“I would love that dad!” I told him honestly but then I thought more about it, “But where would I stay?” And if I lived in Paris, I wouldn’t be able to see James and I’d finally gotten him back.
“Well, you’d have an apartment while you studied there. I’ll be working a lot more in Europe next year and I’ll visit and stay with you and you can come see me on the weekends wherever I am, then you would get to see more of Europe as well,” he said, sounding more thrilled by the second.
“It all sounds too amazing, dad! I’ll definitely have to think about it,” I told him both overjoyed by the idea and overwhelmed.
“What’s there to think about!” He laughed and he was right, a week ago there wouldn’t have been a question in my mind but now all I could think about was James and what that would mean for us. I knew I was being beyond foolish.
When we got home, I went to my room and got ready for bed. James’ blinds were open and his lights on, I flicked on my light and waited by my window to see if he’d come and just like old times he did. He stood in his room in an old black Star Wars shirt and a pair of boxers, he waved and smiled at me, then he looked at his phone and a second later my phone was vibrating.
“Hello,” I said with a smile as I watched him from his window. He was grinning now to my surprise.
“Hey,” he said coolly. “How was your night? You were out for awhile,” he said, making me giggle, he’d been waiting for me.
“I went out for dinner with dad,” I explained. “It was really nice, weird but great,” I said, not knowing where to start. “How about you?”
“Me,” he paused, “I didn’t do much, I just hung out with the family and waited for my girl to get home,” he divulged, making my heart flutter. I laughed but I couldn’t stop the blush, I hoped he couldn’t see it from the distance. We talked well into the night, until we were both in our beds and under the covers and ready for sleep.
“We should really get to sleep,” I told him, when my eyes started to shut for the second time.
“Fine, but tomorrow after school we are having dinner at my place and then we are having a Star Wars marathon,” he stated cheerfully.
“It’s a date.” I smiled to myself. “Good night, James.”
“Night Mick, sweet dreams. I hope you sleep well,” he told me.
“You too,” I said and then let sleep take me.
School went by fast the next day, I really loved having James back in my life. The only part of my day that was uncomfortable was lunch, when Derek brought up our date, as he called it, on Saturday and when Laura showed up. I couldn’t stop the wave of jealousy that hit me as she put her hand on James’s chest and whispered in his ear. It made me nauseous but I didn’t let on, instead I directed my focus to Derek.
“Yeah, I can’t wait,” I told him and he smiled wide at that. “Text me the address, what time should I meet you there?” I asked, not feeling excited at all.
“Come by around noon,” he told me happily.
“Sounds good,” I agreed and looked over at James who wouldn’t meet my gaze.
James
The walk home with Mickey was quieter today. I was still angry about her going out with Derek tomorrow but there was no way I could say anything after I had been the one to encourage her to date the guy! I was so stupid! Why did I tell her to go out with him? It was killing me.
“So how long is your dad home for?” I asked, trying to find a safe topic, far away from tomorrow and Derek.
“He actually left today,” she said, her small smile turning into a frown. I took her hand and gave it a light squeeze. I couldn’t imagine how hard it must be to only have her dad and he was gone most of the time, leaving her in that house full of evil. At least when he was home, he kept them off her case.
“That was fast,” I said surprised.
“Yeah, he seemed kind of off while he was here, I think he’s got a lot going on at work,” she said, looking worried. “He told me when we graduate, that he’s going to pay for me to move to Paris and go to a professional pastry school,” she said, looking away from me now.
“Moving to Paris!” I exclaimed, frozen and unable to move. She stopped and looked at me now. I hadn’t meant to get so worked up, but the idea of her moving so far away from me left me pretty terrified. She looked into my eyes and took my hand, stroking the back of it with her thumb, calming me down with the simplest of actions.
Then softly she said, “Nothing’s decided yet.” She looked away again and whispered, “But what do I have to stay for?” I felt my heart stop in my chest. I’d lost her once and now I was going to lose her again, and again it would be my fault, for not letting her know how I really felt. I needed to let her know and I needed to do it soon, but first I had to get rid of Laura. Something I kept forgetting to do, I’d completely forgotten about her existence until she’d shown up unwelcomed at lunch, with everyone around. After Laura was dealt with, I had to make it clear to Gert and her drones that this wasn’t just part of some stupid prank, that
