I can’t even begin to imagine what it feels like to be him, to live with the daily struggle of wanting to clear his head of everything that haunts him.
“But running with you helps and so does working at the bar. They’re all things that keep my mind busy and away from everything else,” he smiles again and I’m grateful to see that behind all the pain he can still find the good. “And you’re easy to hang out with, watching TV and talking, all that helps too.”
“I’m glad I can help,” I reply, again not wanting to push him, I let the conversation die there. “Speaking of, do you have time for a run today?”
“I don’t start until six tonight, so if we can get moving right away, I’ll still be back in time to shower and head over to the bar.
“Done.”
Our run lasts about an hour and Caleb is off to work just in time. I hate how boring the house feels without him. Lately it feels like Sienna and Reid are gone more often since he’s now back playing football. She’s been traveling with him to away games if her schedule will allow it. They’re supposed to be leaving again this weekend.
“Speak of the devil,” I call out when I hear the front door open and Sienna strolls into the kitchen.
“Speak of the devil? Why would you say that? You’re sitting in here by yourself. You talking to yourself again?” she jokes, narrowing her eyes at me as she sits down across from me at the kitchen table.
“I was just thinking about you leaving this weekend again. I miss hanging out.”
“I know. Me too. I think I’m going to tell Reid I’m not going and you and I can spend the weekend together,” Sienna says, pulling out her phone. “I’m gonna text Reid right now and let him know.”
“You sure he won’t be mad?” I ask, knowing how much time they spend together.
“I don’t give a shit if he’s mad,” she scoffs. “He’ll get over it if he is, but he won’t be. He knows better than to try to tell me what to do.”
The two of us laugh out loud. Reid can be stupidly over protective, but he still knows better than to try to control Sienna.
Her phone chimes out only seconds later and she flashes me the screen, the message reading, “No problem. Be good. Have fun. I’ll see you tonight after practice.”
“He’s pretty chill now,” she adds, smirking at her ability to control the once uncontrollable Reid Bowen.
“That’s because he was filled with rage over not being able to have you,” I tease. I used to give her so much shit about how Reid had a crush on her and that’s why he was such a dick. Typical boy drama. It would be nice if they could just get their shit together and admit when they like us.
“I will admit that maybe all your analyzing of mine and Reid’s relationship was slightly accurate,” she confesses and I slam a hand down on the table.
“Holy shit! Did you just admit I was right?”
“Sorta, but don’t go getting a big head. Looking back now, it’s clear that unrequited love will really wear you down and stress you out.”
How can I not agree with her? I feel like what I have with Caleb is already wearing on me and it’s nothing in comparison to what her and Reid dealt with.
But I turn our focus back to the weekend and what we can do to spend more time together. Like always we don’t have a ton of money and the usual shit feels boring and lame. Keg parties and bar hops are great, but I would like to do something bigger and better. Something where we aren’t yelling to have a conversation and dodging the advances of boys smelling like weed and stale beer.
“Hey! You know what? I should call Mila and see if she wants to drive down and hang out with us this weekend!”
“Oh, yes!” Sienna shouts in agreement, clapping her hands.
My sister Mila is a year younger than me and we’ve always been close. I have to say I was super disappointed when she opted not to go to Hawthorn, instead choosing a school up near where we grew up. I knew it wouldn’t last long though. While being that close to our parents has its perks, it also has some huge drawbacks, like our parents just randomly popping in for visits.
Mila has always been the wilder of the two of us and has started to see the error of her ways. She’ll be transferring to Hawthorn in January because you can only have your parents show up at your dorm room so many times before it becomes intrusive. I also think they caught her with a few too many boys and began to question if she was really there to get an education.
“I’ll give her a call now and see if she can swing it,” I tell Sienna, pulling up Mila’s name and clicking over to speakerphone.
“Hello, Ruby,” she says, the annoyance in her voice evident and I’m sure I’ve interrupted something, but she wouldn’t dare not answer my call.
“You busy?” I ask.
“Well, that depends on your definition of busy. If by busy you mean I’m dry shaving my legs so I can hook up with a guy I met at the grocery store, then yes, I’m busy.”
“Okay, so you’re not really busy,” I reply, giving her shit. “Listen, Sie and I wanna know if you want to drive down and stay with us this weekend. Reid has an away game and we’re thinking of being stupid and having some fun.”
“For sure!” she yells out, making Sienna let out a whoop of excitement too. “I’ll ditch class on Friday and head there right after my last class on Thursday.”
“Oh my god! We’ll get to see you in two days!” I call out. The last time I was home was in August and that was the last time I saw Mila. We pretty much talk every day, but seeing each other has been hard with her about seven hours from Hawthorn.
“I can’t wait!” she responds with just as much enthusiasm. “You sure you have enough room for me there?” Her question isn’t necessarily something that has an honest answer. Our small house is already feeling the pressure of four people living here, but one more for the weekend won’t matter.
“Oh, yeah, there’s plenty,” I tell her, even though it has gotten substantially more crowded with Caleb living here and Reid basically moving in.
“Your sister has been sharing a bed with my brother,” Sienna announces making it sound far more seductive than it really is.
“What!?” Mila shouts, her words loud even through the phone. “You’re hooking up with your new roommate?”
“No! It’s nothing like that! He’s been sleeping on the couch and he kinda…” I trail off, not sure how to explain things. I haven’t told Mila about Caleb’s issues and why he’s here. I just left it at Sie and Caleb losing the bar and him having nowhere to live. “No one wants to sleep on the couch for an extended period of time.”
“Whatever you gotta tell yourself,” Mila jokes.
“I’m not telling myself anything. That’s the truth. I just felt bad about him having to sleep on the couch knowing he’s going to be here for a while. It felt shitty.”
“Mmm hmm. I never pegged you as the type of girl to hook up with her roommate. That sorta feels like more my thing,” she shoots back.
“Everything is your thing, Mila,” I say, annoyed with her teasing.
“My brother claims nothing is happening too, but I’m finding it hard to believe. The two of them together would be so fucking hot,” Sienna adds as they both join together to gang up on me.