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The One He Never Claimed. 24.
I haven't been in a place filled with so many people in a while. I look around me to see too many familiar faces - some of which I used to be close with and some I used to just see around. All of which I haven't seen in a while.I let my eyes wander around the gigantic hall before they stop a little longer on a figure I could spot with my eyes closed. I feel my heart melt at the sight. She has her back turned to me and she seems to be having an interesting and genuine conversation with the person in front of her. I feel my cheeks forming a smile.I didn't know how much I'd missed her until now. It's been so long that I've learned to somehow live without her. She's looking really great, like herself again. For a while she'd stopped being the bubbly person everyone knew and loved, and well - I knew why.Liz went from being one of the most known and liked figures in our district to someone you'd be lucky to see at a grocery store.I know she took what happened very heavily but I was to
The One He Never Claimed. 25.
"Cody you better have washed your dish!" I scream to the man who likes to get on my nerves downstairs.This is a song I sing every day and I won't stop singing until he finally understands that leaving dirty dishes in the sink brings cockroaches."Yes babe!" I ignore the sarcasm in his tone.I love the man but could he possibly be more annoying? Why are men such babies? I swear mom got lucky with dad.I then smile when he finally comes to the bedroom to join me in bed not too long after."And..."I can't stop myself from giving the wide smile that paints my face.We didn't have dinner together because he was running late, and I'm only getting the chance to really speak to him now. To finally ask him the thing I'd been thinking about the whole day."I got it." He says with a shrug, confusing me. I thought he wanted this as much as I wanted it for him? "Wait... are you serious?"I practically jump from the bed to straddle his lap and give him the tightest embrace. I'm really proud of h
The One He Never Claimed. 26.
I rock my body from side to side to keep myself calm as I stand by a bench at a park that reminds me too much of my childhood. I remember mom banning me from coming here because Liz and I always got so dirty after our playtimes. It was also where I had my first major fall that landed me in the emergency room where I had a cast put on my arm for a month. I'd been in so much pain but that's an experience I'll never trade for anything.A lot of people drew and wrote a lot of things on my cast, a lot of random things that didn't mean anything. But Liz used to put stars on it every day. She never told me why she did that at the time but she'd eventually told me that every star was for every day that I got through it, every day I accepted my situation. She said that I was a star every day for making it through.What was so funny was that she also didn't know what it meant at the time. We were 6-year-olds who didn't know what was happening beyond playing, eating, and sleeping. But hearing he
The One He Never Claimed. 27.
"What did you get him?""This stupid gadget thingy he hasn't stopped talking about for pretty much this whole year."I say unconsciously rolling my eyes when I think about how he hasn't stopped mentioning the flying metal camera thing."What about you? What did you get him?"I ask and she sighs before,"I've been wanting to run this past you..." she says before pulling out a -"Oh. Uhm." I feel my heart tighten just a bit."That's lovely." It really is, it's just that..."Your mom's watch." She says taking the words out of my mouth.She bought dad a watch, which is really nice. But dad has never in all the years I've been alive taken off the watch mom bought him years ago. Even more so after she died. I think it's his way of carrying a part of her with him. And she seems to know that because,"Oh Alex, I should've come to you first. This is stupid, I obviously don't want to take the connection he has with your mom away. I don't ever want him to think that." She says sweetly and I give
The One He Never Claimed. 28.
"Hello!"I scream again on the phone to the person who's been calling me too many times but doesn't say anything. I know they're not butt-dialing me because I can hear them breathing through the phone. So the person is either nervous to say something or this is a stupid prank someone is playing on me."Hello!" I say again now getting annoyed. I'd thought if I give the person more time they'll eventually master up the courage to say something. But,"Listen here! Whoever you are, I gave you a chance. But if you're gonna keep doing this then I'm just gonna block your number." I finally say right before I remove my phone from my ear to hang up but,"She called me before she died. She wanted to see me but I had an event." He sounds so sad that I almost completely missed him, I'm not used to this emotional side of him. He was never an expressive person. I know who he's talking about, but when I saw him at the graduation ceremony he looked like he was coping, more than coping. He looked li
The One He Never Claimed. 29.
I lower my body down the car seat so my stalking victim doesn't see me gawking at her and I groan when my foot collides with the metal seat adjuster."She's not even pretty." I lie. She's very pretty."Yeah, definitely don't know what he sees in her," Liz says. I know she doesn't actually think that too but I appreciate her effort to make me feel a little less crappy. I also appreciate her joining me in something I know she had to really force herself to do. I didn't ask her to come with me but I know she came to make sure I don't do something stupid.This is something I want to be mad at but I can't seem to be, mostly because I don't know if I wasn't going to do something stupid had I been alone. Well something even more stupid because what we're doing right now is definitely up there in the level of stupidity."What did he say?" She asks and I don't respond immediately because I'm still trying to grasp the words he'd shook me with. But also because I know what she's going to think w
The One He Never Claimed. 30.
