you said you won't leave

•2•

"Hi, how are you?" Caleb asks as he sits down next to me at the table.

"I'm doing good," I say. "And you?"

"I'm great," he says. "I'm sorry about last night though. I usually don't act the way I did. I was just a bit drunk."

I smile, "So you aren't like other guys?"

"What do you exactly mean by that?"

"All guys ever want is sex. I figured you were like all the rest of them," I say.

"No," he says. "Believe it or not I'm actually a big softie."

"Wow, I could have never imagined that one," I say. "I thought you would be like the rest."

"You were wrong," he says. He leans back in his chair, "So tell me about yourself."

"Well you already know my name," I say. "But I'm twenty years old and I live with my sister."

"Have you always lived in Cali?"

"Yes," I say. "My parents raised us here. I don't plan on leaving anytime soon though."

"Do your parents still live around here?"

"Uhm, actually, they both passed away."

"Oh," he says. "I'm so sorry. What happened to them?"

"My mother was shot in front of my father. My dad took it really hard and ended up killing himself."

"That's awful. I'm so sorry. Did they ever catch the person that killed her?"

"Not yet," I say. "But they are still trying to find the person. They know who it was, but they can't seem to locate him."

Telling him this shit sucks. Apparently his father never told him about anything. Caleb doesn't know shit. His father is the one that killed my mother, but he has no idea.

"I'm sorry," he says again. "I really hope that they catch the guy. Hopefully that will give you some type of closure."

I smile. "I hope so too." Caleb is actually a really nice guy. I thought he would be a dick, but he's very sweet. "But tell me about you now."

"Well I'm twenty one," he says. "I live with my father. We have always lived here in California."

"Do you have any other family members?"

"My mom left when I was super little. I haven't heard from her in forever. My dad is really the only person I have."

"At least you have him. Are you guys close?"

He smiles and takes a sip of his coffee, "We are very close. I'm really blessed to have someone like him."

"That's awesome," I say.

"So what is your sisters name?"

"Her name is Layla," I say. "She is twenty seven. She is like my literal best friend."

"I've always wanted to have a sibling," he says.

"It's actually pretty great," I say.

"So do you guys have your own house? Or an apartment?"

"We have our own house," I say. "After our parents died we lived with our uncle for a bit. We actually just bought the house two years ago."

"I'm sure it's a good time living with your best friend," he says.

I nod my head and I smile, "It really is a great time. There is never a dull moment. But what about you? Do you have any close friends?"

"I do," he says. "Those guys you saw last night our my best friends. I promise that they don't act the way they did last night on a regular basis either. They are super nice."