The Crush Plan

7

Evening walks always held some kind of serenity that refreshed my mind. I never understood why, but something about the air was always very courageous, which made me feel like all the complications in my life could actually be sorted out. As I walked through the secluded street with Caden, something about the silence calmed me. In spite of my obvious anxiety over conversing with Caden.

"Well, Autumn?" he uttered, luring my attention almost instantly. "How did you like the kids?"

I shrugged, "I told you, they're adorable."

Caden nodded, recalling the moment. "Oh, right. Sorry."

Internally, I felt like slapping myself because he was actually trying to create conversation and I shut him up. Gosh, I was so stupid.

"I met Michelle," I began without thinking. "I still can't believe her story."

Caden's expression darkened. His eyes lost their cheery touch and a glint of sorrow flashed across them. "Neither can I. Even though I've known her for, like, three years, I still can't let what happened to her sink in. I mean, she's only thirteen, and..." He halted on his steps, his fists clenching.

I stepped back, also stopping on my tracks. He wasn't exactly getting emotional or anything, but he appeared really angry. It wasn't in me to comfort him, since I was very shocked myself... But, I just couldn't watch Caden like that. So, I placed my hand on his shoulder, and gave him a soft squeeze.

"It's going to be okay," I assured, trying my best to sound genuine.

Caden shook his head, looking up at the sky resignedly. "Why do the most innocent people have to go through the most tragic occurrences? It's not fair."

I sensed tears pricking in my eyes. "You're right, they do. But, in my eyes, it is fair." He furrowed his eyebrows, questioning me. "Caden, whatever happens definitely has a good reason for it to happen. Michelle's probably going through hell right now, and I—just like you—can't believe it, but there's also a bright side. There has to be."

He remained silent for a few moments. Then, as if my words sunk into his mind, he nodded. "You're right..." Caden smiled, a real smile. Seeing which, I couldn't help but feel some sort of relief that I made him feel better.

The rest of the walk home was rather quiet. Neither of us said anything, and we just indulged in listening to and feeling the silence. Once we reached our neighborhood, I found myself confounded when Caden didn't go the direction that led to his house, and instead accompanied me to the direction I was heading to.

"Um—aren't you going to go that way?" I inquired, as I pointed to the direction with my thumb and proceeded to walk.

Caden smiled. "I can only go home if I know you've reached your home safely."

I scoffed, not too fond of the idea. "No, but I can manage. Caden, you really don't have to—"

"Autumn," he cut me off, shutting me up. "Your determination level is really high, but I'm the most stubborn person you'll ever meet. Stop arguing with me, please."

Biting my lip, I gazed ahead. My house was a few feet away, so I sped up, as Caden followed behind me. I reached into my bag, fishing through it to take out my keys. After I unlocked the door, Caden shoved his hands into his pocket and opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off.

"Come on in," I requested, startling him.

He raised his eyebrows. "What?"

I nodded again, confirming his doubt. "You heard me. Come on in."

"But—"

I sighed. "Thank you for walking me home. I know you're stubborn, but I happen to be a bit stubborn, too... I can't cook you that lasagna, right now, but I can at least get you a glass of water. So, if you don't mind...," I trailed off, motioning for him to enter the house.

Caden grinned in amusement, obeying me as he went through the door. I shut the door behind me, while leading his way to the kitchen. He seated himself on one of the stools, as I poured him a glass of water. I held out the glass and as Caden grasped it, our fingers brushed just a bit.

Tingles galore.

Immediately, I let go of the glass, but, thankfully, Caden had a firm hold of it. His gaze diverted to me, confused as to why my hands became all wobbly. I gulped in anxiety.

Oh, I just so well knew how to create such situations.

"Sorry," I muttered, probably so low that he didn't even hear me.

Caden let it be, sipping from the glass of water. He drank every drop of it, to my surprise. "Where are your parents?" he questioned, placing the glass down on the counter and looking around the house in search.

I exhaled, pursing my lips. "I live with my mom. She's out with her boyfriend, for the day."

"Oh," Caden watched me, a tint of sympathy visible in them. "Do you have any siblings?"

"No," I shook my head. "Sadly."

He chuckled, shaking his head as well. "Oh, trust me, you're very lucky. Siblings are terribly annoying."

