Ellie's boyfriend kissed her goodnight and disappeared without a trace, never to be seen again... until now.
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A week before their high school graduation, Austin and Ellie parted ways with a goodnight kiss, thinking they'd be seeing each...
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As soon as I opened the garage door, I could tell that my brother was up to something. The garage was cleared of any clutter, and he had three black garbage bags full of something near the front of the room.
We were kind of minimalists. One thing we had learned through all our moves was the fewer items we had, the easier it was to move. So the fact that he had three large bags of garbage was kind of alarming.
"What's going on?" I asked a bit reluctantly as soon as I stepped out of the car. I wasn't quite sure if I wanted to know the actual reason or not, although I suspected I already knew.
He straightened up, and I got a good look at him, which was another surprise. His beard was completely gone, and he wasn't wearing his glasses. It made him look more like me than ever before. Well, my old me. Now I had the non-shaved look, where it was just a short scruff across my face, and my hair was shorter and neater.
"I'm cleaning out."
That was obvious.
"I see that, but what are you throwing out? We had three bags worth of garbage lying around?"
He gave me a look I knew well. The one that said I was an idiot to question him.
"Shit we don't need. Some of my old clothes, papers, old towels, just old crap."
I nodded because what else could I do? It was what I expected. He was getting ready to move. It was as clear as day.
I hadn't thought we were at that point yet, so I'd either been ignoring the signs, or he hadn't told me the whole truth about everything. My guess would be on the second option.
"Alright," I told him. "I'll make dinner, and then I think we need to have a real talk."
His shoulders slumped a bit like he didn't want to.
"Yeah. Okay."
He stayed in the garage as I went inside the house to change. Bear followed closely behind me, like he knew something was bothering me, and it was. I'd hoped we'd have more time in Boston. I liked it here. The job especially, and the co-workers were nice enough.
I wasn't looking forward to starting over at a new place. To have to figure out new surroundings and safe routes. To have to get a new job, and meet new acquaintances.
Sometimes I really hated this life.
After changing into a plain white t-shirt and a pair of basketball shorts, I went downstairs to cook. Curry chicken and rice with a side of peas were on the menu.
I heard my brother go through the stuff on his desk as I added chicken to the frying pan, and for some reason that just added to my already annoyed mood.
"You better tell me exactly what's going on," I told him the second he stepped foot in the kitchen. "How urgent is it?"
He sighed as he slumped down onto the kitchen chair he usually sat on during dinner.
