Between Us

chapter twenty two

22

  It's been five days since I left the hospital, and I haven't heard from Liam at all. I'm not trying to be clingy (not that I really have anything to cling to), but doesn't he at least care?

  This is all I've been thinking about since I got home. Even though I've gotten back into school and am healing well, my mind is constantly on Liam. It's like an obsession, but I can't stop. I miss him.

There's only a week left of school until winter break, and I couldn't be more ready to be done with school for two and a half weeks. Besides, Mickey is supposed to be moving back here permanently during the first week of break, something we're both excited for.

  "Taryn! Get up, you'll be late to school!"

  I sigh as I sit up in my bed, my mom's voice travels up the stairs to my room. "I'm up!" I shout back, throwing my sheets off and standing up. I quickly put on a pair of jeans, a sweater, and converse before grabbing my backpack and running downstairs. Reed is sitting on the couch, half asleep, no longer having to be at school super early because football season is over.

I walk past my parents in the kitchen, giving them both a side hug. "Morning," I mumble, pouring some coffee into a mug and gulping it gratefully.

"Two minutes Taryn!" my brother shouts from the living room, even though there's no need to shout because there's an open floor plan and I can see the back of his head.

I roll my eyes and yell back. "Okay!"

I rinse my mug and set it in the sink, then go to leave the kitchen. "Wait, you're not going to eat?" Mom asks, stopping me at the doorway.

I shake my head. "No, I'm not hungry," I say. I try to continue on my way to my bathroom to brush my teeth real quick, but she stops me again.

"You're not hungry?" she repeats. I shake my head slowly. This is what I said, right? "Look, if this is about Liam then you need to get over it-"

"Oh my god, not this again! Not everything revolves around Liam. Stop making this out to more than it is! I am literally not hungry," I say, growing more and more pissed off. All they've been doing is assuming I'm upset about Liam (which, I am, but that's not the point) and telling me to get over it. As if we had something in the first place.

I storm off around her, snatching the keys to mine and Reed's car. I walk out the door, slamming it shut behind me. They're so infuriating! They've been coddling me the entire time I've been down because of the surgery and harassing me about Liam, and I'm so done!

I slide into the drivers seat, starting the car and turning the heat on full blast. The passenger door opens and Reed slides in, not saying much. He knows how much I hate being babied and continually harassed about things that don't matter anymore. "You alright to drive?" he asks.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath, inhaling and exhaling. I open my eyes again. "Yes," I answer, buckling my seatbelt. I put the car in reverse and back out of the driveway, heading to our school.

  As we make our way to the school, I glance at my brother and notice how quiet he's being. Usually he's always talking. "Reed, what's wrong?" I ask. "You're being weird."

  He glances at me, then looks away. "Nothing. Just tired," he says.

  I narrow my eyes. Reed's never been good at lying. "Uh huh," I say. "Right."