Page 36 of Holding On

"You're so annoying," I say, nudging his side.

"That's my job. To annoy my kid sister."

I lay my head on his shoulder and yawn, my eyes on the TV. "What are we watching?"

"Nothing. There's not much on."

I lift my head to his. "How was the podcast?"

"Great. I got a lot of positive feedback. I'll post another one tomorrow."

"So you want me to get out of here? Give you privacy?"

"You don't have to." He grins. "Unless you're looking for an excuse to see Ethan."

I would like to see him again but is tomorrow too soon? I could stop by with food so I'd have an excuse.

"Maybe I will. Just to prove to you we're friends and nothing more."

"Uh huh." Mike chuckles. "Whatever you need to tell yourself."

I sigh and rest my head on his shoulder again. "You need to get a girlfriend so I can tease you as badly as you tease me."

Mike hasn't dated anyone since Tricia left. He's a good-looking guy so I know he could get a girl but he hasn't even tried.

He doesn't respond to my comment. I sit back and look at him.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" I hold his arm. "Wait. Are you dating someone and you didn't tell me?"

"No," he says in a serious tone.

"Then what is it?"

He picks his phone up from the coffee table. "She texted me."

"Who? Tricia?"

It's a dumb question. I know he means Tricia. I'm just surprised because she hasn't contacted him since she took off. She left a goodbye note but that was it. He doesn't even know where she lives.

He shows me the text, which reads, I was thinking about you. I hope you're doing okay.

"That's it?" I ask. "That's all she wrote?"

"That's it." He takes his phone back.

The text pisses me off, but I don't tell Mike that. I'm sure to him the text means she cares. That she's still thinking about him. Maybe even that she might come back.

Why would she do that? Why would she get his hopes up like that? She has to know he still loves her. He probably always will, but he needs to move on, and her sending that text will send him back to the past. Now he'll be constantly checking his phone, seeing if she texts him again. Or waiting for her to call. Or hoping she'll show up at the door.

What a manipulative bitch. I can't believe she did that. She doesn't care about Mike. If she did, she wouldn't have left him. She didn't care enough to stick around and help him when he needed it, which means her text was just her way of forcing him to think about her. Reminding him that she's out there somewhere, pretending to care about him when she really doesn't. That's just mean.

"Did you text her back?" I ask.

"No." He sighs. "And I don't know if I will."

"I'm thinking you shouldn't." I hope my tone doesn't reflect how angry I am. If I express my anger toward Tricia, Mike will stick up for her, just like he does when I say stuff about Mom. I don't know if it's the soldier in him or the fact that he's just overly nice, but for whatever reason, Mike always feels the need to defend those who are being attacked, even if they're in the wrong. And Tricia is definitely in the wrong.

"I know I shouldn't respond to her," he says, "but part of me really wants to. I want to know how she's doing."

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