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1048 Words
It had been two days since Chase had seen Mike. Sleeping with him had been a grave mistake, and she knew it the moment it was over. The look on his face when he looked at her was that of a deer in the headlights. He had instantly become cool and distant. Sure, he let her stay the night but never came close to touching her again. The next morning, he drove her home with the excuse that he was not feeling well and needed to sleep.
They hadn’t spoken on the short drive until he dropped her off and when he finally did speak it was to tell her he would not be picking her up for school the next morning. He never looked at her not even once before he drove off and she was left standing on the porch questioning what she could do to make things right.
Mike never came to school the following days and wouldn’t answer his phone. Finally, Chase decided they needed to talk and get everything out in the open so they could deal with it and get things back to normal. She didn’t want to lose her best friend over a stupid mistake. So, after school on Tuesday, Chase walked over to Mike’s house to visit him.
His car wasn’t in the driveway, and she wondered where he could be and more importantly when would he be back? She walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell giving enough time for the little old lady to get to the door. When she finally answered, she smiled politely and opened the screen door. “’Ello.” She said in English her accent incredibly thick.
“Hello Mrs. Sanchez, is Mike going to be home soon?” Chase asked, hoping he had told his grandmother where he was going.
The old lady’s expression changed becoming unsure and apologetic. “Did he not tell you?” She asked
“Tell me what?” Chase wondered.
“Mike packed up and moved back to Ontario he left last night. He said he had a sudden overwhelming desire to be back east. I would have thought he would have said goodbye.”
He left?
No, he didn’t just leave, he ran away to the other side of the country rather than face her again. Humiliation consumed her, and she could hardly hold back the tears long enough to say goodbye and walk away. She managed to keep it together until she reached the end of the driveway and once she was out of sight of the house she collapsed to her knees and cried. She had ruined everything. She had not only ruined her relationship with him she had sent him running for the hills.
Mike had driven through the week making good time until he saw the lights of the old trailer park. He wasn’t interested in going home, but there had been some things he had seriously missed in his absence. Mike pulled into the drive of an old double-wide trailer in the center of the park. He parked behind the grey van and got out. The sun had just gone down, and the street lights were up.
Mike walked up to the door, and he smiled when he heard the sounds of children fighting. He knocked on the door, but there was no answer. They probably couldn’t hear the door over the ruckus. He knocked harder this time. Suddenly the door flew open, and a scruffy little brunette boy around eleven stared up at him. He recognized the runt as Dan one of David’s annoying little brothers. “Like seafood.” He grunted and opened his mouth wide to show off the half-masticated food inside. He giggled historically proud of his wittiness.
“Shut up you little runt, is your brother home?” Mike asked.
“Which one?” Dan asked rolling his eyes.
“Don’t be smart,” Mike warned.
Mike watched as his friend’s little toddler-aged sister ran buck naked through the living room screaming no over and over. Miss. Thompson, a slight middle-aged woman, came out from the narrow hallway chasing after the defiant child. She was very young having had her first child while in her teens, but she was very sweet and Mike liked her a lot. “Get your butt back in the washroom you’re taking a bath.” She said picking up the squirming child. She turned and spotted Mike in the doorway and smiled. A warm, welcoming smile that made him feel right at home. “Mike welcome home. David!” She yelled as she walked down the hall back to the bathroom. “Get out here you have company.” She disappeared behind the bathroom door, and Mike let himself in and shut the door behind him.
“Oh my God, what are you doing back here? I thought you said you’d never come back.” A voice laughed and drew his attention back to the hallway where he saw his best friend of eleven years dodge two youngsters playing pirate wars. David was almost as tall as Mike was, but his complexion was light in tone with hazel eyes and long dark chestnut hair like his siblings. He managed to maneuver past the chaos of children and greet Mike properly.
“Well, I missed home,” Mike said. David lifted an eyebrow questioningly; he knew Mike too well to believe his lie. “Ok, the truth is, I did something very stupid and just had to get out of Alberta.”
“Must have been a hell of a mistake,” David commented and started back to his bedroom in the back of the trailer with Mike following. He had no idea how big a mistake. Everything had drastically changed that night with Chase, and he hadn’t known how to deal with it. So, he did what he did best; he ran to avoid the problem altogether.
Problem solved… so why did he feel so very bad, and how did he get Chase out of his mind?
- Writer
