Page 71 of The Problem with Players

I knew Wesley was out of town doing training for his new position, so I couldn’t think of a better time to pack my stuff and drive it over to the storage locker I’d rented.

After parking my car in the driveway, I climbed out of the vehicle and grabbed the boxes waiting in my trunk.

I stood still in front of the house that once was a home. My home. I felt the disconnect already. As if my spirit had already unplugged from the memories made within those walls.

Then again, I wasn’t certain I’d ever truly plugged myself in.

I headed inside and packed up my things.

Later that week, movers would come and get most of the boxes and place them into a storage unit until I found my next stop.

After I finished, I grabbed two suitcases and put them into my car.

As I locked the front door, I figured that would be the closest I’d get to having a real goodbye with Wesley. We didn’t get the closure I thought I deserved after three years. On the day of the wedding, I was in shock, but ever since, I’d wondered how he’d been more than once.

I wondered if he was happy.

I wondered if he missed me.

I wondered if he’d wished we had better closure, a better goodbye.

Goodbyes felt harder when they were one-sided.

19

AVERY

The problem with staying in Big Bird? It wasn’t exactly weatherproof. A few hours into the night, the roof started to leak over me. I placed a few bowls down to catch the rain, but unfortunately, the speed of the rain was coming faster and faster. “Geez, Willow. How do you live like this?”

I shot her a text message, though she might’ve been flying high in the sky.

Avery

Water is getting all over the place. Any tips?

A few minutes later, she replied from her layover.

Willow

Do a rain dance. It’s romantic.

Never in my life did I realize that my sister and I were more different than at that very moment.

Willow

It’s nature’s kisses.

Avery

Shut up, Willow.

She followed that up with a kissing emoji.

I put my phone away and went to work, trying to patch up the ceiling where the water dripped from. Then I went to the bathroom, and when I tried to flush it, water began to rise in the toilet instead of going down.

“No, no, no,” I barked as it overflowed. I grabbed the towels from the tiny shower and tossed them onto the floor. Just then, my patch on the ceiling came off, and water started rushing in quickly. “Nooo!” I screamed out, trying to grab everything I could of my stuff and Willow’s to avoid too much water damage.

I tossed all the important things into my car, then stuffed the hole in the roof with a sheet, which was getting drenched.

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