That boy on a Bike
That boy on a Bike
Chapter sixteen
It'd had been a few days since we'd all hung out. I hadn't talked to Matt since that day, and Jill went home a few days after. After that, Matt seemed to loose interest in me. I had my luggage on the front porch with me. I looked around the dilapidated house that I'd stayed in for most of the summer as a car pulled into the driveway. The black lexes pulled in and honked a horn. It was my dad. I'd waited for this moment the moment I'd gotten here, and yet there was an unhappiness that settled inside me. I hadn't said goodbye to Matt…I hadn't made things right with Nadine or any of the girl from the party or Kyle. I just felt I was leaving things incomplete, but no one here seemed to want to make things right with me, so I felt that it wasn't me who had to make things right here. It was their decision. I took my suitcases, which weren't hard to pack because Id never fully unpacked, in my hand and walked down the stairs that creaked on the way down.
"Bye, sweetie." Camille said. Now she was nice to me…when I had to leave. I felt that was slightly ironic.
"Bye. Thanks, you know, for everything." I smiled a weak smile at her and she nodded. I leaned down to Terri who I thought would look more disappointed. She just looked out of it and smiled at me.
"Bye." She said. I tried to give her a hug but she just shrugged away. Decklan and Bernie weren't outside but I said my goodbyes to them before I went outside. It was foggy and misty outside and my dad came out of the car with a smile.
"Pumpkin!" He said as he picked me up and gave me a hug. He swung me around. "Lets go." He said as he looked to Camille.
"Thanks so much." He nodded. As we walked down to the car, I saw a boy on a bike ride up to the car.
"Dani!" Matt yelled.
"Matt?" I called. I knew it was him even though I asked. He was wearing plaid pajama bottoms and a white t-shirt with green converse. He came closer and his hair was messed up and ruffled at the top of his head.
"You're leaving?" He sighed.
"Yah…I am." I said. I looked into his blue eyes and somehow felt nothing. There was a time where I would have asked my dad to stay. But him not even trying to talk to me made me realize that he wasn't worth it. He wasn't worth my time. All the stuff he put me through…
He leaned in to kiss me. His breath soft on my cheek.
"I can't…" I said quietly as I backed away.
"Dani…" He sighed.
"I just…I can't." I turned around and walked away from Matt. The unhappiness dissolved and I felt good. My dad started the car without question and we were gone. Just…gone.
Epilogue/ author's note: I'm older now…I have a boyfriend and am going to the University of Washington. Even
Though I am older, and that was a while ago…I still remember everything like it was last summer. The feel of the warm summer nights still linger on my skin sometimes, and the blue eyes that once made me melt, haunt me in my dreams. Yes, I still wonder what could've been…what would have happened if I had kissed him…stayed in contact with him. But I've moved on. I know the story of that one summer ended quickly…but real life sometimes doesn't have a defined beginning, middle, and end. Things can end…just like that. And I know you're probably thinking "That Ending SUCKED!" but Reality isn't a story book, or a movie…no matter how hard we wish it to be, and it's not the end for me…yah, that ending sucked, but I'm at a new beginning. I wish things could've been different. But real life has unanswered questions…abrupt endings, and things we don't see coming. I've learned that and you can't live life on "What ifs" or "Maybes" because life in itself is a mystery. My dad never told me quite what went on with him…in fact he never told me at all. He didn't even bring it up and still doesn't. I guess that too, is a mystery. I still have so many questions that can't be answered. About life…about love. I'm not sure what love is, but I know that I came close…that summer, when I first met that boy on a bike.