Chapter 7 Chapter ７

He came in, closed the door, and turned to face me with drooping shoulders. Apparently, whatever it was he was about to say was of the utmost importance to him, and he had given it much thought.

We need to know, "What's wrong?" I had to lower my voice.

This is none of my business, and I feel terrible saying it, but David-" He knitted his brows together thoughtfully. In other words, "You need to cut ties with him."

The thought of standing up so quickly made me dizzy. "What? Why?"

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he spoke up. To make matters more challenging, his chest rose and fell with each breath, making it more difficult for me to ignore his movements. In my head, I ran a number of possible explanations for why he might ask such a question, and one of them was completely out there.

'Cause,' he explained, 'I've seen the way he treats you, and it's not right. He has reached a stage in his life where he is completely self-centered, and this is not going to change. That won't be happening anytime soon. Dr. Johnson looked as though he had given up. I speak from painful experience when I say, "Not until he learns to stop taking things for granted. This describes me perfectly when I was his age.

I had to take a moment to process everything, and my throat got very thick. You couldn't focus on anything when he was in the room. Perhaps there was something in the lemonade that made people feel woozy.

To tell him I had ended things with David five minutes ago, I opened my mouth, but he kept talking.

I realize how terrible this may sound. But what kind of a parent am I to suggest that you end things with him? In response to his own query, he shook his head. Regardless of what you do, I fear that one of you will be hurt. This is on him, not you; I'm probably going to leave this room regretting anything I said.

He scratched himself on his defined jaw with his hand, irritating the whiskers.

You deserve more than my son can give you at the moment because you're a wonderful girl, Jessica.

"Wow." As opposed to a spoken word, it was simply a breath.

Dr. Johnson's shoulders tensed up and his face contorted in embarrassment. I apologize. I apologize for saying what I did.

I shouted, "No, wait!" as he started to walk out the door. "I just broke up with him."

"You did?" He stilled. "Why?"

I dropped my gaze to the carpet. It was too hard to look him in the face as I told him his son was less than perfect, even when Dr.Jonson seemed to know David was human. "For the same reason you just said. David and me, we're different people from who we were three years ago." My gaze crawled up Dr.Jonson's body until I could meet his eyes. "I'm not sure the new me likes the new him all that much," I admitted.

"I get it," he said, and he genuinely seemed to. There wasn't defensiveness or anger in his eyes. It looked mostly like relief. "I grew up a lot when I was in school. I did stupid shit until I figured out how to be an adult, and I'm guessing that's where he is right now."

"Still figuring it out?" It was a half-question, half-statement, because I knew it was true. David couldn't get a handle on all the freedom of college life, and he'd gone overboard.

"Yeah. He's got a ways to go," his father said.

"I'm sorry."

Confusion flooded Dr.Jonson's face. "For what?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. That I couldn't make it work."

He looked at me like I was being silly. "Don't do that. This isn't your fault. Things don't work out sometimes, and that's just life."

I inhaled deeply. It seemed uncomfortable to discuss it with him, but also pleasant. It was good to know I wasn't at fault. I was already feeling down, but thinking about how he always seemed to know just what to say or do made me even more so. It's terrible. Even after we split up, I still feel like we're not together.

As soon as it left my lips, I regretted it. His irises sprang out in shock

Because," I said, "we'll never see one other again." Do we, like, part ways?"

When I left, I left a big hole in David's heart. Pictures of my boyfriend and I were all around the home. Indeed, I spent last summer's vacation with the Lowes.

I didn't get too choked up, but I did blink away the tears that threatened. Can I mention that I'm going to miss you without seeming weird?

Dr.expression Jonson's and voice had a similar gravelly quality, making it difficult to listen to. Absolutely not. It's not only you that I'm going to miss.

He came toward me, arms outstretched for an embrace as I cleared my throat of the lump. I quickly entered in and let him to press his chest on mine. He obviously didn't mind that my bikini was damp, so I decided to stop caring about it, too.

It was easy to feel safe and secure with him.

Tears threatened again as he held me in his increasingly tight embrace. The status quo was OK with me. Not wanting this ###Chapter to end.

I put my face on his chest and could feel his pulse racing. As his fingers calmly combed through the hair at the back of my head, I closed my eyes, fighting back the tears. If I stayed like this, how long would he stand for it?