The One who got Away

“I’ll be seeing you around, Alex,” Garth said, the leaned in and kissed my neck. “And I’ll see you tonight.”

With that he gave us all a wide smile and walked back to his table.

“Your boyfriend’s weird,” Kelly said as her father sat back down.

“Kelly, I said be nice,” Alex chastised.

“Well, he is!”

“That’s okay,” I cut in before Alex could reprimand her for telling the truth. “He’s not really my boyfriend, anyway. It’s an on and off kind of thing.”

“Hopefully more off than on.”

I smiled at Kelly. I really like this girl.

“I hate to put my nose into other people’s business,” Samuel said, “but I have to agree with my granddaughter. That boy’s nothing but bad news.”

“He’s not always like that,” I tried to defend, but didn’t feel like I had my heart in it.

“He looks like he has a stick up his ass,” Kelly said, and I laughed at both the comment and the way Alex’s eyes widened.

“Language, Kelly, seriously,” Alex said.

“He’s got more than that up there,” Samuel said.

“Maybe there’s still space for your double barrel?” Kelly asked her grandfather.

I couldn’t hold my laughter back anymore and almost fell off my seat, grabbing the table and tipping my glass over in the process. If I only liked Kelly before, I was in love with her now. The girl had a wit about her I wished I could match, and it was even more impressive at her age.

“How about we all try and give Jenni a break here,” Alex said, stifling his own laughter. “Maybe not comment on her personal life?”

“Believe me,” I replied, tears stinging my eyes as I choked on my merriment. “At this point, I really don’t care what they say.”

“I’m glad to see you’re amused,” Alex replied, letting himself go and laughing along with the rest of us.

Kelly leaned over, grabbed my hand with both of hers and shook it dramatically. “You’re better than this,” she gasped. “So much better. You deserve to be happy. Get out while you still can!”

“Alright, Emma Stone, that’s enough,” Alex said, pulling her back. “Choose what you want to eat.”

I wiped the tears from my eyes and picked up my own menu, but my eyes never left the three people sitting at t

he table with me. For the first time in a very long time, I actually felt happy. At ease. Like I belonged, although I was technically still a stranger to both Alex and Kelly. Nevertheless, I felt welcomed, and they had drawn me in as if I were part of their family. It felt nice, different than what I was used to, and it wasn’t hard to sit back and relax.

From across the restaurant, Garth was watching us, and for some strange reason I didn’t seem to care. I’d deal with him later. Right now, I just wanted to enjoy my meal and the company I was in.

Chapter 9: Alex

We drove Jenni home right after dinner, although a part of me wanted to humor my father’s suggestion that we get a few drinks. If I had been a little more comfortable with leaving Kelly home alone, I might just have done it, too. But after the little run-in with Garth at the restaurant, and the fact that Heath was making daily visits to the house, the notion of Kelly in the house by herself made me incredibly uneasy.

Jenni’s apartment complex was closer to the college dorms than I thought, this part of Kent new to me after my prolonged absence. Whatever development had begun around town, there was no regard to architectural charm, which made me think that it was only a matter of time before my hometown became another heartless bundle of concrete eyesores.

“I had fun,” Jenni said as I walked her to the double glass door and waited for her to fish her keys out. “Thank you so much for dinner.”

“Don’t mention it,” I replied, catching the greens of her eyes and feeling like I could lose myself in them if I wasn’t more careful. “And sorry about what Kelly said. She can get a little out of hand sometimes.”

“It’s okay,” Jenni said. “What she said wasn’t too far off from the truth anyway, and besides, she’s an absolute sweetheart.”

“If you say so,” I chuckled. “She seems to have warmed up to you, too.” I looked over my shoulder to where Kelly sat on the open window watching us carefully and smiling. “She rarely does that with new faces.”