Page 163 of Between the Lines

After selling the house, and seeing the amount of commas in my savings, it made perfect sense to give Claire the time and space she needed to complete her internship and get her on her feet—which meant that she didn’t need to take on a job this summer. Being transparent with each other to build toward our future has been our foundation.

In between classes and training our puppy, she has been helping me pack up my parents’ home, going through things Cal and I have held onto out of guilt, and deciding what we don’t need anymore. She has also been working on repairing the rift with her parents. Right now, she’s visiting her siblings once a week, and having family dinners biweekly. She’s taking baby steps, and I tell her how proud I am every single day.

And while she has been taking baby steps of her own, I’ve been pushing myself to do the same.

Cal feels like my brother for the first time since he donned a hospital gown. In between both of our hectic schedules, we’ve been trying to see each other more than our once monthly phone calls. We’re also both going to therapy. It was something I avoided after my parents’ death out of fear. Although it is a slow going process, I’m glad to finally be taking the steps.

On top of it all, Claire has been adding her decorative flair to the new home.Ourhome. The moment we both realized that thishome will be the first thing either of us will own independent of our pasts, we poured our everything into it. I was ecstatic when she decided that she wanted to move in from the start. However, she really didn’t have a choice in the matter.

A pipe burst in Penelope’s house. With the damage to the electrical, flooring, and inside the walls, we have been playing house since, with Penelope as our guest—our “Joey from Friends,” the girls have been calling her—while simultaneouslyintroducingClaire to the show. It was only a matter of time before Claire had to make a decision.

The way that she chooses me again and again has done wonders for my bruised heart.

I’m about to respond to her quip about who Bilbo loves more when Aaron’s voice interrupts us.

“Hey, Harding! Can you two stop canoodling? We’re out of Cool Ranch Doritos out here!”

Our eyes widen, and she hops off the counter, steadying herself on my shoulder before using it to press up and give me a quick kiss.

Claire giggles, reaching behind her to grab the aforementioned blue bag and slapping it against my chest.

“Good luck with them. I’m going to go clean up in the bathroom.”

She sneaks out, leaving me to fend for myself.

When I get to the living room, the Twister board has been abandoned. Everyone is sitting on their phones, checking their emails by the looks of it.

I see four missed calls from my boss, and a text message simply reading,Check your email.I don’t bother calling him.

Instead, I take a seat on the couch. Bilbo immediately plods over and lays his face in my lap. I pet his head with one hand, and take in the hell storm that our impending school year has just become with the other as I absorb the extent of the email. The doom written on my face brings an impenetrable silence to our once happy day.

“What’s going on?” Lucy asks. Everyone else looks up.

“I have some news from Don.”

“Is this a good news/bad news situation?” Juliet asks. I shake my head gravely.

“Are you allowed to put us out of our misery?” Sam interjects.

Claire enters, stopping short of the room as she takes in the state of our guests. She comes up from behind me and rests a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

“What’s up?”

I swallow, my eyes landing solely on Penelope. She raises a brow, and I tug on the collar of my T-shirt.

“The boiler system at Meadow Ridge Middle School failed yesterday morning. As they were investigating the damage, they found too much hidden foundational damage to deem the building safe for the upcoming school year.”

I pause, my eyes scanning over my friends who are also my colleagues, landing on Penelope last as I tear her already broken world apart.

“Until further notice, they are splitting students and teachers across the boundary lines. We will have double the class sizes, and you will all more than likely have a co-teacher from Meadow Ridge in your class to accommodate.”

“What does that mean?” Penelope bites. I lift my eyes in apology.

“You and Anthony will be co-teaching this year.”

“MyAnthony?”

“Yes.” I nod curtly. “YourAnthony.”