Forever Is Fine

“Hey Tanner,” Kat smiled, leaving her group of friends and leaning up against a set of lockers.

“Hi Kat,” Tanner greeted, glancing briefly at the blonde before pulling a book out of his locker.

“Someone’s in a dismal mood this morning,” she commented, her dark eyes gleaming. “Perk up, Tanner. T.G.I.F, right?”

Tanner couldn’t help but smile at Kat’s sincerity. “Yeah, I guess so. No one can really complain about a weekend.”

“Exactly,” Kat agreed as Tanner closed his locker, he and Kat headed down the crowded hallway. “So um, speaking of the weekend… have you got any plans?”

Tanner glanced over at Kat, clearing his throat somewhat nervously. “Ah, no. No, I don’t.”

Stopping in front of the chemistry lab, Tanner pulled the door open, allowing Kat to walk in before following her. Taking a seat at one of the long tables in the classroom, Kat turned to him once again.

“Well, since you have nothing planned, do you want to do something? With me, I mean.”

Tanner’s hands froze over his book and his gaze travelled over to Kat’s expecting face. “Oh… um, Kat… I don’t… I just…” Letting out a sigh, Tanner told her, “sorry Kat, I don’t really plan on doing anything this weekend.”

“Oh,” she murmured, somewhat taken aback at his answer. “Okay, sure. Yeah. I totally understand.”

The bell rang throughout the room, announcing that first period was about to start. “I should get to my seat,” Kat replied, keeping her eyes low, avoiding Tanner’s eyes.

“I’m sorry, Kat,” he murmured, keeping his eyes glued to his book.

She shot him a small smile over her shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, Tanner.”

__________

“What do you think?” Tanner asked Bentley, bouncing her up and down on his hip as he waited for her formula to heat up. “Something to eat sounds good?”

The infant replied with a small yawn, burying her head into her brother’s neck. “I’ll take that as a yes,” he chuckled.

Sitting at the kitchen table, Tanner adjusted Bentley so that she was laying in his arm, bottle stuck fast between her gums. Securing his hold on Bentley and the bottle, Tanner used his other hand to sort through a pile of letters on the table that he brought in after school. At the bottom of the pile, he noticed Destery’s letter that had arrived the day before. Making sure that Bentley was okay, he tore the envelope open, scanning the contents of the letter.

Destery was truly a sweet girl. She empathized with him and had actually offered to help a complete stranger take his sister from his mother. She was either an amazing judge of character or completely insane.

Tanner pulled a piece of paper to him and began to write a response to Destery.

Dear Destery,

It’s wonderful to hear that you have such a close relationship with your mother. It’s something that you should value, and it’s clear to me that you do.

Thank you, as well, for offering any help with Bentley and my request for custody. I can’t really get too much done until my eighteenth birthday in March, so nothing can be done until then. Unfortunately the process could be a lengthy one, considering that I don’t think that my mother will exactly be willing to give up any rights to her daughter. But I suppose all I can do is keep faith that everything will work out okay for Bentley and I.

But enough of that… serious stuff. Is it too weird to say that, although we barely know each other and have exchanged only a few letters, I feel like I know you rather well? Perhaps that’s a bit to bold to be saying right now, but it’s true. It’s an odd feeling, to say the least. To be honest, I don’t really have much contact with other kids. My life pretty much revolves around Bentley and school, and believe me, both of those on their own is a full time job.

Which leads me to my question, I know you’re close with your mother so I assume you two spend a lot of time together. But what else do you like to do? Are a house rat like myself? With a personality like I receive from your letters, I’m sure your quite Little Miss Popular.

Bentley is in my arms as I write this, and she seems to be getting fussy, so I must stop for today. I hope to hear from you again, Destery.

Yours,
Tanner.

P.S. Before I forget, my… friend, Kat, thinks you have a lovely name.

__________

At seven o’clock, Tanner’s mother still had not returned home. It wasn’t often that she wasn’t in the house before five. He was actually starting to get a little worried about her.

Tanner glanced up at the clock once more before turning his attention back to his homework. That woman wasn’t fit to have the title of a mother. She was a poor, miserable excuse for the term.

A knock sounded through the front hall, pulling Tanner from his thoughts. Picking Bentley up from her position on the floor, he opened the front door to reveal a very pretty Kat.

Her blonde curls were pulled back into a ponytail and her dark eyes were bright against her pale skin. “Hey Tanner,” she greeted as he opened the door.

“Kat,” he murmured, surprised to see the girl. “What uh… what are you doing here?”

“Hi to you too,” she grinned. “Look, I know that you said you couldn’t hang out tonight but, obviously, I’m not listening. You need to get out, Tan. Come on, let’s go do something.”

“I can’t, Kat,” Tanner sighed. “My mom’s not home and no one’s here to watch Bentley so-”

“That’s okay,” Kat interrupted, stepping past Tanner into the house. “I can stay.”

“Of course you can.” Tanner couldn’t help but smile as Kat sat on the couch in the living room, making herself comfortable.

“I’m not leaving,” she told Tanner as he stood in the middle of the living room, Bentley in his arms, staring at Kat. “You might as well get comfortable.”