Sandcastles

Chapter Thirty

"Come on, there's got to be one good thing about being back." he says. His voice brings a smile to my face, even though there hasn't been much to be happy about lately.

"Better restaurants. Sushi. Don't have much of that back home." I admit with a sigh. I hold the phone between my cheek and shoulder as I tear more stuff out of the cardboard boxes.

"What about...seeing your old friends?" He asks.

"Never had many of those. Collins Creek was a first." I say. He groans on the other end.

"Well there has to be something else." He says. I take my phone and hold it to my ear just as I flop back on my old bed.

"Come see me. That'll make thing better." I say quietly.

"Sure, I'll be there in five minutes." He tells me with a chuckle. "But seriously, it won't be that long until you're home again. Until then, I guess we can just count down the days. Everyone here misses y'all already."

"By everyone, you mean your family?" I ask.

"Basically." He says. "Plus John Tyler. Look, I have practice in like thirty minutes. I need to get ready."

"Leaving me already, huh?" I ask with a small laugh. "Alright. I'll just talk to you later I guess?"

"I guess." Alexander says. "Bye."

"Bye." I say reluctantly before hanging up.

I groan and throw my phone on the other end of my bed. Bye? Bye? Don't normal couples say like "I love you" or something? Well, I guess we aren't really a couple. It's only been two days. Two days. If I feel this bad after only two days, I don't want to know how I'll feel after a week.

"Who was that?" Madeline's voice comes from my doorway. I take my hand away from my eyes and just glance at her. Did she even have to ask?

She sighs and flops down on my bed beside me. It's weird not having her in the same room to aggravate me all the time. However, she's still constantly in my room.

"I know. I miss John Tyler too." She says. "It sucks. But we have to make the best of it, right?"

"No." I say. "I just want to go home."

"Me too. But we can't. So guess what? We're going to live here and make the best damn time out of it whether you like it or not." She tells me.

I shake my head. I don't want to make a good time out of it. I just want to go home.

Dad's voice calls from downstairs for us to come eat dinner. I push myself up from my bed and trot downstairs. As usual, Dad hasn't cooked and Chinese takeout is laying across the counter. I grab a box of the food and sit down at the dinner table. Ben sits across from me, just staring and poking at the food in front of him. He's been unusually mute since we've been here. Dad takes his seat at the end and Madeline sits at the other end.

"So, how have you liked it back so far?" Dad asks us with a smile.

"Well, I really miss all the people you made me leave behind. Thanks a lot for that." I mumble under my breath. I almost think no one hears it when Ben slams his hand on the table.

"Stop acting like you're the only one who even misses somebody!" he nearly shouts. I'm shocked; this is the first time he's really talked to me, even if he is yelling.

"I'm so-"

"No you're not!" he spits out. He doesn't say anything else and just stares down at his plate.

Dad clears his throat and looks around awkwardly. We eat in silence; all of us are either feeling too mad or awkward to say anything.

After dinner, Madeline does the dishes while Ben and I go back upstairs. I take a shower in my own bathroom. That's one nice thing; we all have separate bathrooms again.