Reliving Yesterday ✔

Chapter 38.

"I hate to leave you, Alex," he said to me, softly, voicing my thoughts the way he did so often.

"I know," I replied, "But I know you'll be back."

"You've got that right. I'll be back before sun down, okay?" he promised, "And we can watch the sunset together."

"Deal," I agreed, smiling at him.

"I'll see you soon," he said, walking towards the door.

I trailed after him, watching his purposeful stride. He got to the door and opened it. The sunlight streamed in through the trees, giving the ends of his dark hair a soft light. The glanced over his shoulder to look at me one last time, with a smile, and he was gone.

*

I pushed myself to finish as much of my schoolwork as possible to be able to help Parker with his and relax when he got back. I even ordered myself a pizza instead of cooking lunch to be able to finish it all sooner.

I took a bath to drag out the time and my ears perked up when I heard the sound of a motorcycle engine. That had to be Parker. As soon as I was finished bathing, I ran to my window to see any signs of him, but the driveway was empty and his house was quiet. I frowned, slightly disappointed, so, I sent him a text message asking him when he'd be back. I stared at the screen for a few minutes to see if I'd get a response, but when there was none, I went back to my work.

By the time three o'clock rolled around, I was absolutely fed up of work and I was getting a pain in my neck from constantly looking up at the clock to wonder why Parker still wasn't back. He hadn't mentioned a time, but it did seem high time that he got back.

I sighed heavily and convinced myself to finish this last page and then that I would stop for the day and hopefully by then Parker would have returned. I took my time, making sure my handwriting was immaculate, just to make myself spend longer on the job than I needed to out of sheer boredom. When the final full stop was in place, I looked up at the clock again. It was almost four. It was at this point that I looked at my phone. My text message to Parker from over an hour earlier had gone unanswered.

Anxious, I dialed Jackson's number.

"Hey, Alex," Jackson said, chirpily, after the call went through.

"Jackson. Hey," I responded, "Are you at practice?"

"I was," he told me, "But I left early cause we're going for a family event. Why?"

"No, nothing. It's just that Parker isn't home yet."

I heard Jackson say something to someone in the background. "Oh," he said to me, after a moment, "Don't worry, Alex, he must be wrapping up soon. Coach can be a slave driver sometimes."

"Yeah," I nodded, not entirely convinced, "Sure."

"I gotta go, Alex. I'm sure he'll be home soon, okay?"

"Yeah, Jackson. Thanks. Bye."

"Later," he hung up.

I paced up and down my living room, dialing Parker's number. There was no answer.

For the next half an hour, I tried calling him several times, and finally on the last call, the voice told me that they couldn't reach the number I dialed.

Frustrated, I tossed my phone on to the couch and wondered what to do. I decided to go over to his place to see if there were any clues as to where he would be. I locked the doors and shimmied across the ladder and tumbled into his room.

It was slightly dark and had the undeniable aroma of Parker. It made me smile just a little as I walked out on to the landing and made my way downstairs. There wasn't a sound in the house, save for the grandfather's clock that ticked loudly in the living room.