Song for the chapter: Your Ghost by Greg Laswell
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After we eat a good lunch, I tell him that I should probably head home to do some homework that is due tomorrow. He tries to pay for my meal, but I refuse to let him. He hugs me goodbye and I reluctantly hug back before we part our ways. Instead of going home, I go straight to Linley's.
I knock on the door twice before I am greeted by her mother. "Oh hello Allis," she says with a warm smile. "Lin is in her room." I thank her and make my way through their house.
"Hey babe, what's up?" She asks when I walk in. "How was lunch? Are you okay?"
"Well I would answer if you gave me the chance," I answer with an attempted smile. I sigh before speaking again and walk over to sit on her bed. She was picking up clothes around her room.
"Please don't say what I think you're going to say," she says before I can say anything.
"And what did you think I was going to say?" I ask.
"I miss Luke," she says, trying to mock my voice. How did she know me so well?
"Linley, it's not my fault." My face falls and I try to hold back the familiar tears that have become an everyday thing.
She walks over and sits next to me on the bed, throwing her arm around my shoulder. "I know Al, but you have to move on. As much as I wish they would, they're not coming back. Well they will come back, but they won't stay." I lean into her chest as the water begins to rim my eyes. Thinking of the boys coming home for a few days or weeks makes me sick. "Trust me, you don't want to be in a relationship like this anyways. Michael and I have been fighting a lot more than usual, and I miss him so much. It really sucks," she says quietly.
"Lin I don't want anyone besides Luke. We fought a lot anyways, I know that we could've handled it. I just don't even understand why he didn't want to at least give it a try," I manage to get out with only a few tears escaping.
"I don't know either babe, but he's an asshole for that. You don't need that in your life, you need someone who will treat you great. It's better to have someone here. Like...Nathan?" She says hesistantly.
"Oh stop. Nathan doesn't even know me, he couldn't possibly like me. We made out at a party when I was drunk and then we got lunch, that's it."
"Yeah but I know that he wants to get to know you and like you. He could really treat you right if you let him. I've known him for a long time." She rubs my shoulder, trying to make me feel better.
"How come you've never introduced us, and how come I've never seen him before?" I ask, sitting up to face her.
"We aren't as close as we used to be. And the only people I've hung out with in the past few months is you and the guys," she says as she wipes my cheeks where the tears have left their marks. "Just give it a chance, see where it goes. If you really don't like him after a couple of times of hanging out with him, then okay. But please, just promise me that you'll try?"
I guess I could hang out with him, what's the harm in doing that? It's not like I ever have plans anyways. Maybe he will actually help me get over Luke, I hope. "Fine," I sigh. She smiles and brings me into a hug.
Maybe Linley was right. It's been over four months, I needed to stop feeling so horrible all of the time. Especially about something that was never going to be fixed. If Luke wouldn't try to make things work, he wouldn't ever try. I had to realize that he wasn't coming back. No matter how much it hurt, I had to face the problem and learn to live with it. It was going to hurt, probably more and more everyday, but it was the sad truth.
Luke wasn't coming back, and I needed to move on.
