‘I think he’s going to die,’ Dylan says quietly.
And again, nothing.
I think Callie might have been wrong because there’s no way I’m not broken.
Chapter 18
#159 Don’t Panic When Things Get Brutally Ugly.
Callie
It’s the day after Thanksgiving and the house I grew up in is already sparkling with Christmas lights, a tree in need of decorating, and tons of cut-out snowflakes. My mother is one of those people who loves the holidays to the point where it might be an unhealthy obsession. However, after years and years of it, my brother, father, and I have learned to tolerate it. We’ve also learned how to avoid countless hours of trimming the tree with silver balls and tinsel.
‘I can’t believe she bought your lie this time,’ my brother Jackson says from the front seat of my father’s truck as he fidgets with the stereo. ‘Telling her we’re going to buy some replacement bulbs for the lights, even though all of them are up. I still can’t believe you actually took a couple of the bulbs out so some wouldn’t work.’
Jackson looks better than he used to; less stoner/pothead and more hipster. He’s been attending community college in Florida where my grandparents live and works as a manager at an electronic store. I’m glad to see him like this, instead of the druggie jerk he was when he had spent so much time with Caleb.
My father chuckles as he turns the wipers up a notch. ‘I’ve been having to get more creative with my excuses to get out of the house. Picking up Callie was a long one.’ He grins at me from over his shoulder. ‘And a good one, too.’
I smile back then watch the snowflakes splatter against the window. The snow hasn’t let up since he picked me up from Laramie three days ago. No one I knew was going that way and Kayden was worried his car wasn’t safe enough to get me there with how bad the roads have been. When I told my dad this, he not only got excited to come get me, but he also remarked what a great guy Kayden was for thinking of my safety.
‘You’ve been awfully quiet,’ my father says as he makes a right down Main Street.
‘That’s because she’s lovesick.’ Jackson smirks at me and I stick out my tongue.
‘Is that what it is?’ my father asks and I vow to get Jackson back for bringing this up. ‘Do you miss Kayden?’
‘Of course I miss him,’ I say, unzipping my coat because Jackson is overheating the car with how high he’s got the heater turned up. ‘But I’m always this quiet.’
‘That’s true,’ Jackson mumbles. He folds his arms and stares out the window at the buildings bordering the street. The town is small, but it’s the day after Thanksgiving and the sales the stores are having are causing havoc in the streets.
‘We should go snowboarding or something this weekend,’ Jackson suddenly says to me. I know what he’s doing. Ever since I told my family about what happened with Caleb on my twelfth birthday, Jackson has acted almost too nice. I think he feels guilty because Caleb was his friend and therefore was in the house because of him. I don’t blame him, though. It’s not like he knew it was going to happen. Caleb had everyone fooled.
‘I don’t really know how to snowboard,’ I admit as our dad turns into the busy parking lot of the hardware store located in the heart of the town. ‘And I don’t have a board.’
‘You can borrow my old one. And we’ll go down the small hill.’
I frown. ‘You mean the bunny hill?’
He unclicks his seatbelt. ‘See, you already know the lingo. You’ll be fine.’
I roll my eyes, but agree to go. Then the three of us hop out of the car and face the madness of the store. There’s so many people there that we have to stand in a line just to get in.
‘Wow, people are crazy,’ Jackson mumbles, tugging the hood of his coat over his head as we wait to get to the doors. ‘You should have thought of something else, Dad, that didn’t require going into stores.’
‘Yeah, you’re probably right,’ he agrees, putting on a pair of gloves. ‘But I panicked when she came at me with the inflatable Santa.’
I’m laughing at him when my phone vibrates from inside my pocket. I take it out as we move forward with the line, already guessing who the text is from.
And I’m right.
Kayden: So how’s it going?
Me: Super great, except for the whole avoid-crazy-mom thing turned into an enter-crazy-shopper thing.
Kayden: ???
Me: My dad makes up an excuse every year to get us out of the house while my mother goes mad ninja Christmas crazy on the house. But this time he didn’t put enough thought into it because he took us to the store. And people are nuts. There’s a line just to get into the store.