I haven't seen dad in a while. A part of me is surprised that he didn't blow up my phone with calls and messages after I'd left, but I also don't blame him. I think sometimes you just get tired of trying, and that doesn't necessarily mean you don't care or love the person anymore... at least I hope not.It hurts to think that dad might've given up on me but I guess I left him no choice.As I sit in the car on a driveway that holds too many memories, I wonder if I'm still allowed here. I wonder if he's going to welcome me back home or simply say I should go back to where I came from. That would be fair now, wouldn't it?Liz left me in the car to go inside the house after I'd told her I needed to take a breather before coming in. I'm imagining she's inside now begging dad to allow me to come back home. I hope he does because I don't know where I'll go if he doesn't allow me back. I wasn't really thinking much when I told her to take me home, but now that we're here I can't help my ranti
The One He Never Claimed. 31.
"How are you feeling? About everything." I let myself really reflect on the question. I mean I've certainly had better days but I'm also doing about a thousand times better than I was a few weeks ago. I was a literal mess and it's hard to believe where I am now. I'm not necessarily great but I'm definitely in a good space, in a better space. I don't say all that to him though. I instead say,"You do know I'm the adult here right?"He's 8, what does he know about depth?"Oh c'mon Lex, you never let me ask stuff. How am I supposed to be like you if you don't teach me?" He asks the question I've now heard too many times with a frown. I've begged him to please not end up like me, I'm yet to give him a reason. Putting it in simpler terms would be that I'm the last person anyone should ever look up to. I have no sense of direction whatsoever, but I'm not going to tell him that."You're too young to ask these questions Josh, I tell you this all the time," I say to him. Truthfully he's quit
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The One He Never Claimed. 39.
"What did I do now?"We do this thing where we joke around with each other, this is to ignore the tension that still exists with us.We walk around acting like everything's cool and I guess it is, to an extent but there's clearly stuff that was left unsaid with us. For way too long.That is why,"I just wanted us to talk - to clear the air."If I'm serious then we won't waste time joking around.I want to do more than just 'clear the air'. It's been years and we still haven't really talked about what happened.He takes a seat across from me and then,"Yeah sure."His tone gets a bit serious and that allows me to continue."Where's Bruno?"I don't see him around anymore, for years actually. I know they'd remained friends after we broke up, for a while. I'm not sure what happened with them but clearly something did happen because wherever there was Ezra, Bruno was somewhere around. Never one without the other."I don't know."He says simply.His face is void of emotion, like that was n
The One He Never Claimed. 38.
"He was going through stuff Alex, he's done nothing but try to prove himself since.""I'm sorry, we're talking about the same guy whose actions had us not speaking to each other for two years right?"It's beyond me how she's still on his side after what he did."Alex, he made a mistake. Ok maybe a few but who hasn't? You can never question the fact that this man loves you."I mean I've never questioned it, but love is simply not enough now is it?"I don't know if I'll ever look at him the same again."Yes it's been years, but even though the heart forgives, the mind doesn't forget."You'll never truly know unless you give him another chance."For the umpteenth time, I decide to shrug her comments away. Liz doesn't understand. It's easy to tell someone to forgive and forget but it's different when you're the one having to forgive.Because of this man, I have walls up so high that people can hardly climb them. Because of this man, I have trust issues.So no, it won't be that easy.And y
The One He Never Claimed. 37.
"Let's see. There was Leo, Martin, Dean, and LorenzoI went out with Lorenzo two times though, he was good company. Oh and Dean was cute, he got me a bracelet that I gave to Josh to give to his crush at school.I still don't know how you'd feel about my telling you all this"It's still very weird but I like to imagine this being the relationship I would've had with her if she was still alive. A relationship where I can tell her anything and everything, including who I've slept with.She would cringe but still appreciate my openness."Oh and then there was Grant. He was a little bit, maybe a lot older than me but he really took care of me, for that week at least."That was before I found out he was married with two kids, I'm not going to tell mom that."I'm slowing down a bit now. It was fun."It really was. For the past four years, I've not been 'falling in love' with other people but myself.I'd realized that beyond the two people I was with, I had no other experiences of dating wha
The One He Never Claimed. 36.
