Page 62 of Every Broken Promise
“We missed you, kiddo,” Mr. Kane said, breaking the awkward silence.
His statement made my throat constrict and made me feel like utter shit. The one thing I didn’t let myself think about was that even though Tyler had been my best friend after his mom passed away, his dad and his brothers became family.
“Me too,” I replied softly.
The truth was much harder to get out than the lies I had been feeding myself. The rest of the ride was filled with mindless chitchat. When he dropped me off at my house, I wanted to groan. I felt guilty for what had transpired this morning and for worrying my parents.
“Thank you, Mr.—Mark.” I began to wave him off.
“I’m glad you’re back, Astrid. My boy looks a lot happier these days.”
TWENTY-FOUR
16 years old
“Hey,Ty, you want to go see that new scary movie that just came out?” Astrid asked as she flipped the pages of the magazine she was reading.
I stilled on the car I was working on.
Fuck.
I never thought I would feel guilty for having a girlfriend, but here I was. I knew I needed to tell Astrid, but telling her felt wrong, so I kept putting it off.
When I began talking to Liz, I never expected this would be where things would take me. This year, I only had two classes with Astrid. None of those were gym, lunch, or free period, so we didn’t talk much outside our shared classes. Since they were on opposite ends of the school, we couldn’t hang by my locker like we had the previous years. It was the first time since kindergarten that we didn’t have the other to rely on.
On the other hand, Liz was with me during lunch, my free period, and in math class. Astrid was taking a more advanced class than I was, and I hated constantly asking her for help even though I knew she didn’t mind.
Things with Liz started when we began sitting together in free period to do homework. Then she started talking to me in gym class. I didn’t think much of it; I spoke to girls all the time. Then, one day, she just kissed me.
The kiss took me by surprise. I knew girls liked me because many of them sent me notes or had their friends come up to me to let me know. Up until then, I tried to keep anything that had to do with kissing or sex out of my mind. It wasn’t that the thought didn’t cross my mind. It fucking did all the time, but for all the wrong reasons. The only person I could see those things happening with was my best friend.
When Liz kissed me, I thought, what the hell, and kissed her back. The feeling was fresh, new, and addicting. At the same time, it felt wrong, but it didn’t threaten to rip everything away from me.
“About that,” I began to say. I pulled back from the car’s hood, put the tool down, and wiped my hands with the rag hanging in my back pocket. “I told Liz I would take her.”
I turned around and saw Astrid blink several times before she said a thing.
She opened her mouth, but nothing came out until she cleared her throat.
“Oh, that’s cool. Is it like a date or something?” She looked at me, then down at the magazine again.
“We’ve kind of been dating for the last week,” I told her.
“Kind of?” she questioned softly, looking at the magazine intently. She wouldn’t even look at me.
Fuck, was she mad that I had kept it from her?
“She’s in a few of my classes, so we started talking more, and then she began to call me at night. One thing led to another, and now she’s my girlfriend. The movies will be our first outing outside of school.”
Astrid stayed quiet for a few seconds.
“Are you mad at me?” I asked, slightly panicked.
“Don’t go there with her.”
EZ’s words came back to haunt me, but how ironic would it be if I still lost her?
“Don’t be silly,” she said. She turned to look up at me and gave me a small smile. “I’m happy for you. Liz is beautiful. I mean, she won homecoming princess for a reason.”
