She was my best friend so she heard everything anyway, but it had been almost three years since we had gotten together. I was close with his dad – their whole family, really. I had spent breaks at their house and gone on vacation with them a couple times. This was definitely news to her.
"I was waiting for him after his exam, just like normal. We were talking, and I mentioned that he had been a little weird lately. We haven't been talking as much this past week. I thought it was just finals, and he'd be back to normal now that the semester is ending. He asked me to come to his apartment, and then he got weird. He started saying he didn't want to be with me anymore and this was the end, just like that, out of nowhere. Totally blindsided me."
"Did he tell you why?"
"He didn't want to. He just kept saying it wasn't working anymore and he didn't want me."
"I can't believe he would say that to you," she said.
"Did he tell you anything? Did he do anything that would make you think this was where his head was?"
"No, nothing. I would have told you something if he did. Ron, I felt like I knew you before we even met. When we talked he would always bring you up, ask me whether it was too soon to introduce you to our dad, tell me he thought we'd get along, and stuff. I think we all knew he was in love with you before he even said it to you." I felt tears brim in my eyes and blinked them away.
"Whatever. Like he said, it's over now."
"Are you just giving up?" she demanded.
"How am I supposed to fight when he said he was done? I'm not that pathetic, Tiff. I can't beg a person to talk to me when they've already told me how they really feel to my face."
"I'm going to talk to him," she said.
"About what?" I scoffed.
"I want to ask him whether he's lost his mind. Something obviously happened. Roman wouldn't do something like that to you."
"He already did, Tiff; it's a little late for that."
"Well, he can't get away with it."
"What difference would it make at this point? He already told me what he wanted. The future he wants doesn't involve me."
"You really don't want to know?"
"Right now, all I
want to do is crawl into bed and come back out when school starts again."
"You can't be on your own like this," she said.
"Could you at least give me tonight? I'm still reeling. I just need some time to process everything."
"I'm calling you tomorrow. If you don't pick up, I'm coming over," she said. I cracked a small smile. She was a good friend. She hadn't even tried to take Roman's side in all this.
"Okay," I conceded. She squeezed me in a tight hug and left. I went back to my room after locking the door after her. I stood under the shower till the water ran cold, then stayed longer. I made it back to my bed before I started crying again.
Chapter Five
Roman
One Year Later
I never thought I'd get used to the stares at airports. Traveling the first time in all my gear, I had felt self-conscious of all the people looking, kids and adults staring with shameless curiosity. Now, I couldn't give two shits. I never thought I'd ever be glad to be landing at Aberdeen Regional before, but damn did it feel good to be back on American soil.
I had been gone almost exactly a year, but every day there had felt like ten, every week like a month, and every month like it was a year all on its own. Summer was just starting, my first summer back since I had missed it last year. I didn't even mind coming from the desert right back to the heat – I was just glad to be back home.
I saw my dad before he saw me. Tiff was with him, and she waved, pointing me out to him. Far as I could tell they looked exactly the same. Tiff's hair might have been different, shorter like she had had a haircut, but that was it. Dad didn't look any older, which was a good thing. He was still in his fifties, but it wasn't fun watching your parents get older. It was comforting that nothing major had happened to the two of them when I was gone.
Tiffany came up and hugged me first; she was excited. I was, too, but I was better at hiding it than she was.