Her Touch

Crap. I don’t want to hurt his feelings. Sam is always so nice, and I genuinely like talking to him. I don’t want it to get awkward. I don’t have a ton of friends at school after the whole Nick thing. We’re only a little chunk into our junior year, so I don’t want to spend the next months in complete social exile.

“Sam, I—”

“Alice is really pretty, and well…” He runs a hand through his short curly hair and finally meets my eyes. I smile brightly at him, and my worry about him liking me as anything more than a friend slips away.

“She is, isn’t she?” I push, wanting to hear more about his crush. I’m doing a happy-clap inside, but don’t want to seem too excited.

“You think she’ll think I’m too young? She is a senior and all…”

“No,” I say with a little too much force. They would look cute together, but I worry about them both being too shy. “You’re only, like, a year apart, right?”

“A little less than that,” he confirms. His dark brown eyes light up.

Alice is going to kill me, but I don’t care. I’m already matchmaking in my head and coming up with ideas on how to get them together.

“Maybe we can all hang out this weekend or something,” I suggest, already putting things in motion.

“Awesome,” he says as the bell rings and everyone takes their seats. The room goes quiet as the teacher starts her lesson.

The day drags slower than I want it to. I know the day is going to be even longer because I signed up for an SAT class. I take it on Mondays after school in the library, so I’m not able to go to the center and volunteer tonight. I check my phone a few times throughout the day hoping Eli will text me or something. I get nothing from him. Complete silence.

I push any doubts from my head, knowing I need to talk to Eli in person. Maybe the day away from each other will do him good. I know I’m missing him like crazy, and he has to be missing me, too. At least, I hope he is. I want to go back to him picking me up and taking me to school. I know it’s childish, but I feel like it’s our thing.

When I finally get out of my SAT class, I practically run to my Jeep and take off. I head straight for home, and excitement builds in my stomach. But disappointment slides through me when I don’t see Eli’s truck in the driveway. I try to shake it off, thinking maybe he’s working late or something. Alice’s little VW beetle is here, though, and that offers me some comfort.

I grab my backpack from the backseat and head into the house. When I walk through the door, I see Alice sitting in one of the dining room chairs, and my dad on his knees in front of her. His hand is cupping her face, and I can tell right away something is wrong. They turn to look at me when they hear the door close, and my dad’s hand drops to his side. It’s then I see a bruise below her eye.

“Oh my God, Alice.” I rush over to her. “What happened?” I look to my dad to explain, but he looks away, like the sight of it is too much to bear. Alice looks at me, then to her hands in her lap.

“My mom’s new boyfriend. He got a little drunk and…” She trails off. I look over at my dad again, and this time I can see he’s about to explode with rage. All I can feel is sadness welling up inside me. How could anyone lay a hand on Alice? She’s the sweetest person in the whole freaking world.

I look at my dad, pleading with him to finish her sentence. I’m sure he got it out of her. It looked like they’d been talking when I walked in.

“The new boyfriend and Alice’s mom were having an argument. I guess he threw a cup he had in his hand right as Alice was walking into the room, and it hit her in the face,” my dad growls.

“I came to see if maybe that offer was still available. That maybe—”

“You’re staying,” my dad and I both say at the same time. She looks up at us, a watery smile pulling at her lips.

“Thank you, Major.”

“Thomas,” he corrects her.

“You can stay in my room with me,” I offer. We only have one spare room, and Eli is using it. Plus, I have no problem sharing a room with Alice. Maybe even a little part of me hopes I’ll be sneaking into Eli’s room now.

“She can have the spare room,” Dad says instead.

“But Eli—”

“Moved out,” my dad says before I can finish my statement. His eyes are still on Alice. I can feel the anger rolling off of him. It takes a minute for his words to sink in, and it hits me hard. I stand there, not sure how to respond.

“I’ll get your stuff, Alice. You two keep your butts planted in this house until I get back.”

I still can’t move. It isn’t until I hear the front door slam closed that my eyes start to water. Alice reaches up and takes my hand.

“I didn’t know,” she whispers, and I know she’s talking about Eli moving out. She knows how deeply I care for him. How much I love him.

A part of me can’t believe it. He wouldn’t do that, would he? Leave me without so much as a word? I let go of Alice’s hand, but she only grabs it back as I walk toward the bedroom to see it for myself. I push the door open, and a tear slides down my cheek. All his things are gone. The only things that are left behind are the bed, the dresser, and a chair—things that were there before Eli came to live with us.

I catch sight of something on the dresser and walk over to see a note with my name on it. I pick it up, crumple it into a ball, and throw it across the room. Then the tears really stream down my face. I look over at Alice, who’s crying, too, and I feel like an even bigger ass because I know she’s crying for me. She has her own issues right now, but instead of wallowing in her own sadness, she grabs me and pulls me into a hug. We both stand there and cry, holding each other until the sobs finally stop.