Page 29 of Same Time Next Summer

34

Wyatt

Wyatt couldn’t have imagined how his family could possibly be more screwed up until his mother visited him at school to tell him that Michael had been thrown out of college for repeated drunk and disorderly conduct. He was relieved when she left. His dorm room was too small to hold his family’s pain.

He sat on his bed, holding his guitar but not playing. He thought about Sam and how much he wished she were there with him. He wished the two of them could run away from their families and just go back to what they’d had. This was a peaceful thought, and he decided to call Sam while he had it, to make up for being so angry these past few weeks.

“Hey, Sam-I-am,” he said when she picked up.

“You haven’t called me that in a while. Is this the Wyatt I used to know?”

“I’m sorry, I’ve been such a jerk. I love you more than anything.”

He heard her let out a breath. “I love you too.”

Wyatt walked over to his window and pushed it open in hopes that a breeze or the sound of kids on the quad might wash away the ugliness that had enveloped his family. “So Michael got kicked out of school. Basically for being a drunk.” His voice caught as he said it, and he squeezed his eyes shut. “My mom was just here to tell me.”

“That’s awful. I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, no kidding. I guess it’s just the last step in the total destruction of my family.” He could hear the anger creep back into his voice. He felt incapable of controlling it.

“How’s your mom?”

“She apologized a lot, like everything’s her fault. Mostly for never talking about anything and for letting things get this bad. She seems broken.” He stopped himself from sayingYour dad broke us.

35

Sam

When, in April, Laurel announced she was pregnant, Sam knew her parents were going to stay together. Everything was different in their apartment. It was as if someone had thrown open the windows and relief had washed through the place. Without having taken her first breath, Gracie started to work her magic. Her parents were fine, and now there was going to be a baby.

Sam called Wyatt to tell him. “That’s disgusting,” he said.

“Well, yes, they’re old, but it’s kind of nice. Starting over.”

“Yep. Your dad’s a real ladies’ man.”

Sam was quiet on the phone while Wyatt’s anger simmered. She hated hearing Frank’s sharp sarcasm in his voice. She knew he just meant that it wasn’t fair that her family was growing when his was slipping away. But she couldn’t keep taking this.

“That wasn’t fair, what you said about my dad.”

“Nothing’s really fair, Sam.”

“If we’re going to be okay, if we’re going to go out to LA, be together, we need to get past this.”

“ ‘Get past this,’ ” he repeated. “For you it was a kiss in the kitchen, with a new baby to make it all better. For me, it was divorce, a dad I don’t see, a mother living alone, and a brother who’s totally screwed up his life. Everything is just so damn easy for the Holloways.”

“Wyatt. Please.” Sam was trying not to cry.

“You know what, maybe I’ll head out to LA early, skip the summer in that hellhole. You can come whenever.”

“You mean like in a year? Like I won’t see you for a year?”

“Yeah, that sounds good. Enjoy the new baby and your happy family.”

“Wyatt. Stop.” She was crying now. “Please come for the summer. You’ve got to get past it.”

“Oh, okay, let me get on that.” The call disconnected and Sam felt herself slip away.

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