s e l f i s h

e i g h t

the ceremony was going a little longer than expected. my dad was sitting near the exit. as they were going on about how great we were and how we found ourselves, i was thinking about what happened earlier between matt and i.

at one point i was mad at him, he called me selfish, i ignored him, and now here we are sitting next to each other, not killing each other with our presence. i noticed him looking around every few minutes. i guess trying to find his parents. but every time he turned around, sadness was in his eyes. were they not here? why wouldn't they be?

soon enough, the ceremony did end, and we all went to find our parents. i had to tell my dad what had happened between matt and i. if i could make any sense of it to say the story out loud. i was making my way up the stairs towards the exit where i saw my dad. as i was heading up, i felt a light tap on my shoulder.

"hey, uhh, could i use your phone?" matt said, scratching the back of his neck. his parents must not have shown up. which i felt terrible.

"yea, let me go grab it. my dad's right up there," i said, pointing towards my dad. we made our way towards him, and he was looking at me in confusion. but there was something else in his facial expression. i couldn't quite pick what it was. did it look as if hopefulness? maybe.

"rose! come give your ol' papa bear a hug." he says. i smiled and wrapped my arms around him. it's crazy how much i had missed him. he was my world and everything more.

"hi, dad. i missed you. do you mind giving me my phone so my friend can call someone?" i asked. i didn't want to make it sound like i just wanted my phone back.

"of course. what's this fine young man's name?" he says, putting his hand out towards matt.

"oh uh matt," he says awkwardly. my dad took his hand to shake it.

"nice to meet ya. i'm chris," he says, smiling. after the awkward introduction, my dad gave me my phone. i opened it to the phone app and handed it to matt.

"don't lose me. i need it back," i said, giving off a light chuckle to let matt know i was joking. he gave me a small smile and nodded while walking toward a fence. the same one i found him sitting at earlier just farther down.

"so, who's the guy?" my dad says. he looked like a little kid on christmas morning.

"that's matt. it's a long story that i'll tell you on the way home. but we just became friends not even an hour ago." i say. he nods his head and says nothing more. matt started walking back and handing me my phone.

"she didn't answer. but thank you," matt said. i nodded, giving him a small smile. i turned my head towards my dad, and he looked like he was thinking.

"are you from around here? i could give you a ride." my dad said.

"oh uh, it's ok i can see if i can get a ride from someone i go to school with, but thank you." matt said, waving. i waved back, giving him a small smile.

"ready to go kiddo?" my dad says, bumping my shoulder.

"yea." we walked back to the campsite i was staying at for the last time to grab my stuff. on the way out i saw matt making his way towards his tent, which was next to mine.

"you sure you got a ride?" my dad asked. he looked up.

"honestly, no. but i've got it covered," matt said.

"if you need one, we can give you one, you know." matt nodded and headed inside. soon he came out with his stuff and set it on the step. he looked towards me as if asking if it's ok that he comes with us. i nodded.

"if you don't mind, it'd be greatly appreciated."

"not at all." my dad looks down at me, seeing if i was ok with it. i didn't know how closed off i was with people until then. both of them looked at me as if asking for entrance to my castle. i just gave him a slight nod.

"thank you," he says before going into his tent and grabbing the rest of his stuff.

"you know if you get uncomfortable with him around, tell me. ok?" dad says while putting his hand on my shoulder.

"ok, dad, i promise i'll be fine," i reassured him. he gave me a small smile.

"this boy could be the one you know. give him a chance," he says. i looked down thinking. matt has done nothing to me but want to know more about me. but all i've been is mean to him. because of an incident that happened years ago. that he couldn't help get me away. he didn't know, so how could he have helped.

"let's get this show on the road." my dad says. i mentally facepalmed and walked with him. matt was walking behind.

we lingered behind my dad as we went to the car. there is a question that's been bugging me since we left the ceremony. where was his mom or dad? why didn't they come?

"thanks for the ride again."

"no problem, what happened to your ride. if you don't mind me asking."

"i don't want to talk about it. but my mom must've forgotten when i came home," he says. i could tell just by the way he said it, it's a sensitive subject.

"let's get this show on the road." my dad says as we arrived to our car. we threw our stuff in the back and hopped in. i sat in the back with matt and played a game on my phone.

"do you want to try. it's like candy crush but you get to decorate using the stars you win." i said. he nodded and tried. he knew most of what to do since he was watching me play it for awhile.

"you must be addicted to it. you're on level 167." he said chuckling. i nodded.

"yea i got it the week before we left." i said. i started to get sleepy as the car was going. but there was nowhere to lean my head. so i just sat there until i couldn't keep my eyes opened any longer. i drifted off to sleep while matt was playing the game on my phone and my dad driving the car feeling every turn he took.

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word count~1126