Just Another Lovesick Boy

The house seemed silent after Cecilia and Dad left for their honeymoon. Though they never spent the night at our house, as they had rented out a small place near the mountains, it seemed like Cecilia spent most of her time visiting Mom and me. But after the wedding, I started to wake up to only the sound of my mom moving around downstairs and came home to an empty and quiet house. I knew it had to happen at some time but I still found myself missing Cecilia and, surprisingly, Dad, as well.

It felt strange to make the transition of calling Jack “Dad.” Sometimes, when I talked about him, I would slip and call him Jack again but people seemed to understand. Besides Jack, I think the people who were the happiest that I called him Dad were Cecilia, and, unexpectedly, my mother. As Dad and Cecilia were saying goodbye at their wedding, he apparently told her what I said because she grabbed me suddenly and wrapped her arms tightly around my neck. She hugged me for what seemed the longest time as the crowd around us continued to shout out their congratulations and goodbyes.

After she finally pulled away, Cecilia stared happily into my eyes before softly saying, “Thank you for giving him a second chance.”

My mother had done and the exact same thing as soon as we had gotten home. Even though they both had been separated for so long and had argued so fiercely, my mom really did believe that I deserved to have both of my parents in my life. I personally believed that she had done the right thing in divorcing Dad. Separating was healthier than staying together for my sake and having to hear all the hate and yelling. But I had to agree with her in the end. It was nice being closer with my father than I had ever been my entire life.

The days after the wedding were very quiet. The following Thursday, Eddy had just dropped off Lee at Anya’s house and had drifted inside to my house after school. I sat on my bed, dropping my bag to the floor as I dug out my cell phone out of my pocket. Eddy heaved out a loud sigh as he slumped into my desk chair.

“Man, I never noticed how quiet this place was until Cecilia left,” he mumbled.

“Oh, good. I thought it was just me who noticed,” I nodded as I rubbed my chest.

“What’s with you?” he asked, gesturing to my motion.

“I have no idea. I just have a bad feeling but I don’t know about what.”

“Freaky. Maybe you’re possessed,” Eddy grinned widely.

I rolled my eyes over at him. “The only freaky thing here is you.”

Eddy gave me his usual grin before pulling out a textbook from the shelf above my desk. He sighed lightly as he flipped through the pages before turning towards me. I stared over at him as I sat in one of my bean bag chairs, mindlessly tapping my finger on my phone as it rested on my thigh. He licked his lips as he skimmed a page in the book before looking up at me.

“So I never asked. What schools did you apply to?” he asked me.

“A few state universities. Mostly only because my mom wanted me to. And the local college, as a back up,” I shrugged.

“Yeah, but where do you want to go?” Eddy clarified, glancing up at me from the book.

“I don’t know, man. I was thinking culinary school.”

“Culinary school? Like fucking Le Cordon Bleu or some shit?” he looked up at me, flicking up an eyebrow.

I let out a low chuckle as I rubbed the back of my neck. “Exactly like that, actually.”

“No shit?” he grinned as he snapped the book shut and leaned towards my way.

“Yeah, dude. I mean, that’s obviously not the only culinary school I applied to but it’s on the list,” I grinned.

Eddy nodded approvingly as he said, “That’s fucking great, man. I mean, like, I never really expected you to go to culinary school, of all places. I know you like cooking and you’re amazing at it, I just never thought you’d go into it long term. I honestly thought you’d go into journalism or something. With your classes and grades, you could easily do something all…I don’t know, official.”

“I guess so,” I shrugged as I glanced at my phone. “But all of that never interested me. I love being in yearbook and all but I think the whole photography and journalism thing is just a hobby. I like cooking more. And who knows? If I make it as a top chef, I could put in a good word for Free when she goes to college.”

“Oh, okay,” Eddy laughed loudly. “I’m sure she’d love that.”

“So where’d you apply, dude? Like, what do you even want to do anyway?” I asked him.

“I applied all over the place. Just a couple universities, a couple art schools, you know?”

“Art schools?” I asked incredulously. “What would you major in there?”

“Well, if I went to a university, I figured I would just be a liberal arts major. But I don’t know, dude. I can’t see myself doing any more of that school shit. If I went to school, I want to do something fucking awesome. Like graphic design or something like that. That’s why I applied there. But I don’t think I’m good enough for any of that.”

“You have to be the most creative guy I know, Ed. You can do anything if you wanted to,” I told him. “Don’t worry about any of that. As long as you get in somewhere. And if you don’t like it, you can always just find a job you can stick with.”

“I guess,” he sighed heavily as he shrugged. “I just feel weird because my fucking seven year old sister already knows what she wants to do with her life while I have no clue.”

“She’s a kid, man. All little kids have a big dream. It’s only when we get into middle school and teachers drive college into our brains that we overthink it all and get really clueless. Don’t worry about it.”

“Not everyone can have such a carefree, do-whatever-feels-right attitude like you do, Adrian,” Eddy mockingly glared over at me.

“Sucks for everyone else,” I grinned widely.

“Screw you,” he laughed as he turned in his seat to put my book back. He glanced over at my alarm clock before sighing. “Well, it’s almost 3:30. I better go so I can pick up Free from school. You want to come with?”

“No, I’m cool. I have to write a paper for my government class anyway,” I groaned before standing up.

“Sucks for you,” he grinned before standing up and picking his keys out of his pocket.

“Yeah, yeah,” I nodded before passing him by to sit at my desk so I could turn on my laptop. I furrowed my eyebrows as I felt the uneasiness in my chest grow larger. I turned my head to see Eddy walk towards my bedroom door. “Dude.”

Eddy turned around, raising his eyebrows. “Yeah?”

“Be careful.”

He laughed as he shook his head at me. “Yeah, okay, Mom. I’ll see you when I get home!”

I waved as he walked out the door. Eddy had to be the safest driver I knew. There was no way that he would ever crash his car, especially after he just got it and especially not when Freedom was in the backseat. So I pushed the heaviness in my heart aside and grabbed my government book from the shelf and began to work.

I was halfway through my paper half an hour later when I felt a sudden pain in my head. I grimaced at the pain but I had experienced headaches before. I convinced myself that it was just a simple headache. But the moment the home phone started ringing, I knew something had happened. I stood up and walked into hallway before standing in front of the phone. My shallow breathing seemed louder than ever. I stared at the phone, wanting to answer it but also being too afraid to. I licked my lips before picking up the phone and pressing down on the green button before holding it up to my ear.

“Adrian,” I heard the rough voice say. “Adrian.”

“Mr. Devereux,” I answered slowly. “Something happened. Didn’t it?”

“It’s- My kids, Adrian.” His voice cut off as he let out a low sob. “My kids.”

“What happened?”

“They’re at the hospital.”

“Is Eddy okay? What about Free?” I asked.

“You should call your mom.”

“What happened?”

“Call Jocelyn and ask her to pick you to bring you here.”

“Mr. Devereux. Please. What happened?” I asked as I gripped the phone in my hand tighter.

“Somebody…somebody hit Eddy’s car as he was driving back home after picking up Free. Eddy’s hurt pretty bad but he’ll be okay.”

“And Free?”

“Free is...” he trailed off. “She’s unconscious. She hasn’t woken up yet. Oh, God, Adrian, somebody hit my kids. My children.”

I felt the blood roaring in my ears as I took in a large breath of air. I tried to swallow down the large lump in my throat before I licked my lips. My eyes were clenched shut and my fists were gripped tightly as I nodded to myself, trying to gather my thoughts together.

“I’ll be right there.”