Drown in You

15. Your mother's earrings

I practically skipped home after Noah and I parted ways. Our meeting hadn't been earth shattering or life changing, but he wasn't mad at me anymore, which was exactly what I'd hoped for. As time passed our conversation grew more comfortable, and Noah impressed me yet again with his ability to make every day life seem funny. As for my awkward proposal, he'd asked me only a few questions about the last few years of my life. I held back from the full truth just a bit. Despite my best attempts to be open, it turned out I still wasn't ready to discuss some things. But if Noah had noticed any hesitation, he didn't push, which made me glad.

As I approached the door to the O'neil's, though, my good mood melted away. I checked my watch quickly- at least I hadn't missed dinner. When I opened the door, Carol's voice floated in immediately from the kitchen. "Will, is that you?"

Who else would it be? "Yeah."

I headed upstairs and threw down my bag, taking an extra second to shed my jeans in favor of sweatpants, a habit of mine since Carol had discovered my rather limited wardrobe a few weeks ago and insisted on buying me some more clothes.

Dinner began like most other days. Carol didn't bother following up on our phone call from earlier, instead asking Eliot the usual array of questions about his schoolwork and friends. I scarfed my food down quickly like usual, hoping to make it back upstairs before Bill got home, who I still hadn't stopped avoiding. I wasn't so lucky. The front door swung open when I was only about halfway through, and I knew there would be no escaping. Carol hated it when I threw out food. She said I was too skinny.

Bill seemed to be in a bad mood, which made things even more awkward for me at the table staring down at my plate and wishing I was invisible, fully aware of how irrational it was to feel so out of place. To automatically feel like his anger was towards me.

"What's wrong, honey?" Carol asked him as he collapsed into his chair with a sigh.

"Rough day in the office," he replied. "New client, their contract is a total mess. Going to be getting busy for us."

I didn't know exactly what Bill's job was, only that he was some sort of lawyer, but not the kind that worked in a court. Confusing.

"That's a shame," Carol said. "Eliot wanted you to play basketball with him."

"Mom..." Eliot groaned. I bit my lip. If I had a dad I'd kill for the chance to play sports together.

"You can play with Will," Bill said. I froze at the mention of my name.

"That's a wonderful idea," Carol beamed. "You two should go to the court sometime."

I snuck a glance at Eliot, who was already staring at me. I immediately looked away, but felt guilt crawl over me. It must be hard for him as a young kid to have to deal with someone like me taking away from their parents' undivided attention. And we'd barely spoken or gotten to know each other. Finally, I gave in.  "I'm free tomorrow."

•••

I met Eliot in front of the school, Noah on my tail. He'd asked me earlier if I was free after school, and when I told him what I'd be doing, he basically invited himself to come along. I wasn't about to say no to him after we just started talking again, so here we were. I only hoped Eliot didn't mind.

He turned to see us but didn't look surprised. "Let's just meet back up by 5. We should walk home together."

"You don't want to play?" I asked, confused.

Eliot rolled his eyes. "I can play without you guys. It's fine."

Not wanting to force myself somewhere I wasn't wanted, I opened my mouth to agree. Noah, on the other hand, had different thoughts. "No, we'll play," he smiled. "It'll be fun."