Page 42 of Just Try, Again and Again

Lily

I love you, but for your sake (and mine), please stop asking how we’re doing every few minutes, Bryce. We’re okay. Go enjoy your holiday. You haven’t been back in ages.

Give Birdie a kiss for me, alright?

Lily

I always do. We’re at the playground, but we can FaceTime tonight if you want.

I’ll call you guys.

It’s weird being alone.Since I was twenty-three, I have spent most of my days with Lily and Birdie. People who don’t know that she’s my sister always assume we’re together. And the ones that do know, think that we’re blood-related. I don’t correct them and tell them she’s actually my former stepsister. I don’t need to. They’re my life.

Trying to curb the urge to text Lily again and annoy her, I scroll through Instagram.Jakob on a podium giving a motivational speech...That girl from high school with her new baby…A picture of someone’s hand with an engagement ring on it…My thumb stops moving when I see a picture posted by @sanoharuki92. It’s a shot of the Hollywood sign with forty-six people liking it.Sunrise from a different spot today :), the caption says.

Are you in Cali?

@sanoharuki92

Yes :)

For how long?

@sanoharuki92

I’m going to be in LA until Wednesday, and then I’m off to Oxnard to visit my family.

I’m in Elsham Cove.

She doesn’t reply directly, and just like some lovesick puppy, I start getting restless, pacing around the house and dripping water all over the floor. I have been thinking about going to see her for a while now. I just didn’t have the balls to do it yet. With everything that was going on with Lily, I didn’t really have a lot of time to do anything other than play the role of supportive brother. I also didn’t want to subject Haruki to someone who was all messed up inside and didn’t have the time for her, anyway. Lily deserved someone to fully support her, and Haruki deserved to not be a part of the mess I created. I wanted her to live her life. I wanted her to be happy.

But now? Now I’m proud to say that I have left all the fucked-up shit behind me. I don’t party unless it’s work-related, and I sure as hell don’t touch drugs anymore. Now, I might actually be a decent enough man for Haruki. It’s a goddamn miracle she still hasn’t completely moved on from me yet.That must be it, right? If I haven’t been served with divorce papers yet?

Can I fly out to see you? Would that be weird? Maybe we can have lunch tomorrow.

@sanoharuki92

You sure? Of course, but tomorrow is really soon.

There’s a direct flight to LAX leaving in five hours.I can still make it.

Absofuckinglutely. What hotel are you staying at? I’ll try to get a room there as well.

This is it, Bryce.

As soon asI get a chance to charge my phone, I sit on the edge of the hotel bed with a drink in hand. My cheeks are starting to hurt from the stupid smile on my face the whole way here from Elsham Cove.I should probably text Haruki and ask her what she’s doing right now. Can I really wait until tomorrow? She’s probably also nervous and giddy to see me, maybe I should put us both out of our misery.

The smile on my face gets replaced by a frown when I see the notifications that are finally coming through. I have one text from Lily, sending me a picture of her and Birdie, one text from Haruki wishing me a safe flight, and ten texts from Cameron telling me to call him as soon as I can. Along with his messages, there are also two missed calls.

Cameron and I reconnected once the Logan thing died down. He told me he never saw anything happen between Lily and Logan and wasn’t willing to go to the police to tell them otherwise. We got into it and lost contact for a while, but reconnected a few years ago. I get it. With the way Cam and his dad make money…I don’t like it, but I get it. They’ve had it rough.

“Dude, sorry, I was on a flight. What’s up?” I ask as I sip my water.He probably just wants to reschedule.

“Bryce, where are you?”

“LA.”

“Fuck.” Hearing Cameron’s voice, my brain is on high alert. This sounds like drug dealer Cameron needing me to be his alibi.

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