Page 5 of Last Call Lindy Hop
I smiled. Mom knew how to cut through, even if only for a few minutes. “I’ll try.”
“Good. I’ve gotta go. I love you.”
“Love you too, Mom.”
“I’ll call again next week.”
“Ok.”
“Bye.”
“Bye.”
I stared at the phone for a minute after she hung up, then the dread started to settle in my stomach.
Mom had ordered me to have fun, and I didn’t have the faintest idea where to start.
∞∞∞
Kenzie sat on my couch, idly tapping a pen against a pad of paper.
“I guess…” she started. “I need to know why you don’t want to do anything.”
I motioned for her to take a look around my apartment. “In case you missed the signs, I’m depressed.”
“I know that,” she huffed. “I mean, what in particular is holding you back? I’ve dealt with you when you were down before, but I could usually get you to do something fun with me. Now though.” She sighed. “It’s like you don’t want to do anything at all.”
I laid back on the couch and flung an arm over my eyes. She wasn’t wrong.
An awkward silence fell between us, the only sound that of the pen scratching the paper as Kenzie likely doodled.
“It’s Connor, isn’t it?”
I winced. “Don’t say his name.”
“Talk to me then.”
I sat up, resting my elbows on my knees as I stared at the floor. “Everything reminds me of him.”
“Define everything.”
I looked up at her and met her gaze. “Everything.”
I turned my attention to a spot on the rug. “Remember when you asked me to go to the movies last week?”
“Yeah?”
“All I could think about was how I’d snuggle against his side; how we’d kiss during the previews; our hands touching as we both reached for popcorn…”
“So I need to find things that don’t remind you of him?”
“Good luck…”
She laughed. “Challenge accepted. If that asshole is the problem, then your best friend will find the solution.”
I laid on the couch again, curled up, and pulled a blanket over myself. “I’m not sure that’s possible.
“If anybody can do it, I can. Just watch.”
