I'll Always See You

Chapter 11 - Sand Dollars and Storms

Matt was talking loudly on the phone and pacing throughout the house when I came downstairs Monday morning. Grayson was already on the couch in the living room, idly thumbing through one of the magazines Dad let collect on our coffee table. I plopped down into the chair across from him cross-legged, nodded a silent what's-up and started going through my backpack. Matt finished up in another minute after I started waving at him and mouthing that we'd be late.

I stood up and zipped my pack up when he pulled the phone away from his ear finally and turned it off, slipping it into his back pocket. "Who was that?" I grinned, hoping to have some ammunition to tease him about. "A girl?"

He shrugged but the unusual look in his eyes said something different. I narrowed my eyes. "Matt? Who was that? Is everything fine?"

He looked up to meet my gaze and I could somehow feel Grayson's presence as he walked up to a few feet behind me. "It was Mom," he said, shrugging again.

The words died on my tongue. "Oh," I said, trying to sound as disinterested as possible. "What'd she need?"

"She was just calling to say hello. She said she's in Florida now," Matt answered.

I nodded slowly. I didn't have to say what was written all over Matt's face. Mom never called me. When she wanted to feel like she'd gotten her valid dose of parenting in, she'd call Matt and say she loved him and 'hello'. Ask him about his grades every few quarters. I quickly swallowed past a painful lump in my throat but remained calm outwardly. "Must be hot down there."

"She said her apartment at least has AC," Matt replied, an awkward silence permeating the air and straining it slightly. Matt looked up at me again with some sort of sadness for me in his eyes that I wanted desperately to wash away with a fire hose or something of the sort. "She, uh, said to say hi to you and wanted to know how you're doing."

Matt's hesitation coupled with his lowered voice and my own experiences told me everything I needed to know. Mom hadn't asked anything of the sort or wanted to say a damn thing to me. Matt had always been a terrible liar but I knew he had the best of intentions. I nodded again. "That's nice of her." I adjusted my jacket and turned, walking towards the door. "Let's go before we're late!" I tossed over my shoulder.

They followed me out to the car silently and Matt didn't protest when I grabbed his keys from him and got behind the wheel, even though it was technically his day to drive. There wasn't much conversation on the ride there, which I was both grateful for and also felt like a bad thing. I didn't want Matt to see me bothered about Mom, and I definitely didn't want to see any look of pity in Grayson's eyes, which I had carefully avoided looking at. Weakness wasn't a good thing, I reminded myself. The only world it opens you up to is a whole world of hurt.

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I succeeded in banishing the thought of my mother from my mind throughout the day. I was so successful that not even perceptive Lisanne picked up on anything being wrong; as far as I could tell. She sat with me at lunch, pulling us over to a different table than the boys so she could tell me about her weekend with James.

I laughed as she wrapped up her story. "So basically, you're telling me...you dumped him while he was literally on his ass in the dirt. That's too good to be true."

She grinned at me and picked up her drink, innocently taking a sip and then setting it back down. "Oh, it was totally too good to be true. I told him that he was a dumbass if he thought I hadn't already been playing the field and that open relationships were for men too juvenile to be able to handle one woman. Plus, they're gross, but I left that part out."

"I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to have these problems until at least college," I said, chewing on a sandwich and listening intently.

"Eh. Beauty hurts, they say. I don't know who, but they say it." She shrugged, suddenly smiling. "But it's just the price I pay," she said in a sing-song voice.