I haven't seen Ezra since the game about a month ago, he'd been blowing up my phone but I made it clear I want nothing to do with him. I'd tried building a friendship with him but I can't be friends with people who take me for granted.I certainly didn't invite him to come and spend Thanksgiving with us and I almost ask who invited him but,"Honey, I hope you don't mind that I invited Ezra." This man is clearly wanting to drive me crazy. Of course I mind.Ezra has been nothing but a distraction throughout my life and I don't need that, not anymore at least. I need to rid myself of him and his toxic energy.I know dad knows I'm not cool with him anymore because he hasn't come to visit in a while, also I act deaf whenever he starts asking about him. So clearly he's trying to fish something by not only inviting him, but Cody too. "Hi Cody,"I decide to only acknowledge the other boy. He's usually quiet when he's irritated, I'd learned it was to keep his anger at bay, so as to not do
The One He Never Claimed. 35.
"Dad stop it. You're making me cry."I say wiping the next tear that falls on my cheek."I just want to say sweetheart, that it took a really long time. It took us years before we could finally land where we are. And it's the best place we've ever been in a very long time."It's the best place we've been since mom's death. It's like we were just lost souls trying to find ourselves in a world we never imagined to live without mom in it and we were just winging it.For years.But now?"Ok ok dad! Which one are you gonna go with?" I ask looking at the breathtaking pieces of silver and gold bands."I don't know Hunny, when I proposed to your mom I didn't have a lot of money so I didn't have to go through this. I just went for the cheapest ring I could find." He says earning laughs from the jeweler and myself.It sounds unromantic but I know what was on dad's mind was the prospect of spending the rest of his life with the woman he was madly in love with. Nothing else mattered in that momen
The One He Never Claimed. 34.
This is the first time I'm seeing Josh cry since well - ever. They've got his face on the big screen with the words, 'Hi Josh, this game is dedicated to you.' and it's left on there throughout the game.I might have told Ezra Josh's story.In all honesty, it was in effort to motivate him to get us the tickets but never in a million years would I have ever thought he would do something like this.I hold on to Josh so tight as he sobs on my shoulder silently and I try really hard to keep my own sobs at bay. I need to be strong for the both of us.It's not at all hard to explain, this is an 8-year-old boy who not too long ago lost everything, literally. He became an orphan and lost his arm all in one night, but never have I seen him shed a tear at his tragedy, not once.That easily makes him the strongest person that I know.So finally seeing him balling his eyes out for seeing a picture of himself on a screen in the middle of the field at his favorite football club's game, and having th
The One He Never Claimed. 33.
"Hey, you're not allowed to peek!""But...""Josh!""Fine..."He responds in surrender then lets me put the palm of my hands back on his eyes.He's even worse than me at surprises."Are we there yet?""Almost. Just a few more steps... And - you can open your eyes now!"He conforms and then,"Uh... I don't get it.""Open the box," I say to him in a duh tone but I'm not surprised when he then says,"But what was the point of closing my eyes if it's in a box?"Josh has a smart mouth that I still try really hard not to slap."Ok I guess that was a little dramatic but open the box Josh jeez," I say to him annoyingly but also excitedly. I can't wait to see his face when he sees it.He then doesn't waste any more time before opening the box and then,"You're kidding me!""Nope.""Alex, is this a prank?""Ooh, that would've been a great one hey? But no it's not."I say then laugh when he jumps up and down holding the red piece of paper."My friend is one of the players for the eagles and he p
The One He Never Claimed. 32.
"Hi mom. Third time this week, you're probably already tired of me." I say then chuckle lightly. I've gone from visiting only once a year to a few times a week. This is of course something I hadn't been able to do before but since I'm finally coming face to face with my demons, I feel that it's necessary. For my healing."I started seeing someone."About a week ago I decided to put myself out there again."Relax, a therapist." I release another chuckle. After a while of contemplating, I'd decided to go down this path. I don't think that I'm still crazily affected by the things I'd been through like I was a few years ago, at least not so bad that I need therapy. But I'd decided to seek that just to have someone who doesn't really know me to talk to. For a fresh perspective."My sessions are only once every three months. She said that I don't need frequent visits." I smile when I say that. I'd been shocked at first of course because if there was anyone who needed therapy, it was me.
The One He Never Claimed. 31.
"How are you feeling? About everything." I let myself really reflect on the question. I mean I've certainly had better days but I'm also doing about a thousand times better than I was a few weeks ago. I was a literal mess and it's hard to believe where I am now. I'm not necessarily great but I'm definitely in a good space, in a better space. I don't say all that to him though. I instead say,"You do know I'm the adult here right?"He's 8, what does he know about depth?"Oh c'mon Lex, you never let me ask stuff. How am I supposed to be like you if you don't teach me?" He asks the question I've now heard too many times with a frown. I've begged him to please not end up like me, I'm yet to give him a reason. Putting it in simpler terms would be that I'm the last person anyone should ever look up to. I have no sense of direction whatsoever, but I'm not going to tell him that."You're too young to ask these questions Josh, I tell you this all the time," I say to him. Truthfully he's quit
