Page 54 of That Summer
“Story of our lives. Big changes are coming.”
“Yes they are. And I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to it.”
“Me too.”
Chapter Thirteen
Saturday came and went at a slow crawl. Mountains of baked goods piled up on the kitchen counter. The sweet smell of chocolate, frosting, and snickerdoodles filled the air as Aurora thought of Lucas. Had he gone to the track early? At that very moment he was probably talking to Nate. Maybe finishing a race. Was the tension between him and his mom gone for the time he was at the track? Did he sleep there or at home? She felt bad that he couldn’t stay at her apartment, but she needed to catch her breath and figure things out.
She wiped the excess batter on the apron before picking up her phone. No check-in text. No missed phone call.
Damn.
She’d pushed back too hard and burned another relationship. Typing furiously, she hoped if she kept it light and casual, maybe things would be okay.
The text read: Hey… wondering how you did at the track tonight…
No response.
An hour later with the kitchen clean, the baked goods wrapped and stored in the freezer, she headed down the hall to bed. Radio silence from Lucas.
She climbed into bed and texted:
11:35 pm Hey… look… I’m sorry about freaking out last night. I want to talk to you about it, explain everything. Will you call me? I’d rather not do this over text.
11:45 pm I’m sorry you’ll have to spend time at your own house instead of here. I feel as though I’ve kicked you out of your home, and that’s not what I wanted. I just needed…
11:46 pm I needed space. I still do. I need the physical distance to work through my insecurities, to figure things out. Chris said to cut back on everything. No physio, no shrinks, no car homework. Thinks I overloaded and snapped. I did… haha. If you ask her, maybe she can explain.
11:48 pm Please understand. I still need you in my life but I need to work through a way to do it so it benefits us both instead of killing us both. Can you understand that?
11:50 pm I’m probably not making much sense. Call me. Let’s talk about this.
Sunday
2:02 pm Okay… you must be really mad at me. You didn’t even check-in like you normally do. Don’t worry, I stayed clean. But I miss you. Sunday lunch isn’t the same all alone. I made your fav in hopes you’d show up.
6:04 pm Seriously?
6:06 pm Nothing? You’re killing me here.
6:07 pm This isn’t like you… Are you really that upset with me?
6:12 pm How can I make it up to you? My door is open.
6:13 pm Not really, but you know what I mean.
Monday
10:25 am Dr N thinks it’s a good idea for us to talk in person. Cutting out the homework and everything else, shouldn’t include cutting you out too. And I don’t want to. I need you.
7:35 pm I miss you. It’s hard not talking to you, you know?
9:41 pm Guess you’re giving me the cold shoulder eh? I deserve that.
9:43 pm I’m so sorry. Will you at least text back and tell me you’re okay?
Tuesday