Page 22 of The Boy I Once Loved

I pause my fork mid-way to my mouth and meet Leila’s curious gaze. I bob my head side-to-side in response as I consider my answer. “It feels strange. Kind of comforting but also kind of haunting.”

Silence greets me as they all look at me, and I realise I may have been a little too truthful in my answer. Stacey coughs and clears her throat. “Are you settling in at college, okay?”

I nod, feeling relief that the conversation has picked up again. "Yeah, it's just picking up on my subjects as here they are not quite where, I was up to at Deanhill."

“What is it like reuniting with this idiot after three years apart?” Leila asks, giving her brother a sly wink. “What? You are an idiot little brother.”

I smile, watching the two of them give each other the glares. “Well, he made me break my ankle, so I guess that sums up how good it’s going.”

Dylan rolls his eyes and tuts. “I did not break your ankle. You did that all on your own.”

“Oh, really?” I raise a brow. “Whose idea was it to go to the park in the dark?”

Leila grins. “Yeah, Dylan. What were you thinking? Taking a pretty girl to the park in the dark?”

Dylan just gives her a warning look and turns his attention back to his food.

“I’m dying to know Ella. Did you leave a hot, broken-hearted boyfriend in Deanhill?”

I scoff and shake my head. “No, definitely no boyfriend.”

Leila looks at me in disbelief. “You’re kidding me, right? You heard this Dyls? No boyfriend.” She grins at him and winks, and as I look between them, I feel I am missing out on a silent conversation between them.

“I was too busy with school and bike lessons.”

Leila chuckles and looks at her Mum. “Well, I always made time for boys when I was your age. Maybe now you are home, you’ll meet someone worth your time.”

“Maybe you should drop it?” Dylan tells her as he stabs a potato on his plate somewhat aggressively.

“What about Connor?” As she says this Dylan’s breaks into a choking cough and my mum has to bang his back for him.

“Connor?” I reply, looking at her in puzzlement.

"Yeah. I mean, he is a good-looking boy and you two have been friends for a long time. A perfect recipe for a childhood sweetheart romance." She averts her eyes from mine to her brothers. "What do you reckon brother?"

Dylan glares at her before responding. “For one, Connor has a girlfriend. Two, El would never look at Connor that way. Right El?”

His eyes meet mine, awaiting my answer. “Course not, because that would be weird. I mean, we have been friends since primary. I was there when he pee’d his pants in assembly. Friends shouldn’t date.”

Dylan looks at me with an expression I can’t quite read as he quietly replies. “Yeah, that would be weird.”

“Well, I think childhood sweetheart romances are adorable,” Leila sighs. “I mean, maybe some people are just meant for each other.”

Leila and Dylan look at each other from across the table and I feel as if a secret conversation is going on between them that the rest of us are not part of.

“Well, on that note, who is ready for pudding?” Stacey asks. She stands and gathers the plates.

“Please tell me you made carrot cake?” I plead as I stand and attempt to help her gather everyone’s plates, which on crutches is difficult.

She winks as I follow her to the sink. “I may have done.”

I jump when Dylan's voice is unexpectedly right in my ear. "How come you make her favourite and not mine?" He asks as he leans around me and grabs some spoons out of the dish drainer. His closeness makes me lose my train of thought. I just stand there for a second, composing myself and even out my breathing. Why can’t I be close to him without my senses going into overload?

Stacey’s carrot cake is delicious, and afterwards we all gather in the lounge with full bellies. Stacey comes into the lounge armed with photo albums and I groan out loud.

“Oh, hell no,” I protest, but it falls on death ears.

Dylan looks up at me from where he is sitting opposite me and he grabs for the albums in his mum’s arms. “Mum, no, please.”

---