Tell Me

Chapter: 16

700 reads, and counting... :)

Josh:

I walk home with a spring in my step, wow I sound like I'm 80 years old. But really, I feel great. Tonight was awesome.

It wasn't like a usual night I spent with a girl. My dates consisted of going out to dinner and then straight home for a um, continuation. I realized now that Sydney and I have something special, whether she knows it or not yet.

I wanted to walk her home, but her family life seems complicated. She probably doesn't speak much to her mom, she's  never mentioned her dad, and all I know about her grandparents is that they own the house here. I didn't want it to be awkward, meeting her family for the first time when I don't know anything about them. Additionally, I think it's probably too soon.

Sydney likes to take things slow, and I'm okay with that. As long as I'm with her, I'm happy.

As I approach my house, I can sense that there's something wrong. I open the front door to the welcoming sound of my parents fighting again. I sigh and head up to my room.

My room looks better than it did a couple of days ago. I finally had the time to hang up some football posters and unpack all of my clothes. It looks almost like my bedroom back home, only nicer.

I hear a knock on my door. I look over to see Adam cracking it open.

"What's up buddy?" I say. Wow, I am in a really good mood tonight.

"Are mom and dad going to get a divorce?" He asks.

They've been fighting a lot lately, but it stopped once we got to Delavan. I guess the vacation vibe has worn off already on them. I know them too well though, to know that they'll never get a divorce.

"No, Adam. They're not going to get a divorce. They love each other too much. All good couples fight sometimes." I say.

He just stands there, standing in the doorway. He's looking around my bedroom, curious, because I don't ever let him come inside.

"You can sit down if you want," I say. He nods his head and walks in to sit on the chair in my bedroom. I sit on the edge of of bed.

When he sits down, I see what's bothering him. "Adam, what happened to your face?" I ask. He has scrapes running down from his forehead to his chin. Some of the cuts are still bleeding now.

"It was Cole's dirt bike," he continues, "I fell off today and I slid on my face. It hurt really bad."

I sigh and motion for him to follow me downstairs. When we get down there, we can hear the yelling get louder. I know it bothers him more than me. When I was his age, my parents were still sane.

I tell him to sit down on a stool and I go to the medicine cabinet to get the first aid kit. I grab the rubbing alcohol and a cotton ball to clean off the wounds. He grimaces because of the sting, but I tell him that it's helping. Then, I grab the bandaids to cover up the scratches that were still bleeding. I rub some cream on his face and put one bandaid on his forehead and the other on his cheek.

"There buddy, all better." I ruffle his hair.

"Thanks," He says. We hear more yelling. Adam looks over to the office, where our mom and dad are right now. He sighs.