Page 61 of The Other Half

“Positive.”

She nods her head sullenly, realizing the mistake she made by judging her so harshly. I don’t hold it against my mom, I know that she was only making those judgments because of her father’s reputation. “Tell her we said thank you. So much.” She pulls me in for a hug. “You chose a good one, Oliver.”

I nod. “We’re never going to be together again. But yeah, she is a good person.”

She ends our hug and looks me in the eyes. “Never say never.” With that she pats my shoulder and heads back into the living room.

I pull out my phone and tap on my text thread with her. She never replied to my message yesterday evening, but I can see that she read it. I’ve never been blatantly rejected by someone before this, and I had no idea how shitty it would feel. I fully expected her to tell me she still felt the same way too, but I guess I got what I asked for. She moved on.

Oliver: You don’t have to talk to me. I just wanted to say thank you. You made my family’s Christmas a lot better than it would’ve been.

I spend the rest of the day with my family, trying to focus on all of the things I have to be thankful for. This could be my last Christmas with my dad, so I need to make it count.

~

The next morning I sleep in and wake up to a reply from her.

Oakley: You’re welcome. And I do want to talk to you, but I think we should do it in person.

Oliver: Will your parents let that happen?

Oakley: My mom will. She says she wants to meet you, actually.

Wasn’t expecting that. Maybe her mom isn’t a complete psychopath like her dad.

Oliver: I’d love to meet her.

Oakley: We’re heading home now. Maybe you and I could meet up this afternoon? At the park?

Oliver: I’d like that.

Chapter 48

Oakley

We’re back home now. So far Dad hasn’t had much to say to either one of us, no belated merry Christmases or any of that. But I guess that’s better than the alternative of him yelling at either of us. I guess the threat of divorce has given him some pause. He seems more restrained now.

I’m getting ready to go meet Oliver at the park, my mom is driving me though because she doesn’t want me walking that far. I was used to walking a lot further than that, but I accept the ride anyway. I don’t think she’s even going to tell Dad where we’re going. It feels good to have her on my side again, for so long it felt like she just went along with whatever Dad wanted her to do, even when it meant hurting me in the process.

“Are you ready?” She pops her head in my room.

“Yeah,” I reply as I pull my pink fleece hoodie over my head.

I don’t know where this conversation with him will lead, but I felt like it was worth a face to face confrontation rather than a text exchange.

When we get there I expect her to get out of the car but she says she’s just going to run an errand instead. I spot Oliver sitting on a bench next to the playground where we brought Liam to play. The happy memories of that day flash through my mind and stir up a sad, nostalgic feeling in my bones. That feels like a lifetime ago now, even though it was only a couple of months.

“Hey,” he says as he approaches me, a hint of a smile on his lips. He must have trimmed his hair recently. Now it’s longer on top and shorter on the sides, and somehow he looks even better than before.

“Hey.” I’m tempted to wrap my arms around him like I would have when we were together, that feels like the natural thing to do, but I stop myself.

He licks his lips as if they’re chapped, as his sapphire eyes slide down my body. I feel the hair on the back of my neck stand up. “I’ve missed you,” he says.

“You too,” I reply, trying to keep any hint of emotion from my voice. I feel the need to guard myself from him now, and I hate that.

He stares at the ground, neither of us saying anything for a long moment. I hate that we’re back to awkward silences. We used to talk for hours about anything, and now I can’t think of two words to say to him.

“I’m sorry. For everything,” he finally says. “I was an asshole.”

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