We Were Us Read Free Page A

way to be rude to me. I didn’t take it personally, I’d feel the same way if I were in her situation.
    “Yeah. I just walked into the house. It’s dirty.” I added.
    “Do you need anything? Do you need to stay somewhere else tonight?”
    “No, I have the card you gave me and I’ll go to the store again tomorrow morning.”
    “Okay. Use as much as you need. This is your account, Linda doesn’t know about it. I know you are eighteen and I don’t have to pay child support anymore, but you’re a good kid and you’ve worked hard for what you do have. You deserve more.”
    “Thanks Dad. I’ll call you later okay.”
    “Okay Sweetheart.”
    I hung up the phone and looked around my old room. I found an empty shoebox and started tossing everything from my dresser into it. I might as well start packing things up now. Besides, I didn’t want the constant reminders of my old life. I was moving on, and remembering what was and what could have been wasn’t what I needed.
    I was unceremoniously dumping everything in the box, but I paused at a small glass unicorn figure. Its body was clear but its mane and tail were turquoise and it had creepy black glass eyes. Michelle had an identical one except hers had pink hair. She’d insisted that we buy these horrid things at a street fair to commemorate our last summer before our senior year. “We’ll have a magical summer, and a magical senior year! And these will remind us,” she said before I could object. I thought about calling her but I didn’t have her number anymore. I didn’t know if she still lived in Riverview or if she’d even want to see me after all, her dad was the mayor, the one who had been sleeping with my mom, the whole reason she was in jail and I had to leave. I left the little glass figurine on the dress and finished clearing it off then moved on to the corkboard.
    In the midst of memories of concerts, school plays, and events my phone rang again. I assumed it was my dad, but when the deep sexy voice of Andrew came across I immediately straightened up and ran my fingers through my hair. Like he could see me, I scoffed to myself.
    “Hey Andrew, what’s up?”
    “Nothing babe. Just making sure you got to Riverview alright.”
    “Yeah, I just got in. My house is a disaster.” I sat on the edge of my bed.
    “You should have just stayed with me,” he laughed.
    “Yeah well, I have stuff here I need to take care of.” I said, picking mindlessly and the lint on the bedspread.
    “I know, you said that. When will you be back?”
    “Right before school starts again in September, maybe a couple of weeks before. Stef and I don’t know if we want to do the dorms again or get an apartment.”
    “I see. Well call me anytime. I miss you already.” He sounded sad and pouty. I didn’t know if he was being real, or over exaggerating.
    “I miss you too, Andrew,” I smiled. He always made me smile.
    With that I hung up. I really did miss Andrew. He was funny and handsome. Okay hot. He was tall, and dark. His eyes were brown and I normally hated brown eyes, but his reminded me of maple syrup when you held it up to the light, dark and warm. His hair was an unruly mess that my hands liked to get lost in. Not that they had had much of an opportunity to get lost though. Andrew and I had made out a few times, but our relationship was mostly platonic. I wasn’t interested in a boyfriend my first year of college, and he had some broken past he wasn’t interested in talking about. He was perfect for me, not into sharing.
    After clearing my room of every high school memory and cleaning out the kitchen cabinets of expired canned and boxed foods, I washed all of the bedding in my room and plopped down on the bare mattress. I felt accomplished. I wasn’t in high school anymore and I needed to clear out my mind and my physical space of everything that that reminded me of my past, so I could move forward with my life.
    I moved next to the bathroom and found and old