You Still Have All of Me (Slow Updates)

Chapter 11

I drop Megan off at her friend Darcy's house and head to the kickboxing studio. I sigh, this is my last class, but at least I'll get to see Thomas at Uni. He is a year older than me, so I expect for him to show me around before I officially start attending.

As soon as I enter through the door, I am greeted by a pair of strong arms around me. I look up, "Tom! What's gotten you so emotional?"

He chuckles, "Andy, I don't need to be emotional to hug you. I haven't seen you for almost a week! At least let me squish the life out of you, babe! I've missed you."

I swat him on the chest and ruffle his dark hair, "Yeah, that must be it," I say sarcastically, "Now let's get ready, practice is about to start."

After practice, we all receive a diploma accrediting us for our achievements and celebrate with cake at the lounge. We took a picture with our coach, who was covered in frosting that Kenny and Flint had plastered all over him.

Thomas puts his arm around my shoulder and holds his cellphone up high with the front camera facing us, "Smile, gummy bear!" I feel his cheek brushing mine and look at the camera.

He stares intently at the picture we took and looks back at Farrah, the girl I was talking to before he came, "Aww, Farrah! Your ugly eye appeared in the picture! That's gonna haunt me forever, girl!" Farrah laughs and flips him off saying that he needs to be a man and stop whining over a simple little 'extra'. The girl sometimes scares me, to be honest.

"Today was our last day, Andy! I won't see you again until college starts! Thomas pouts, "I need to move in with you, or I won't survive alone!"

I hop on the car, "Don't be silly, you'll survive." I wink. "Hey, where are you going? Aren't I giving you a ride today?" I ask.

He shakes his head, "Nope, see that beauty right there?" Thomas points his finger to a red motorcycle. "She's mine."

"Awesome! When did you buy it?" I ask.

"This Wednesday, I bought it from a friend." he grins. "Um, about your brother.. how is everything?"

I sigh, "Well, we don't know anything yet, but my dad said some investigators were taking care of it. I called the police the morning after Joshua didn't come home and they've been on the lookout after I left them some pictures of him at the department." I press hard on the wheel as my eyes refuse to shed a single tear.

I see Thomas laying his arms on the roof of my black car on the side of the passenger seat. "Hey, don't feel sad. I mean- it's normal if you do, but have faith. He'll be fine." he says soothingly.

I nod and give him a weak smile, "Thanks."

"No problem, I'm here for you."

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"Andy, you're here!" Megan yells after she sees me park the car in front of Darcy's house.

"Yep! Did you behave missy?"

Before she can answer, Darcy's mom, Pamela, makes her way out of the house and greets me, "Andrea, darling! Megan was an angel, as always." I get out of the car and thank her for taking care of Megan.

Ms. Pamela is a single mother and is also my mom's friend. She invites us to dinner and hopes for Joshua to appear soon, adding that Megan mentioned to her about it.

It's Saturday morning and I wake up to see my sister with limbs stretched all over my bed and me. I head downstairs and start to make homemade french toast sticks for breakfast. Megan enters a couple of minutes after and starts to prepare the table, but is startled by a knock on the door.

"Who could it be?" she asks.

"No idea, I'll check." I dry my hands with the towel and head to the door.

I hold the door knob and my hand freezes as my mind starts to wander about the possibilities. What if it's Reece? With Megan and I alone, who knows what would happen? It's a crazy thought, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

Instead of opening I ask, "Who is it?"

The person keeps knocking insistently.

Megan pops her head from the kitchen curiously.

"I'm sorry, I can't open without knowing who you are. If you're looking for my brother, he's upstairs busy." I say uneasily.

The person sighs, "So much for making it a surprise, Andy. It's me."

My eyes turn to see Megan and we both have the same surprised expression. We both know who that voice belongs to.

I immediately swing the door open and see my father, with the same young gleam in his brown eyes and neatly combed black hair.

"Daddy!" Megan and I yell in unison.

"I'm back, kiddos!" he says.

We both jump to his arms and hug him very tightly. After we release him he says to me "You tell strangers that your brother is upstairs? Pretty smart move, sweetheart."

"U-uh, that was in case there was some bad dude thinking me and Megan were alone." I say too quickly.

"Alright, I'm glad you were being safe." he says. "Now girls, about your brother, I got a call from the men on the case and they told me they have some information gathered. That's why I came home sooner, I'm meeting them in the afternoon." I can see dad is also very worried about Joshua, but I think he's trying his best to not show it so Megan won't get worried. She's been positive the whole time.

Megan straightens herself up, "I know he is okay, daddy. Just you see! He'll come back married holding a bunch of babies along with Sandra!" My dad laughs and agrees with her.

During breakfast, I text Seth:

Me: Hey! Guess what? My dad came back home a couple of minutes ago!

Seth: Cool! When will I meet the boss? Haa

Me: Nevah! Wait, why am I telling you this? lol

Seth: cause I'mm special

Me: You wish

Seth: Yeah, I wish that too

What?

I put my phone down and Megan goes to watch TV in the living room while me and dad clean up.

I start to wash the dishes and ask my dad quietly, "Dad, what's the real reason mom decided to stay in New Jersey?"

He is uneasy by my question and stutters, "I-I have been meaning to tell you about that. She decided to stay shopping since she fell in love with the mall, i-it was huge!" He continues to clean up the table.

I raise an eyebrow, "I don't know why, but I don't believe you dad. Did you guys fight or something? You never do, but if you did, that's not a good reason for her to want to stay a while longer."

He sighs in defeat, "I have never been a liar, kiddo, and I don't want to start lying now." He makes sure that Megan is hypnotized by the TV and turns back to me, "She made a friend while I was at the hospital busy with surgeries." He passes me a plate.

"What? Did she meet some sort of fashion diva or something?" I ask, while holding the plate.

"No, no. I don't know how to say it," dad grips onto the counter and his eyes soon start to get watery, "Your mother, Andy.. she met someone else."

I drop the plate in shock, making it shatter to pieces on the floor.

She didn't

She wouldn't

Would she?