ACIR HILLS
The apartment felt different after Tyler left.
The television was still playing in the background, the laugh track rising every few minutes whenever the characters on-screen said something stupid. But something about the silence between Onda and me felt heavier.
Maybe because there was no longer anyone else here to distract us.
I stood at the dining table, running a cloth over the surface even though it was already clean. Across the room, Onda was putting the last of the plates away. Silence stretched between us. After what happened with Wesley, I had asked them not to make a big deal out of it—no, I had begged them, actually.
I didn’t want the entire day to become about Wesley. I just wanted one normal day.
So we ate the food Onda had ordered. We watched movies, and playe
