Turns out, partying and lack of sleep over seven days catches up to you, and even a small nap on the plane wonât save you from that huge crash you knew was coming but hoped wouldnât. Dad said I was talking in circles when he found me lying on my freshly made bed and wanted to let me rest. So, he went to dinner without me and let me sleep it off.
I slept all night and all day. He let me know he had an emergency coachesâ meeting at five, and he wasnât sure when he would return. He told me he was sorry and to not wait up for him, promising we would do something together tomorrow before school on Monday. I shooed him away, told him his job is important and I still had some stuff I needed to unpack.
But now itâs after nine and Iâm wiredâ¦too awake and nothing to do. I tried Netflix. Thereâs only so much I havenât watched, and Iâm not interested in restarting anything.
I pull out an old book I found in the closet, but it isnât holding my interest. It isnât the bookâitâs me. More than anything, I want the last four years to have never existed. I want to go next door and hang out with Jace and play his Xbox with him. Like we used to.
I want to ride my bike down to the lake and use the rope swing, teasing Hunter that heâs chicken for not jumping in. I want to pick daisies with Roman, not that he would ever tell anyone. That had been our thing after his mom died. Sheâd loved daisies, and we would pick them and place them on her headstone in the cemetery.
I miss my old friends, my old life here. I want it back, and I have no idea where to start.
I hear the thumping of a bass outside. Peering out my bedroom window, I spot a few people I recognize from elementary school. Thereâs a party next door. We never used to have parties like that. And now Jace is throwing one, knowing Iâm here and intentionally not inviting me.
Itâs like Jace wrote me completely off. All the memories of us, how we used to be, are flooding back now I have returned. And Iâve been feeling more emotions in the last twenty-four hours than I had in the last four years.