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“It’s a nice neighborhood, and I was hoping if I lived closer we could see each other more,” he said.

He pulled up in front of a white split-level house. A woman with short blonde hair in a suit was standing in the house, on the other side of the clear storm door. She opened the door, then smiled and waved as we walked up the driveway.

“I don’t want to get in your way so I’ll be in my car,” she said. “Please take your time looking around. I know this is a big decision.”

As we walked through the house, my dad explained all the things he planned to do. I half-listened to something about replacing the tiles in the bathroom and the cabinets in the kitchen, but I couldn’t focus on anything he said. All I wanted to know was where Shane was.

“Come on,” Joanna said. “I’ll show you the bedrooms.”

I followed her up the steps and she stopped at the first door on the left.

“This is your room,” Dad said. “It even has its own bathroom.”

“My room?”

“In case you want to move in or just spend the night,” he said. “You know I’ve always kept a room for you.”

I stepped into the light-filled room with wood floors and looked back at them. I didn’t know what to say or even if I should say something. Living with my father was never something that crossed my mind.

“Thanks, but--”

“So the princess gets a room? What about me?” Shane’s deep voice echoed in the empty house. My heart leapt as he appeared in the doorway.

“I didn’t think you were coming,” Joanna said. “There’s a room for you too. If you want it.”

Joanna’s heels clicked loudly on the wood floor as she walked down the hall to the next bedroom. Shane didn’t follow her. He stood in the hall, his hands deep in his pockets.

His eyes narrowed as he looked towards Joanna standing outside the doorway of the next room.

“Be honest,” he said. “You’re happier when I’m not around.”

Shane turned and even though I couldn’t see him, I heard the thud of his boots disappearing down the stairs. A few seconds later, the storm door slammed, making me jump.

As Dad and I stepped into the hall, Joanna wiped a tear away then disappeared into a bedroom across the hall. My dad followed her. Without thinking about it, I went down the steps after Shane.

Shane was pacing the driveway while he smoked. He didn’t look up as I walked towards him. I wasn’t sure he knew I was there or if he just wanted to be alone so he was ignoring me, but something about him drew me in.

“Are you alright?” I asked.

“Did she send you out here? No, wait, let me guess, she didn’t.”

“Listen, I don’t understand why you’re being like this. I’ve seen you at school and--”

“And what? I shouldn’t act like this? You think you know all about me because you’ve seen me at school? You don’t know shit about me. You don’t even remember me, do you?”

Remember you? You’re all I can think about.

I didn’t have the nerve to say what I was thinking. I just stood there, confused with how he was talking to me. I took a deep breath to calm myself before I said something stupid while he took another drag of his cigarette.

“You have no fucking clue what I’m talking about, do you?” he asked, his voice a growl.

“Of course I remember you. You just said hi to me the other day. You started school with us last year.”

He scoffed as he tossed the cigarette to the ground and crushed it with his boot.

“I’m not surprised. Joanna’s the closest thing I’ve ever had to a mother and she barely remembers me. I’m sure she wasn't thrilled when Dad and I moved back to town.”

Shane tilted his head as he stepped closer to me. His green eyes flicked behind me towards the house.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said. “Try not to be so obvious when you’re spying on me.”

My eyes widened and my cheeks began to burn as he walked away. All this time I thought I had been smart, I thought I was invisible to him and that he never saw me. Now I wondered how long it had been since he first caught me.

As he got into his car, I wanted to say something. I had to defend myself and make up some excuse to prove him wrong, but my feet were cemented to the driveway.

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