Love, Scars, & Shooting Stars

Chapter Fifty-Three

Finn pulled his legs in to his chest and retreated into the shadowy alcove of the library's stone entryway, wishing he could make himself so small that he would simply disappear.

I should have known better than to get my hopes up, he thought, drying his eyes on the back of his hand. I should have known she'd find a way to ruin it!

His mother had sent his father away—Finn had heard it himself—and then she'd tried to lie her way out of it! Did she really think he was that stupid? He'd talked to his dad on Thursday morning about the trip, and he'd been looking forward to it just as much as Finn was, so there was no way that his mom was telling the truth! Maybe she'd been lying about his dad all along. Maybe she'd sent him away the first time, too.

The scuff of footsteps on the stone steps caught Finn's attention, and he shrank further back into the shadows and held his breath, hoping that whoever it was would realize that the library was closed and leave without noticing him.

A man stepped into the alcove and pulled on the heavy wooden door. He cursed under his breath when he found the door locked, and Finn immediately recognized Cameron's voice. Great. His mother probably had the police out looking for him, too.

"They close early on Fridays," Finn said, reluctantly scooting out from the shadows as Cameron whirled around. "It's the librarian's bridge night, I think."

Cameron sighed. "Well, so much for my book report," he ventured, but Finn wasn't in the mood for jokes. Cam pressed his lips together and bobbed his head slowly, apparently rethinking his approach. Finally, he motioned to the stone slab floor where Finn was sitting. "Mind if I join you?"

The last thing Finn wanted was company, but he didn't want to be rude, either. Besides, it wasn't Cameron's fault that his father was gone, so Finn shrugged one shoulder and scooted over to make room. Cam sat down with his back to the stone wall, his legs stretched out in front of him. A ragged length of cloth was wrapped around his right hand, and there were smudges of what looked to be blood on the leg of his jeans. Finn wondered if he'd cut himself on the meat slicer at work that day, but something told him not to ask, so he looked away and pretended not to notice. For a long moment, neither of them spoke. It was Cameron who finally broke the silence.

"Are you okay?"

"Hmm, what do you think?"

Cam sort of smiled. "Yeah, I guess that was a pretty dumb question, wasn't it?"

"s'okay," he shrugged, remorseful of his smartass comment. Still, he couldn't bring himself to give the polite reply and say that he was 'fine', because he wasn't.

Cameron didn't push the issue. He just sat in silence for what seemed like forever, until Finn wondered if he was going to say anything at all, and then he finally spoke.

"Your mom didn't send him away, you know."

Tears flooded Finn's eyes and he curled into himself, arms wrapped around his shins as he pressed his forehead against his knees. Of course Cameron would believe her lies!

"Yes, she did," Finn insisted, his voice muffled within the cocoon of his body. "She told him to go away and never come back—I heard her!"

"He was already leaving," Cam told him. "I didn't hear everything that was said, but I do know that much. I don't think he was even going to say goodbye to you..."