Summer Sanders is going through it. The pressures of school are mounting, and her home life is completely falling apart. Feeling bored and lonely on a Saturday night, she decides to get buzzed and surprise her hookup buddy with her best lingerie. Th...
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I FINISHED THE last of my assignment and sent it off to my tutor for a review when Carter knocks on the guest room door and lets himself in.
He falls onto the bed causing it to shake from his impact.
"So how did it go?" I ask.
He doesn't look angry. His previous nerves look to be gone and replaced with a solemn resoluteness as he tells me how his conversation with his dad went.
It relieves me to hear the path they've created towards repairing their relationship. I can't help but think about my family and the steps we would need to take to become whole again. Unfortunately, as I think about it, I know deep down there's no love left to repair. Our only resolution would be an emotional and financial breakup.
I close my laptop and scoot up to him. "So what do we do now?"
"Are you done with your work for the day?" He asks.
"Yes."
"You sure?" He starts rubbing my shoulders. "Because you still look tense. I think we both need a distraction if we're gonna have a goodnight's sleep."
"Are you going to distract me first or am I going to distract you?" I smile.
He kisses my earlobe. "How about we distract each other at the same time?"
And that's what we spend half of the night doing. Putting aside all or stress and hardships to come together as one. The pillow was definitely needed this time.
***
We spend the last two days at the Reyes household rebuilding relationships and getting to know everyone better. We all go strawberry picking the next morning at a nearby local farm, even Mr. Reyes. He and Carter break apart from us at one point, and engage in a civil conversation for a few minutes.
When they come back, there's no lingering tension and we're all able to enjoy running through the fields and helping a panicked Jennifer stop Mila from devouring the strawberries before she gets the chance to thoroughly wash them.
After strawberry picking, Carter takes me to the park, where we spend time swinging on swings we're much too old for, and sliding down slides that could break apart from our weight.
He shows me the basketball court where he first started playing, and the rest of our time is spent dribbling the ball he brought back and forth and talking.
"Your birthday is coming up, you know," I say, throwing the ball towards him. "The big 21, are you excited?
He catches it and starts dribbling. "So excited. Can't wait to have my first drink."
I pause and look up at him and he bursts into laughter at my site.
"It's a joke." He raises his hands. "I do that sometimes."
