The Line Between Us

Noelia’s POV The Hills never come to this part of the city. My mother says her sister is too high and haughty to smear her pristine skin with the air of Greenwich Town. They have never been on good terms for as long as I can remember, so when the door pushes open and the first thing I catch is her ginger hair, the air gets knocked out of my lungs. My mother gets off the couch slowly, her eyes mirroring the same surprise on my face. But I leave them to their strange reunion, none of us wanting to talk about the reason they are here. In Greenwich. Instead, my eyes remain on the door, waiting for that familiar face to stride in. We used to be really close. At least, until the sisters decided they’d had enough of each other. “Noelia!” The smile on my face was automatic, so wide and cheerful. But it dims a little when another ginger head strides in. He holds his arms wide open, but in that split second, my feet remain rooted to the spot, like I’ve forgotten how to move. “What?” He angles his head, his smile waning a little. “Not the face you were expecting?” “Dante,” I grin, running into his arms. “Of course not. I was just a little….you know…” “Surprised that I am not Angelo?” I pull away slowly. “I didn’t…No! That is not…” “I’m kidding,” he says, belting out laughter. “You should have seen the look on your face... I know you missed me, kiddo, even if you never called the last five years.” “Come on,” I drawl, hitting him playfully. “You know I tried. You were the one who barely returned my calls, and then you went to college, and I couldn’t reach you anymore.” Dante wraps his hands around my neck and pulls me closer. “It’s so great to see you again, Noel. Let’s hope that this time, the sisters decide to keep it together.” “Dante!” Luca, my older brother, screams from the stairs. The sisters move out of the way as he rushes towards Dante, jumping like a b****y child. Rolling my eyes, I move away from the danger zone they have suddenly become, not wanting to be hit by their elbows. It has happened before. And all I got was a mildly sincere apology. After their squealing around, Luca looks around Dante towards the door and then back into the room, taking my question right out of my lips. “Where is Angelo?” I look at Dante, waiting for a response, but he looks away, scratching the side of his hair. “Oh my God! I missed you guys so much. Luca, you were telling me all about the pool you got behind the house. Can you show me?” “Sure!” Luca grins, slinging an arm around Dante and pulling him towards the patio, the question disappearing into thin air. I look at my mother. She has that worried look in her eyes. The one that has haunted her for weeks. But even though she might not agree with her sister in all things, I know that she is happy that the Hills are here. “Noel, honey,” Roselyn, my mom’s sister, calls. “Can you please help Rowan get our load into the house? Dante was supposed to help, but…” “Never mind,” I murmur, already heading out of the living room. “I got it.” But when I get to the car, Angelo is still nowhere to be found. And I have a feeling that he isn’t going to be coming to Greenwich. *** “This is really cool,” Dante says from the side of the pool, his legs deep in the water. I swim close to him, lying flat with my eyes staring at the blue clouds. “It was the last thing Dad did before he ….” The words get choked in my throat. No one ever saw his cancer coming. He was fine for the longest of times, and then suddenly, he wasn’t anymore. “Mom has been crying her eyes out,” Luca adds, sliding in beside Dante. “And she has barely eaten anything since the funeral.” “It’s nice you guys stopped by,” I murmur, swimming closer to them. “Or almost all of you… I guess Angelo was too busy to come around.” I try to sound as casual as possible, flapping my hands around. Dante sighs behind me, and even though I can’t see him, I can sense the change in the air. “Angelo doesn’t want to be here.” His tone sounds rigid. Almost forced. “Mom asked if he wanted to tag along after your dad… and he never got back to her.” “Oh!” I reach the end of the pool and lift myself out, water dripping all around me. “Well, you can’t blame him, can you? We haven’t seen each other in five years, so we don’t just expect him to try to bond with us from scratch.” “It’s hardly bonding.” Luca gets up too. “He drives over three hours to come to see me at my college. And he does that four times a year.” “You’ve been talking to him?” I cannot hide the pain in my tone as I turn to my brother. “He didn’t even respond to my emails.” “Stop being such a crybaby,” Luca mutters, rolling his eyes. “Maybe he got fed up with your whining and your horrible taste in movies.” “Luca…” A mischievous glint shines in his eyes. “Trust me, if I weren’t your brother, I would be running in the opposite direction each time I see you coming.” I rush to attack him with my fists raised in the air without thinking. But the lights from the patio come on, and Roselyn peeks her head out. “Come in for dinner, kids.” Luca moves first, hurrying towards the glass doors. But in that split moment, the doorbell rings, the sound slicing through the blood roaring hard against my ears. My heart stops for a second. Because I know. I am certain. My mother walks towards the door, and my eyes follow her. My pulse races as she twists the handle open, ushering the night in.