Stefan is waiting for me outside the crystal doors. I give him a thin smile and he takes my hand to walk with me back to his car.
“Are you still angry at me?” He asks me as we drive away.
“I’m not angry, just... frustrated,” I reply. “My parents keep secrets from me all the time, there’s so much about them I ignore... in many ways it’s like I’m l
I wake up early and full of energy. I get to the CrossFit class at 9 o’clock and Miranda is already here. I’m excited, I have missed my training the last couple of weeks, but today I finally felt good enough to come. I take my place next to Miranda. I’m sure she’s going to want to tell me all about her date last night with Barney. “Good morning,” I greet cheerfully. Miranda looks at me with a sad expression. Maybe her date didn’t go very well. “What’s wrong?”
It’s almost Sunday afternoon and I haven’t seen my mom yet. She didn’t join us for breakfast and she hasn’t come out of her room all day. I hear her walking upstairs, but that’s it. I haven’t really spoken to her after she snapped at Stefan and I was hoping we could talk about what happened, but she’s clearly not interested in spending time with her daughter. It’s like I’m all alone at home. My dad went out, I bumped into him early in the morning when I was going out for a run, he was leaving with some intruders, Stefan included, so I assume they are doing something work-related. They haven’t come back yet.
The week goes by painfully slow. Every day seems longer than the last. I must admit I’ve learned many new skills at my job, but I haven’t seen Stefan once since last Sunday and the longing is killing me. He’s been busy with work and has spent most of his time supervising shipments. Part of me prefers it because at least that way he’s not at home as much and the less he’s there the fewer chances there are of my mom being rude to him, but it also means I don’t get to see him as much.I look incessantly at the clock on my screen, it’s Friday and I’m ready
I wake up before he does. I’m still wrapped around his arms, I move slightly to change my position, my legs feel numb. He doesn’t wake up. A warm feeling floods my chest, he looks so cute when he sleeps. I watch him for a while until I can’t hold the need to pee any longer. I’m not the kind of person that walks around with no clothes, especially in another person’s home, but he’s soundly asleep so I take my chances and run to the bathroom. It shouldn’t be a surprise, but I’m still pretty shocked by how neat the place is. It looks like a photograph from a magazine. Everything it’s in its place, the towels are
Every day for the next couple of weeks I spend every free second I have with Stefan, he picks me up after work every day and on the weekends we stay together as well. I haven’t seen Miranda or even my parents, but I’m enjoying my time so much I don’t even care. The more I know Stefan the more I like him. It’s scary how much I’ve come to care for him in such a short time. A few weeks ago, I didn’t even know he existed, but now I can’t imagine not being with him.“So, I was thinking of a fun game we can play tonight,” Stefan says as we reach the fro
I go downstairs earlier than usual. It’s hard to sleep feeling this excited. Stefan loves me and I feel like I’m walking on clouds. Everyone is surely still sleeping so I try to be quiet as I go down. I walk towards the kitchen to make coffee, but then I stop midway when I hear a heated discussion coming from my dad’s office between him and Mike. I tiptoe near the office door, remaining at a distance where I’m close enough to be able to hear the argument, but not close enough in case they come out unexpectedly and I have to run.“How can you be so calm after what they did?!&rd
Shortly after breakfast, Stefan and I go to the mall. We plan to go to the movies, but we run into Miranda on our way to the movie theater. She’s waiting for Barney who is running late. We decide to keep her company while he arrives. I’m glad to see her, not just because we haven’t spent much time together lately, but because I want her and Stefan to be friends as well. They haven’t had the chance to get to know each other and as my mom and cousin already hate him, it’s really important for me that my best friend is team Stefan.We go to the food court and sit at a table
Miranda and I haven’t seen each other in weeks. We’ve texted each other, but for different reasons, it has been impossible for us to meet in person or even talk on the phone. We’ve never had this problem before and I know it has something (or everything) to do with the fact that secretly she doesn’t really want to see me. Once we see each other face to face we are going to have to talk about the fact that Barney dislikes me and that he has probably advised Miranda to keep her distance from me. Miranda is in the awkward position of choosing between the two of us; I know she’ll choose me, but she has been infatuated with Barney for so long I’m sure it’s difficult for her to break up with him. It’s easier to avoid me for a while than to face reality. I get