasn't studying. Every second I had free, my mind would wander over to the sweep. My heart aches for my friends every passing day but I can't let it consume me. "I hope to see you and dad there." I haven't made any new friends during the past two years being alone, only a handful of acquaintances.

I set my school books back into my backpack and take my pen out of my hair that I used as a hair stick and put it in the front pocket of the backpack. I am done with classes in college, but I still tutor those who need it. Tomorrow is my last day of tutoring and then I will be free to work more and look for a job for my degree.

"I'm thinking about moving somewhere else. Somewhere more secluded that would need medical attention for cheaper." I don't want to be in a big city anymore. I want to be able to help people who can't afford expensive care. Switching the phone to my other shoulder, I place my bag by the door for tomorrow and get a snack from the fridge.

"Anyways, I don't want to keep you." My mom didn't answer the phone, so I have been talking to her answering machine. "I love you and Dad, have a good night. Call me tomorrow?" They are usually busy with their jobs, so we don't talk as often as I would like. I didn't realize how much I missed them until I lost the ones I missed. Life is valuable and I shouldn't take it for granted.

I hang up the phone and place it on the couch, turning on the television and zoning out in the planned programming. This is what I do. Watch T.V. to distract myself from the world, like how it was made to do. Tonight, I feel an immense sadness come over me. This happens once a month, where I didn't distract myself enough and I remember the past. It's been two years, but I still have flashbacks to that dreaded day. Then I remember the better nights before it and cry. The warmth I once had is gone and I just can't get over it. How do people recover?

I decide to call it an early night and go to sleep. I refuse to see a professional about this because they'd think I was crazy. A secret group of islands that make girls compete for the love of five guys? Crazy! I lay my head down and shut my eyes, trying to think of anything other than my past. I think of my future, helping people who need me. That is where I need to be; with people who need me.

After my graduation day, I spend my last night at my apartment finishing packing. I am going to drive somewhere new. I don't know where I am going to go, but I saved up enough to travel around to figure out where I belong. I've always wondered if I could fly myself back to the islands, but everywhere online that I have checked, no such plane exists. Ana was the one who planned everything, so it must have been a special trip there made for us.

My room is the last place to look for things to bring with me. I have a nice SUV to put any necessities I want to bring, anything else will be moved into my parent's house or given away. The room is empty except for a bed where they will take it later for the guest room. I look under the bed and find my blue box of memories. I hate this box. This is where I kept everything from the island and I never looked in it since coming back. I was so angry that I threw everything in a box without looking at it and shoved it under my bed. I want to just make a fire pit outside and throw it in, but my landlord would be furious at me.