I bit my lip, not knowing what to say now. He stood up from his seat, shoving his hands in his pockets. I looked down, and trudged over to his side of the counter.

"It's getting late, I should go," Caden began, a faint of a smile on his lips.

I nodded, guiding him back to the door and holding it open for him. "See you Monday."

After he'd walked out, I strode back to the kitchen and swiped my phone's screen to see the time. Seven PM. I huffed, raking a hand through my brown locks—which were as messy as ever, by the way. I grabbed my phone and strutted upstairs. On my way to my room, I stopped midway in the hallway.

There were a few picture frames hung up on the walls on both sides. Most of them were either of Mom, me or the both of us together, since Mom took down almost all pictures of Dad when they separated. However, there was one that she didn't take down. It was a picture of Dad and me. It was from my seventh birthday party. My hair as short as ever, and my face all babyish. I was blowing out the candles, while Dad had his arm around me, beaming in pride to the long way his little girl came.

I probably stood there for approximately two minutes, until I finally broke out of my daze. Realizing there was a blur of tears within my eyes, I tried to holler at my inner mind to stay strong. Although it was hard to, my inner mind somehow did as I said.

When I came into my room, the first thing I observed was that everything was all over the place. With the whole thing going on with Caden, I figured I just didn't have the time and energy to clean the room for the past few days. I crossed over to my full-sized bed, and lied down on it, facing the ceiling.

Suddenly, my phone began to ring rather loudly. I sat up, and picked up my phone to see who was calling. It was from an unsaved number, much to my surprise. Who could be calling? I wondered.

Taking in a deep breath, I pressed the answering button and held the phone against my ear. "Hello? Who's this?"

"Autumn? Hi, sweetheart." The voice struck me like a thunderbolt. Dad.

I panicked. "Um—Dad?"

He chuckled softly. "Yes, Autumn, it's me. I was just calling to check in on you. How're you doing? How's school?" I was a caught off-guard, since he hadn't contacted me in three years.

"Oh, I'm doing fine. School's great. How about you? How's everything with you?" I asked, albeit I didn't want to know. I was just too hesitant to discover what he may be up to.

Dad sighed. "That's good to know... Everything's well, Autumn. As you know, I married right after your mom and I separated four years ago. I have a wife, Octavia, and she has a daughter from her previous marriage, Scarlet—you remember them, right?"

I stiffened, my jaw tightening to his words. "Yeah," I responded, "of course."

"Great. So, I just wanted to let you know, we're moving back to Baltimore on Tuesday. We've bought a house a few blocks away from yours, but, since Scarlet will be enrolling in your school, I was hoping you'd help her out? Show her around, maybe?"

I was a bit dumbfounded by his request, since I hadn't actually seen that coming. "Uh," I stammered, uncertain. "Okay," I agreed after a few seconds.

Dad huffed, like a huge load of burden was pulled off his chest. "That sounds great. Thank you, Autumn, I knew I could count on you."

"Yeah," I uttered, my voice cracking.

He became all concerned, "Are you okay, Autumn?"

I ignored the tears reappearing in my eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine. Dad, I got to go. Talk to you later, okay?"

"Of course, hun," Dad said happily. "I'll talk to you very soon. Take care."

I ended the call and there came the tears. Memories from the very day came flooding back to my mind, when my dad escaped the life he shared with Mom and I. The pain - I tried so hard to calm down, but I just couldn't bear it. For some reason, I just couldn't believe Dad called and asked me this like it was nothing.

How could he forget how close he and I were, and how hurt I was the day he left?

I wiped off the tears I'd already shed, but, then, more tears formed and came streaming down. It was like an endless waterfall. My phone rang, indicating a text message. I noticed it was from Mom, and wiped off another group of those tears, as I read the text.

"Hey sweetie. Good thing you didn't eat the lunch because I'm going to be late tonight. Dylan has tickets for a movie so we're going to the theater. Goodnight. Love you." - Mom.

It really was an endless waterfall, because in response to the text, I broke down into another fit of tears. Nobody cared about me, I thought, scoffing. I lied down on my bed, snuggling into my cushions.

Family was said to be our safe 'heaven', but, for me, it was where I received the most pain from.