“Is it?” Nigel asked. “Which part? Did he get a language thing wrong? Ha!” He pointed to Tanner. “You do it too! You’re bad like I was bad with the fax machine! People don’t use those anymore, Tanner. People no longer like automatically getting messages in their hand for some reason. Times change, huh?”
“Nigel,” Tanner said. “Shut your whore mouth.”
Nigel nodded.
I had no idea what was happening. But I was really pissed at both of them. “I’m going to my room.”
“Good idea. Just stay in there for a few days until I find someone new. It shouldn’t take long. And again, I really apologize for bringing Kennedy back in your life. Thank goodness you came to me before you popped the question. That would have been a disaster.”
I shook my head and pushed past him. All my friends sucked today.
Homecoming - Chapter 10
Sunday
Brooklyn
I stared at Kennedy. How could she possibly think I could hate her? After all these years, I’d been worriedshehatedme. It was never the other way around. I’d lived with so much guilt. “I could never hate you, Kennedy. I’m the one that messed everything up back in high school. All of it. There were so many days where I wished I could apologize to you one more time.”
Kennedy shook her head. “I wasn’t mad at you.” Tears started pooling in the corners of her eyes. “I was just so upset over the situation. And I’ve regretted my last words to you every single day.” Her voice cracked.
“But they weren’t your last words. I’m here right now.”
She sniffed. “I know. And there’s so much I need to tell you.” She wiped the corners of her eyes with her fingertips. “First of all, there’s nothing to be at all upset about because Matt and Poppy…”
“I really don’t want to talk about Matt anymore,” I said, cutting her off. I didn’t know why everyone kept bringing him up, like I came back to New York because of him. Hell, it was the exact opposite. I’d vowed to never step foot in this city again because of him. I took a deep breath. “Come on. I need some fresh air.” I grabbed her hand to pull her to the crosswalk. There was only one place I knew of in the city to get fresh air. We crossed the street and went into one of the entrances to Central Park.
I wrapped my arms around myself as we walked in silence. Each step into the park made me feel colder. I’d made a mistake. This air wasn’t fresh. It was claustrophobic, filled with memories of me with Matt. I stopped at a bench and sat down before we had a chance to turn the corner. Because I knew what was down that path. There was this cute little bridge that Matt had taken me to all those years ago. With a perfect view of our wedding venue.
It was so weird how much time changed things. I could never imagine being sad here back then. And now? I felt empty.
Kennedy sat down beside me, but she didn’t say a word.
I looked up at the trees above us. The leaves were yellow, orange, red, and brown. I’d fallen in love with Matt during a fall just like this.
But now I just wanted everyone to stop talking about him and what could have been. Because it hadn’t happened. And now fall meant so much more to me. I wrapped my arms tighter around myself. It meant raking leaves and jumping in them with my family. It meant long strolls around the lake, hand in hand with Miller, and watching Jacob stomp on the crunchy leaves.
“Brooklyn,” Kennedy said, breaking the silence. “It’s fine that you don’t want to talk about Matt. And I wish you’d tell me why. But I’ll drop it if that’s what you really want.”
I breathed a sigh of relief.
“But just because you don’t want to talk about him with me…I really think you should go see him.”
Why wasn’t she letting this go? “I have nothing to say to him.”
“How is that possible? Brooklyn, he thought you were dead for 16 years. You owe him an explanation.”
“I don’t owe him anything.”
“But…”
I stood up. “Please, Kennedy. He’s happy and that’s the end of the story. I think it’s better if he just keeps thinking I’m dead.”
She scrunched her mouth to the side as she stared at me. “Better for him or for you?”
“For both of us.”
“I don’t think that’s true. Brooklyn, it destroyed him when you left…”
