We Were Us Read Free

capacity. I had seen him in the grocery store, and he seemed to have moved on from me, so I guess it was just the house and Michelle that I needed.
    I turned and waded back out of the river, the water evaporated from my legs as soon as I was out. The coolness of the water hadn’t really done anything to stave off the heat of the Midwest summer day. I hopped into my old trusty Honda Civic and set off back into town and to my childhood home. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I didn’t have many fond memories there.

CHAPTER TWO
     
    I rolled in over the gravel drive in front of the house around 2:00 and parked my car under the enormous oak tree that stood at the edge of the front yard. I’d always thought it was an odd place to put a tree. Its roots had grown up through the ground and through the cement of the sidewalk.
    The old yellow house sat back from the road a little way, hidden by two even older oak trees. There was a red, wooden wrap around porch with tricky, stone steps leading up to it. You had to hop the second stair or risk breaking your ankle. The heavy oak front door stood timelessly guarding the house against intruders. Not that anyone would think to break into this house. It was mostly empty anyway.
    I flicked the lights on after unlocking the door. Good, I thought, Dad was able to get the electricity back on. The air condition was off and it was boiling hot inside. The pungent smell of stale cigarette smoke lingered so I threw open the windows on my way to the thermostat. It was okay to crank the A/C with the windows open while its 102 degrees out right? Whatever.
    I walked through the house, taking survey of what needed to be done. The house was exactly how I’d left it, right down to the pair of socks I’d tossed on the couch that day after I’d come home from school. I needed to clean for sure. It had been empty for over a year now, and dust had settled on every surface. The living room was sparsely furnished, boasting just one shabby couch and an even shabbier TV stand. And when I said shabby, I didn’t mean shabby chic. I turned into the bathroom, running my fingers across every dusty surface along the way. I could barely make out my reflection in the dust-covered mirror. I swiped my hand across the mirror throwing huge globs of dust and dirt into the air and tangling cobwebs into my fingers. I turned the faucet on but brown water spurted out. Gross, so I just wiped the webs on my pants instead. I decided to let the water run while I wandered through the rest of the house. I found my way to the kitchen and turned on the water there too as well as starting the washing machine, letting it run through a cycle before I started a load of laundry later. I put away what little food I’d purchased at the store and made mental notes of what more I needed; soap of every kind, bleach.
    I saved the bedrooms for last. I ignored my mother’s and headed straight back to mine. It was the same, just dusty. Knick-knacks covered every inch of the massive white dresser, a corkboard on the wall covered with all mementos of a life I’d left behind. Pictures of Michelle and I smiled back at me from every photo. There were a few of Josh, too. He was her boyfriend now, as far as I knew, but he was mine first. I cringed at the memories, but reminded myself I wasn’t here to regain social status. I was here to live out the summer, quietly, clean out that house, and then go back to school in the fall. My phone vibrated in my pocket breaking me out of my depressing state of mind.
    “Hello,” I answered without looking at the caller ID.
    “Hey Sweetheart, it’s Dad. I just wanted to make sure you got home okay? Well back to Riverview I mean.”
    My dad was an amazing father for the situation we’d been dealt. He’d always felt bad about me not being able to live with him, and when Linda got after me about silly things, he told me to just ignore her. I was a living and breathing slap in her face, so she went out of her