Page 28 of Advice from a Sunflower

It’s the first time I've shown any outward interest in Eli's life without waiting for someone else to bring it up.

"Oh, you never heard the story?"

I shake my head.

She opens her mouth to speak but quickly stops, waving a hand between us. "I shouldn't gossip. You two used to be thick as thieves—I'm sure you'll be able to get a more accurate story out of him than I could ever tell. I will say though, it’s a sad one."

My chest deflates. My eyes find Eli's, and this time they’re fixed right on me as Emma chats in his ear. We only hold each other's stare for a few seconds, but it feels like an eternity before Emma's hand snakes up his arm and she whispers something close to his ear, her lips slowly turning up into a sly smile. I can’t stand to watch any more, so I turn my back to them and face Tina head-on.

"I doubt we'll be doing much talking while I'm here." I force a tight smile, and then finish off the punch that’s in my cup.

Only once I promise to visit her before I head back home, Tina releases me from another tight embrace and leaves me alone to find Marnie. I've managed to down two more cups of punch before I find her and the wedding sputters to a slow end. Everyone agrees to meet at the bar down the street, Marnie and me excluded. Instead, we hang back to clean up before heading back to our childhood home.

"It's so weird that she's married," Marnie slurs, sad eyes hanging on a picture of her and Josh that still sits atop the mantle.

I notice then that she's redone the shelf and added little knick-knacks all around the fireplace. When I still lived here, Denise never bothered to decorate. It just wasn't important to her. Unfortunately, I'd inherited that lack of design sense. The walls of my apartment back home are completely bare, save for a few bookshelves that held some of my favorite novels. Even my own books were kept tucked away in boxes on the floor, only taken out when I needed to gift them.

Marnie makes the effort that neither of us bothered making. She can somehow get past her own bleak memories and still wants this house to feel like a home to her girls. I admire her for that.

Just before I drunkenly announce how much I appreciate her, there's a loud knock on the front door. I'm pleasantly surprised when Marnie answers it and Eli’s face lights up the entire living room.

Figuratively, of course. The face this version of him wears is often more of scowl than anything else. But his presence cheers the girls up, who come barreling down the stairs when they hear their mother say his name. I watch Marnie sigh in relief when he picks them both up and carries them to their room for bed.

It takes about twenty minutes before they’re silent and when he makes his way back down the stairs, Marnie is already dozing off on the couch. I poke her side and gesture for her to join the girls, realizing too late that sending her away means I have to be alone with Eli.

When the silence between us becomes unbearable, I stand from the couch and throw my thumb over my shoulder. "I should probably get to bed too."

"What you saw tonight, with Emma, that wasn't what it seemed like."

I'm thrown by the offhand comment, stunned in silence until I realize he's patiently waiting for an answer from me.

"It didn't seem like anything out of the ordinary to me."

He shakes his head slowly, narrowing those piercing eyes right on me. "Well, it was. Don't pretend like it didn't bother you, either. I can see right through the act."

"I'm not sure what you're getting at here, Eli, but I can assure you, seeing you and your ex-wife together did not bother me one bit. I'll be out of here before you know it, so don't let me spoil your good time."

I should win an award for that performance. Maybe the alcohol has gotten to my head, but I think that was a perfectly executed lie.

Of course, he could never admit to being wrong, so instead he just rolls his eyes and takes a step closer to me. "When you leave. Right."

I hate the condescending doubt dripping from his tone.

"What is that supposed to mean? I am leaving. This isn't my home anymore.”

"Oh, I know. You'll run away with your tail between your legs the second things get a little hard. Just like you always have." He points his finger toward the door, a mask of indifference firmly in place as he repeats the same words Marnie spoke to me not long ago.

Why do they think I'm always running away? I've never once backed down from a challenge, especially in The Hollow. My entire life here was a never-ending challenge and I stuck it out until it was time for me to fly on my own. Why do they all hold that against me?

"You're wrong," is all I manage to choke out, my throat feeling more clogged with emotion than I'd like to admit.

My head is spinning from all the punch I had earlier.

Why am I always the villain in their stories?

"Am I?" he challenges, hard eyes never leaving mine. "I'm sure you've already booked the first flight out of here now that the wedding is over, desperate to return back to your cushy life and perfect boyfriend while we're left once again, picking up the pieces."

"What pieces? You never even noticed I was here before. Don't pretend that this has anything to do with my leaving and not that you ended up coming back. We both had plans to escape from here; you're only mad that I actually managed to follow through where you couldn't."

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