In the Shadows

Part Twenty Three: the Last Day

    The weight was off my shoulders and yet I still felt sick to my stomach. The days that followed the talk with my parents were uncomfortably normal. My parents didn't talk at all about the things we said that day. To be honest, I don't think they knew how to bring it up. Though I was a little bit relieved to not have to revisit the talk, everything felt unfinished. I was walking on eggshells to avoid any fall out, and so were they.

    Pretending like nothing happened wasn't abnormal for my family. We sat down at dinner with my grandparents like everything was completely fine. My parents mingled and talked about Cameron's college plans. My grandparents asked about the roadtrip we would take to drive him to the new school and what he wanted to study. It was all so normal.

    Going back to business as usual didn't offer me any headspace. The more I listened to them talk about Cameron going off to college, the more I thought about Anthony leaving for college too. I hadn't asked where he was going to go. Every time the topic remotely came up, I saw his body language change to immediate discomfort. Just seeing a graduation poster around school made Anthony begin to shut down. His kindness towards me was unchanged, but his attitude in general had shifted. He was quieter, his temper was shorter. It couldn't only be college that was on his mind; whatever else was bothering him was bigger.

    In lighter news, the talk made significant progress between my parents and Anthony. Once he had finished consoling my mom, dad came back inside and shook Anthony's hand. A massive shock to me. Although he didn't offer his blessing of our relationship still, dad did give us some grace.

    "The school year is almost over. You have the summer. Have fun, stay out of trouble." He told us, "When school starts, once he's off to college, I expect you both to move on. Fair enough?"

    It was a bit fair, but not nearly enough. If I only had the summer to see my Anthony, we would have to work hard to make the most of it.

    Today was Friday, and the last day of school. After exams, the campus would be covered in a barrage of celebrations. Everyone was planning to kick the year end break off with a bang. I had overheard plans for parties and road trips, bonfires and beach convoys, and so many more adventures. None of which I had expected to be a part of, until I got into Hannah's car that morning.

    "What are you going to do after school?" Hannah beamed at me through the rearview mirror.

    "Oh, um.. probably nothing." I replied shyly.

    "By nothing, she means her boyfriend!" Hannah's little sister teased. Jules and I had started talking a bit more during our carpooling. Once I could see through the fog of my depression, I really enjoyed the time I spent with the sisters. They were good company.

    I blushed as the girls giggled over my relationship.

    "How did you two get together anyway? At least half the girls in school have been drooling over Anthony Slater since 5th grade and he has hardly ever given anyone the time of day."

    "Really?"

    "Mhm," Hannah continued, "It's like he has no idea just how popular he is. Even his brother was super popular in school, too. But Tristian definitely took advantage of it."

    "How so?"

    Jules answered me while she flipped through her planner, "Parties, girls, getting out of homework."
   
    "How would you know?" Her sister laughed.

    "Am I wrong?!"

    Chuckling at their bickering, I tried to answer Hannah's initial question. "Anthony reached out to me a couple months ago actually. He said he had seen me around school and wanted to talk to me. And once we started talking... I don't know, we just clicked."