Dizzy

Chapter 9

~Dylan~

I can't get over how weird yesterday was. I mean, it started because I can't stand to see a girl cry. When Ziah was all teary and mopey, I did the only thing any guy would—I tried to distract her so the tears would stop. I'm not the best with the whole opening up thing, but I figured pizza always works with me. So I gave it a shot.

And it actually wasn't so bad.

Not like I think we're friends or anything, but for a little while, I actually forgot I was just trying to distract her. Granted, today I'll do everything in my power to make myself remember it was just distraction. She's still the angry chick whose sister is ripping my brother away from me. And who also has an idiot of an ex-boyfriend.

"Lil D! Open up." Something pounds against my bedroom door.

"Go away!" I yell back at Derrick. I'm still pissed at him about this whole thing, and honestly, I'm not even sure what to say to him anymore. It's weird hanging out with him now, and I never expected it to be like that.

"No." He pushes inside.

"Don't make me kick your ass again."

He laughs, and I roll over to ignore him. "Come on. Get dressed. We're hanging out for a while."

I look up to see he's already dressed in a pair of cargo shorts and a button up shirt. "Oh, so you have time for me today? You pried your lips away from Lora long enough to talk with your brother?" Still, I find myself pushing up and getting out of bed.

Derrick rolls his eyes. "Grow up and come on. You're acting like a five-year-old."

I choose to ignore that. This is his fault, not mine. Once I'm in my bathroom, I strip and take a quick shower. When I'm ready, I jog down the stairs, half expecting to see Derrick and Lora surgically re-attached, but luckily, she's not here.

"So what's up? Why do you suddenly have time for me?"

Derrick groans. "Seriously, you're starting to piss me off."

I grab an apple out of the bowl and take a bite. "What a coincidence. You're doing the same thing to me."

He doesn't reply, but grabs his keys off the counter. I follow him, eating the apple as we go. I'll never admit it, but I'm excited to spend the day with him. I'm so over all this wedding stuff and just want to pretend things are the way they used to be.

We head to the driving range, which may sound like something eighty-year-olds do, but golfing is the shit. When Dad makes time for us, that's almost always what we do.

Over two buckets of balls, we challenge each other to see who can drive the farthest. Once we're out of balls, we head to the pizza place, and I pray to God they don't tell him I was here with Ziah yesterday. I don't know why, but I don't want him to know I actually don't hate her guts. It might come in handy later.

Luckily, Hank's at lunch, which is ironic as hell, if you ask me, since he works at a pizza place. We have our specialty, drink way too much soda, and then I beat him at a few video games. It feels like old times.

I can almost forget there's a Ziah or a Lora. I can pretend he's just here on break and not taking time off from school. I can forget that the one person who was there for me when our family fell apart has hardly had the time of day for me. I can almost forget that I've ever doubted the Gibson Boys.

Right now, it's still just us, and nothing is going to tear us apart like it did when I was younger.

"Where do you want to go next?" Derrick asks as we drive through town.