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CHAPTER THREE ━━ LOST BOYS, FOUND GIRLS
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The drive to school was actually enjoyable. Matt could be funny when he wanted to be. And he had good taste in music, too. Tears for Fears and Elton John and Bowie ━━ no matter what song came on, Matt was singing it. And Sydney joined in. It was almost normal. Father and Daughter laughing, singing terribly offkey and mimicking background vocals in silly voices. He had the windows of his truck rolled all the way down, arm dangling out of the window until he took a drag from the cigarette between his fingers, and Sydney was smiling pretty much the entire ride there.
And then they reached Hawkins High, Matt parking right by the entrance, and the music stopped. They both sat in a barren stretch of silence, trying to comprehend the past 20 minutes of feeling content and just easy. In the absence of raw eggs, hostility and 16 years of rue, they got along. Matt didn't have to try painstakingly to get her to laugh ━━ it was just effortless. Forlornly, he wished this could've been her whole life. If he knew the kind of smiles it'd earn him, Matt would've been driving her to school every single day.
"Well," said Sydney, shattering the silence, "I should..."
"Right, yeah," agreed Matt with an emphatic nod. "Education is important."
Sydney's lips twitched a bit. "I'll ━━ I'll see you at home."
Home. Had she ever called it that before? Home to Sydney was Loch Nora ━━ that big fancy house with the heated swimming pool and an entire room just for Christine to do work in. Since when was home Matt's cabin on the filthy shore of Lover's Lake?
"Yes. See you then."
Sydney went to lean over the console and hug him, but she hesitated. Had she ever hugged her father? Sure, he had held her as a baby ━━ there was photographic evidence. But Sydney meant actually hug him. Feel the hummingbird of his heart against her ear as he held her in a way that made her feel safe. No. Matt had never hugged her like that.
