Seafoam //Completed//

Chapter 26

It really was gone. Her home was now just a pile of wood and broken things. A pile of nothing. Through the fallen walls she could make out the vestiges of her personal belongings; the glint of her old vanity, her broken bed, and her clothes, most of it scattered all the way back onto her neighbor's properties, where they stood mourning over their own fallen houses. Matty and Ava stood behind her, by Matty's car, giving Lulu space. She was grateful they were there, even in the quiet where no one dared speak. Her neighbors just stood in silent despair—as if at a funeral—of the destruction of the storm, and the only sounds were the occasional creak as another piece of someone's home crumbled, destabilized by their broken foundations.

Lulu walked barefooted in the mud, up to the wreckage and began trying to make sense of the puzzle. Before she got very far, Matty was by her side, pulling gently on her arm, taking ahold of her hand.

"I'm so, so sorry, Lulu. About everything. I'm sorry I left you yesterday. You don't know how badly I wanted to leave that auditorium as soon as I saw you weren't inside with us. I was sure you were gone and it drove me crazy not having you there. I came by today, praying you had somehow gotten here and saw your house like this. I thought you were dead." He was crying. Fat tears falling from his green eyes. He was crying and she wasn't. As much as she wanted to comfort him, she couldn't. There was barely any hope left inside of her to keep her from tearing at the seams completely. She had lost everything. It's not real, it's not real. It can't be real.

"Lulu, I'm here, now. You'll stay with us, until we can find your dad. Rescue teams were here since dawn and took the injured, but your dad wasn't among them."

All the while Matty was talking, Ava was behind him shaking her head, confused. She shot Lulu an accusatory glare before asking, "He doesn't know, does he?"

"Please, Ava no." Lulu shook her head pleadingly.

"You told me you were going to tell him. You told me you were staying with him, Lulu! You have to tell him."

"Tell me what?" Matty was looking from Lulu to Ava. "Lulu, tell me what?"

Lulu took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. Ava meant well, she knew that. But if Matty found out about her dad missing, he would tell his parents and everything would spiral out of control. More so than it already had.

Matty took a step towards her, his hands still around hers. "Tell me."

She closed her eyes, refocusing. "I haven't seen my dad in weeks. He left me."

She felt Matty's hand slip from hers and it dropped to her side. When she looked up at him he was facing away from her. "Weeks?" was all he asked.

"A month."

"Why didn't you tell me?" He sounded hurt, betrayed.

"Matty, you can't tell your parents! I'm still underage and if Child Services gets involved..." she trailed off, shaking her head.

"Have you been staying here by yourself? How were you going to get by on your own, Lulu? Have you even been eating right?"

"Of course. I've been using a credit card my parents gave me to buy food. I know that won't last, but I was hoping he would show up eventually."

"Tell him the rest," Ava said.

Lulu looked at her friend. Anger was starting to bubble in her blood. This wasn't Ava's secret to tell. "There is nothing left to tell. My dad hasn't been around for a month and I'm getting by. I'll take a job after graduation and figure it out from there."

"You don't even have a house!" Matty was looking at her incredulously.

"I know! I know that! I'm standing right in front of this pile of nothing. But what do you want me to do? He left me! She left me! What do you expect from me?" The anger had spread quickly. An epidemic in her system taking control of her lips as she yelled at Matty.