Let's Play a Game

Let's Play a Game (2)

“I know that,” I snapped, swatting his hand away from me. “But how bad is the damage? Bad enough that we can’t move back in?”

“More than half the house was destroyed,” my father explained, and I really thought I was going to pass out again. “We can’t move back in for a while, so we’re going to be staying at Steve’s with his family.”

“Is there enough room?” I couldn’t help but ask, turning toward Steve now. “I really don’t want to intrude.”

Steve continued to smile at me. “Of course there is! We have six bedrooms in the entire house, so there’s a room for you, and a room for your father.”

Six bedrooms? Just how was this guy’s house? He had to have been rich to afford a house with six bedrooms…

I still felt like I would have been intruding, even if this man was my dad’s best friend. This was the first time I had ever met him, and I really wished that we could have met in a better way and not in a hospital room.

“We should let you rest for a little while, huh?” my dad suggested, patting my good shoulder so I would lie down. “You’ve only been out for a few hours, but I think you should get some real sleep. I think you need it.”

I nodded, knowing my father was right. I hugged him one last time before both him and Steve left my room for me to sleep.

It was only silent in my room for about fifteen seconds until something disrupted me from trying to fall asleep.

“Maxynn!” a new voice now cried, and the door was suddenly being pushed open and the familiar red hair of my best friend came into view. Her face was streaked with tears, and I felt really bad for worrying her. “You’re alright! Oh, thank God you’re alright!”

She rushed over to my bed, and we hugged immediately. She was the person I was closest to, now that my mother was gone.

“I’m so sorry about your mom,” Kate apologized when we pulled away from each other. “I would never be able to go through what you are right now. If you need a place to stay, you can definitely stay at my house!”

I smiled at my best friend, wiping at my eyes. “Thanks, Kate, but my dad already got us a place to stay. We’re staying with his best friend since high school and his family.”

“Oh, do his kids go to our school?” Kate asked now, a small smile on her face as she wiped at her tear-stained cheeks. “I probably know them, unless they’re new or something. I’ve gone to school with most of the kids at our school since elementary school.”

“I didn’t ask him about his kids,” I shrugged, even though I was a little curious about it. “But I’m assuming he has more than one, since four of the six rooms in his house are taken.”

“Maybe he has a son our age,” Kate teased, nudging me just a little bit. “It would be so cool to live with a hot guy. If you guys get together, then you’d be living with your boyfriend. That’s so cool!”

I didn’t laugh like I usually would, because I honestly just wasn’t in the mood to. I wondered if I would ever laugh again after everything that had happened.

Kate noticed this and frowned. “Are you okay, Maxynn?”

“All I can think about is how my house is gone, and so is my mother,” I sighed, burying my face in my hands because I knew I was going to start crying again. “I still think that’s she’s just going to walk in here and everything’s going to be normal. I can live without my house. I don’t know if I can live without my mom.”

Kate’s eyes softened. “Maxynn…”

“I just… I already feel lonely,” I sniffed, now bringing my knees up to my chin. “I have you and my dad, but… my mother is gone, Kate. My mother is really gone.”