Page 67 of Landon & Shay: Part Two

Also, fuck Brian for being a little shit and only being Karla’s friend in hiding. She deserved more than that. She deserved the fucking world, but instead she was left dealing with high school and bullies, which annoyed me to no end becausepeople fucking sucked.

“Don’t let anyone make you into their secret, Karla. If he can’t be your friend in public, then he doesn’t deserve you.”

She shrugged. “He’s the only friend I got. I don’t really have a say in what I get when I look like this.”

“You definitely have a say in that. Plus, he’s not your only friend. I’m your friend.”

She rolled her eyes. “No offense, Uncle Landon, but having a forty-year-old friend isn’t really what I’m looking for.”

“Forty? I’m not forty.”

She cocked an eyebrow. “Then why do you look so old?”

Leave it to a fourteen-year-old to keep you humble. “Do you want to do three good things?” I asked, speaking of the exercise I’d learned from my own therapist. I’d passed it on to Karla, because I wanted her to remember that even on the worst days, there were at least three good things that happened.

She cocked an eyebrow. “Do I have to do it in order to get dessert?”

I gave her a knowing smile. Damn right she had to do it in order to receive dessert.

She sighed and combed her fingers through the hair hanging in front of her face. “Fine. One, I got to work with Shay. Two, I got to see you. Three, Brian smiled at me in the hallway.”

Fuck Brian and fuck his smiles.

I didn’t say that, though. I could tell Karla’s little naïve heart was more interested in that boy than she should’ve been, and if I said anything, it might’ve made her close me out a bit on her life. I needed her to remain open, because I knew what it felt like to close out the world.

Also, me mentally cussing out a fourteen-year-old kid probably wasn’t the most grown-up thing to do. But what could I say? I loved Karla too much, and anyone who disrespected her heart would’ve had to deal with me.

“And three memories?” I asked.

She groaned, but she nodded. “Mom’s smile, the way she’d dance so badly as Dad put on the Mariah Carey Christmas album, and the way she cried tears from laughing while we watched YouTube videos of hamsters eating burritos.”

Three great choices.

I always had Karla name three memories she held of her mother, Nicole, in order to not forget about the good times. I’d recently began doing the same with her about my uncle, Lance. I’d never did it before, and it was oddly healing speaking about the good memories instead of focusing on the fact that our loved ones were no longer around.

“Oh!” She beamed, shooting her stare up to me. “Can I tell you the idea that Shay gave me for my story?”

The way she lit up made me light up, too. “Of course. Tell me everything.”

She began going on and on about the script, and I saw the happiness she’d been receiving from working with Shay. Shay was giving Karla reasons to smile, and the next time I saw her, I was more than prepared to thank her. Shay had a natural way of making individual’s lives better. I was thankful she was there for Karla in the middle of her storm.

* * *

“How is she doing?”Greyson asked after I dropped Karla off at his house. He was running around with Lorelai in the backyard when we pulled up, acting like the old, fun-loving Greyson I always knew.

Currently, we were sitting in his office, sipping on a glass of the finest whiskey as he debriefed me on Karla’s current headspace.

“She’s good. She’s still working through a lot, but she’ll get there, Grey. I know you worry about her, but she’s okay.”

He grimaced. “She still holds me at a distance. I know I deserve it after everything I put her through, but she’s closed-off with me to certain levels. I’m thankful for you checking in on her. She needs a safe haven.”

“She’s just processing a lot, Grey. Don’t be so hard on yourself.” I knew he would be regardless of what I said. “Plus, I’m always here for you and the girls. You’re my family, and I’d do anything for you. Always. But, please know that you’re her real safe haven. I’m just a temporary shelter until she finds her way home, and she will, Grey. I promise. Just keep knocking on that door of hers. She’ll let you back in soon enough.”

He leaned back in his chair and swirled the whiskey in his glass. “The other day, the girls and I were watching a movie. I made a stupid Dad joke, and Karla smirked at it for a split second.”

“See?! That’s progress. Just keep being the dorky, unfunny human that I know you to be and you’ll be back in her good graces sooner than later!”

“Thanks for everything, Landon. You’ve always been there for me through thick and thin, and that means the world to me.”

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