Last Love

Chapter 12

Dan and Phil have been in my life for 3 months now. They're my best friends. During one and a half of those three months Peyton moved back home for a bit. She was missing home just like I was but someone needed to watch the house so, I stayed back. I Skyped my family and old friends quite often but it wasn't the same as being with them in one room. I missed them more than anything but my life was here now. I didn't know how to react when she told me she was moving back home.

I was hurt and felt like she was abandoning me. I walked into the kitchen around 1 pm to find Dan looking through the cupboards. "Dan? What are you doing?" I asked.

"Looking for recipes." He said. I had many old cooking books I got from my grandmother in the drawer. I walked to the drawer and opened it.

"This, Dan, is where our recipe books are." I said. I pulled out my favourite book and looked for our family recipe. Butter tarts. I started grabbing ingredients and utensils and preparing the kitchen for baking. I got tart shells from the freezer and raisons, brown sugar, butter.

All the ingredients were on the counter and I was adding them to a mixing bowl. "Dan, grab 2 eggs from the fridge please." I asked. He got them for me and I added them to the mix.

"What're you making?" He asked. "Butter tarts?" I laughed as I filled the shells with the mix and put them in the oven. I made a dozen just in case Dan and Phil didn't like them.

"Yep. They won't be like any you've tasted before though. This recipe has been passed down from my great grandmother, to my grandmother, to me." I said.

"What about your mother?" I forgot I didn't tell him anything about my family or why my mom didn't get the book instead of me.

"It's a long story. I'll tell you later." I said.

My phone beeped and he picked it up putting in my password and going through my messages. I really trusted him. "Who is it?" I asked.

"Peyton. She says 'hey babe'." He said trying not to laugh.

"Say hey babe with a kissy face to her." I said. He couldn't keep it in. Laughter erupted in the room. *ding* the timer went off and I opened it reaching for the tarts. I grabbed the pan with my bare hand, only realizing it at the last moment when I made a yelping noise and ran for the sink. I put my hand under the cold water.

"Dan. Turn off the oven please." I asked.

I was going to tell him to take them out of the oven but I didn't want him to get hurt. He turned off the oven and walked over to me. He held my hand under cold water until it stopped burning. Then he grabbed a towel from the cupboard and wrapped it around my hand.

"You'll be fine." He smiled.

"You're going to be a great mother one day, Daniel." I said laughing.

"The best mother." He replied. It was silent for a minute before my phone went off. I received a text and Dan went to check it out. I regret giving him my password. "Oh no." He said. I looked at him.

"What? What happened? Is Peyton okay?" I asked. I was starting to get paranoid.

"Um... You might want to see this for yourself." Dan said. I grabbed an cloth and put ice cubes in it and wrapped it around my hand, putting the towel in the laundry hamper. I stared at my phone.

P: Andrew gave me a choice. This isn't anything against you or anything, I just don't want the drama. He gave me the choice of staying with him and living with him in his new house or going back home to live with you and having him break up with me. I don't know why I chose him, I'm an idiot sometimes but you knew that. My mind was doing flips for days while I decided but I figured, I'm already here so... I'm sorry. It's not you, it's him.

I looked in shock as Dan turned my screen off and pulled me into a hug. "She doesn't mean that. She'll be back in a few days, just watch." Dan said. Nothing he said comforted me. I was alone in my mind. All my fears were shaking me up as I watched them come to life and take over my sanity. I pulled away from him giving him a thank full smile even though I wasn't thank full for her decision. I was dying on the inside. I felt as if my heart was ripped out and I was watching its final beats. I put on an oven mitt and took the pan out of the oven.

I made tea and Dan got Phil to come into the lounge with us (he was in my room) to have tea and tarts. We sat there watching movies, talking and eating for a few hours. "It's getting late. We should go. We'll come and hang out for a bit before the radio show starts tomorrow though." Phil said. Dan gave me a hug and they left. I went into the lounge and then the kitchen and cleaned up; did the dishes, took out the garbage, swept and cleaned the counters. I turned on shuffle and the song Mad World by Gary Jules started playing. I thought of Peyton's choice and how they led to my loneliness. In grade 8 when I found out I was moving and we wouldn't be going to the same school, she told me how she felt about me moving.

She said high school would be no fun and that it was "like going into war and only one comes out alive." The emptiness that I felt during most of grade 9 was unbearable. Sure I met friends and had someone there for me at school but "no one knew me." With all the hurt I felt and all the confusion and chaos that was brought into the situation I was like a lost soul. It truly was a Mad World.