The Boy Next Door

Chapter 17

Present

"Sorry," I mumble as I reach for the ringing phone next to me.

I glance down at the caller I.D. while pointing my finger towards the door, silently asking to excuse myself for a moment. With a nod of her head, I stand and walk towards the office door.

"Hey, what's up?" I ask while closing the door behind me. I can hear Adeline's quiet voice in the background and she sounds happy, yet shocked.

"Where are you? Are you watching the game?" Dylan asks before happily gasping into the phone.

I furrow my brows before realization sweeps over; my eyes starting to tear up as a small smile sketches onto my face.

"No, uh, I'm out right now. How's he doing?"

I lean against the wall, my mind flourishing with memories of high school game nights; watching Tyler get so focused and excited about winning, whatever sport he was playing at the time.

"He's running the eight hundred right now. He's ahead of everyone, its ridiculous."

Dabbing under my eye a little bit, I glance back over at the door and realize I should probably get back in there. I faintly hear Adeline encourage him, along with Lily's nonsense sounds, causing my heart to flutter with glee.

"Hey, Dylan? I gotta go right now, but text me how he does."

He replies with an 'okay', and right as I'm about to end the call I hear loud clapping and cheers on their end of the line. The quietness of Maria's office engulfs me as I re-open the door, retaking my seat on the couch.

"I hope everything went okay out there." Maria comments, lightly tapping her pen against the notebook.

"Yeah, i-it went great, actually. That was a friend of mine." I reply, the soft smile growing on my lips as the memories flash in my head. "It was about Tyler."

Halting her tapping, her green eyes lock onto mine after his name left my mouth.

"Really? I didn't know you kept contact with him still," she says while resting her palms on her thighs. "How is he?"

"He's doing. . . great, honestly. I just got the call telling me about his track game today, and it's no shock he's doing really good."

She looks so engaged as I tell her about Tyler's well being. With a nod of her head, she signals for me to continue on.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't want you to miss his game. You could've called-"

I lift my hand while subtly shaking my head, "Well, he's actually in California, so I couldn't have gone anyways." Her lips form into a small line; her eyes showing slight regret for bringing it up. "He actually got a scholarship to USC senior year, so he's been there ever since."

"I understand. Do you keep contact with him still?" I shake my head, no. "Why not?"

Her question takes me back a bit as my eyes shoot back up to lock with hers. I can feel the slight ripples in my forehead as I quizzically look at her, "Why would I?"

She breathes in a little before standing and walking over towards her desk. "Why wouldn't you? You were friends after all."

"Key word there was were." I reply while letting out a humorous chuckle, "I wouldn't even know what to say to him."

"It only takes a small hello to kick things off." She says while leaning against the edge of the desk. I can tell she's eyeing the phone, but I'm most certainly not going to be calling him.