Broken

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Time flew by while I was in New York. I spent time with Dad. He showed me his work and a little bit of New York City. He's a hard worker, that's for sure. He put a lot of work into his business. He took me to some of his favorite places in the city, including an amazing burger place that he swears is the only substitute for George's Diner.

"What did I tell you?" he asked after I tried my burger.

"This is really good," I said.

"Nothing but the best my city has to offer," he said. I gave a half-hearted smile to him. "You do like it here, don't you?" He isn't expecting me to say I just love it, right? I mean, New York City is a fun place. In my mind, it would always just be a fun place to visit though. There were too many people and not enough people to actually know.

"Yeah, it's nice," I said.

"But it isn't Bridge Wood?" He asked.

I shook my head, "How did you just up and leave Bridge Wood? After you had lived there your whole life, how could you just leave?"

Dad shrugged, "I don't know. I was here for college and I was angry at Mom. I guess I just started living life here and I made it my home."

"I just...I don't think I could ever leave Bridge Wood for good," I said. I took a sip of my drink. We were sitting at a small table in the corner of the burger place. It was busy, but our little corner was quiet enough. "I am scared to go back though."

"Why?" asked Dad.

"Because...she's not there anymore and..." I said as I looked down. "I know I've been living in the house by myself, but now its like I'm actually living alone. I'm alone there."

"No, you aren't," said Dad. "Erica and I are always just a call away and you have all your friends. You have Justin."

"I know," I said. It was Thursday and guilt were already washing my mind. I was missing the football game and I had not talked to Justin since my first day here. We had texted here and there, but not a real conversation. Tomorrow would be the first game I had missed since freshmen year.

Dad had quickly changed the subject and we began talking about anything and everything. We were closer, and I was happy about that. It was nice to have him in my life. I bonded with Erica too. After balling my eyes out in her office, she gave me a tour of the campus and it was nice. Their math department was nice, and it had me wondering if that could be my future.

"How are you feeling?" asked Dad as we were walking down the street. We had just left the restaurant as it was getting busy and were now weaving through the crowded sidewalk.

"I'm fine," I said quickly.

"Erica told me about what happened when you went to work with her this morning," he said. He was not looking at me, but ahead of us. I knew he wanted me to respond, but I was unsure of how. Did he want me to tell him I was better now or just admit that it hurt, and it would for a long time? Was he just trying to do the dad thing?

"Yeah?" I responded.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked. "I...I usually don't talk about things like this, but if you need to...we can. I know people deal with things like this in different ways and..."

"We don't have to talk about it," I said. "I think I will just feel better with time. I'm already feeling a little better. It's been nice to be here. I'm glad I'm getting to know Erica and you."

"Me too," said Dad. "Do you want to do anything else or do you want to go home?"

"Let's go home," I said.