Sorry Doesn't Cut It

Tuli

Once we’d all woken up and had breakfast, my dad proposed a visit to Adam’s parents’ grave.

He’d been good friends with Adam’s parents before they passed away, so it felt right to pay our respects. Plus, Thanksgiving was Adam’s mom’s favorite holiday.

We all agreed it was a good idea.

We piled into the car, stopping by the store to grab some flowers on our way.

When we reached the cemetery, Daniel took the flowers, dad carried the water, and Megan held the clippers.

I found myself leading the group towards the grave. Megan tried to lighten the mood with a joke.

“What did the donut do when he rolled off the counter?”

“What?” Daniel asked.

“Nothing, he just kept on rolling,” Megan answered, giggling.

I laughed. “That’s a terrible joke!”

“But it made you laugh.”

I chuckled, then spotted a familiar head of brown hair. My heart jumped into my throat when I saw Jayce, remembering I hadn’t texted him back.

And then there was the small detail of the tiny fetus currently residing in my uterus.

I’d planned to tell him in person, but I meant after I returned home.

My panic subsided as I wondered: ~Why is he here?~

Our eyes met. To confirm it was him, I called out, “Jayce?”

“Uh, hey, baby,” he said, giving me a sheepish smile.

Something felt off.

I looked at the woman standing behind him. She looked a lot like him, with her long brown hair and chocolate eyes. I realized it was his sister.

But there was something eerily familiar about her.

My dad came up behind me and started to speak. “Oh, hey, Adam.”

As soon as he said the name, everything fell into place.

I couldn’t believe I hadn’t recognized him. But he had changed a lot. He was an emo teen before he vanished for nearly a decade.

Memories flooded back: the flowers, the gummy snakes, the chicken piccata.

How he knew my birthday and even about Pixie Town.

And the best part: every time I asked how he knew these things, he brushed me off. Every. Single. Time.

I glared at Jayce, or Adam, who was starting to look nervous.

“Wait. Adam?”

My dad seemed unfazed as he started to reply.

I wasn’t even listening. All I could think about was how this person, who had disappeared from my life, was back.

And he hadn’t had the courage to tell me the truth.

I was furious. Before I knew what I was doing, I rushed at him, my fist aimed at his face.

My punch landed on his left eye and he stumbled back.

Pain shot through my wrist and I screamed. “Fuck, my hand!”

Jayce—or Adam—I didn’t even know what to call him anymore—fell back, clutching his eye while I cried out in pain.

His sister rushed to help him, looking as confused as my family. I heard Jayce say, “Well, I deserved that,” as I held my injured hand to my chest.

Kiara was the first to react. “Hunter,” she told my dad, “give me the water.”

He stood there, stunned. Kiara rolled her eyes and took the water bottle from him. She came over to me and held out her hand. “Let me see.”

I gave her my hand and hissed in pain as she examined it, gently touching my knuckles.

“It doesn’t seem broken,” she said, sighing in relief. “But you did sprain it.” She handed me the water bottle. “It’s cold enough to help until we get home.”

She looked at my family, who were still frozen in shock.

“Come on, you three.”

Daniel shook his head and took Megan’s hand. Kiara and I followed, me gently pressing the cold water bottle to my hand.

I could hear Jayce talking with his sister in the background.

“She just punched you in the face!” she hissed. “We need to take you home and take care of that black eye.”

“I’d rather let it get infected than let her walk away, Janie,” he told her. “You just stay with the kids.”

I heard the grass rustle as he jogged to catch up with us. I just kept walking.

When he caught up, he tried to take the bottle from me. “Let me help you,” he murmured but I pulled away from him.

“No, thank you,” I said sharply.

“Tuli, I’m sorry.”

“Sorry doesn’t cut it, ~Jayce~. Not this time.”

“Please, give me a chance to explain.”

I ignored him as we reached the car. I got in, but my dad didn’t start the car. I looked at him. “Why aren’t we moving?”

“I’m giving him a chance to explain,” he replied. He then looked at Jayce. “Get in the car. We’ll talk about this when we get home.”

My mouth dropped open as Jayce got in. There was no room for him to sit anywhere but next to me, so he slid in. My heart raced from his proximity, but I ignored it.

No matter how I felt about being reunited with the person I missed most, he was a traitor.

The drive was silent and tense. Kiara and Megan were on their phones. Dad focused on the road.

Daniel stared at Jayce as if he’d never seen him before.

Jayce was quiet, looking down at his hands. I focused on easing the pain in my hand with the water bottle.

Jayce

As soon as we got to Hunter’s house, Tuli practically leaped out of the car, refusing to even glance my way.

I sighed. I understood why she was angry; I just wished she would let me help her.

Doing things one-handed isn’t a walk in the park. I was the last one to exit, and Kiara was there, arms crossed, waiting for me.

“Get inside,” she commanded, her tone firm. “We need to ice that eye of yours.”

I trailed behind her into the house, paying no mind to the scowl Daniel was shooting my way.

Once we were in the kitchen, Kiara motioned for me to take a seat at the table. I complied, sitting down and watching as she dug around in the freezer.

She emerged with two ice packs, shoving one into my hands. “Stay put,” she warned, her voice stern. “Or I’ll make sure your other eye matches this one.”

I grimaced, pressing the ice pack to my eye. “Understood, ma’am.”

She vanished for a bit, probably to deliver the other ice pack to Tuli, before making her way back to the kitchen.

“Alright. Care to tell me why my daughter felt the need to punch you in the face? I’ve got to start on dinner.”

She leaned against the counter, her arms folded. “Let’s get to it.”