Page 24 of When You're Home
It was a promise he needed to see written out for himself. He had to leave Hampton tomorrow, but he would be back home, back to her, as soon as possible.
“Rhett!” Maddie squealed and ran into his arms. She was dressed for conditioning under her unzipped winter coat, wearing fitted workout pants and one of his old lacrosse shirts that she’d cut the arms out of. And now he knew why there were so few T-shirts in his closet upstairs.
“Hey, Maddie Girl. It’s so good to see you.” He wrapped her up in a big hug. She was only a few inches shorter than him at five ten. Her body was long and lean like his, too, just with less muscle definition. She had light blue eyes in contrast to his stormy grey and straight blond hair instead of his wavy dark brown locks, but their resemblance was still uncanny. Now that she was older, people often asked them if they were twins.
“Here, let me take that,” Rhett offered, reaching for her gym bag that was no doubt filled with the clothes and products she deemed necessary post-workout.
“Wait, why are we taking my car?” she asked as he loaded the bag into the trunk of her Lexus RX.
“I know you hate riding in the Prelude.” He shrugged. “Plus, I’ll be gone by the time you’re done for the day. I didn’t want to leave you stranded.”
“Are you going to call a ride share to drive you home from Hampton High?” she smirked as she opened the passenger door and climbed in.
Rhett adjusted his seat and checked the mirrors before answering. “No, goober. I slept in longer than I thought I would this morning, so I’m going to run back.”
“You’re crazy, bro. It’s like five miles from the school to our house, and it’s less than thirty degrees outside right now.” She hit the button to turn on both their seat warmers for emphasis.
“It’s exactly three miles if I go past the elementary schools and cut through the park,” he countered. He had run the route enough times to know the exact distance and time he was going for this morning. “Enough about my run, though. Tell me what’s going on with you? How’s conditioning going? When are tryouts?”
She slumped down into her seat and turned her head to look at him.
“It’s fine. Coach has me leading everyone in the weight room for conditioning, so I feel good about my chances of making captain. Tryouts are right before spring break in March. It all seems sort of silly knowing I’m just a few months from graduating, though, you know? Like, why did I choose to do a spring sport this year?”
“Because you love it,” Rhett replied automatically. “It’ll be worth it, Maddie. I promise. Playing lacrosse my senior year is one of my best memories from Arch. Senior year just feels weird in general. You know everything is ending soon, and you start to just go through the motions with some things. Believe me, I’m sort of going through it again as I finish up my MBA. It’s weird to feel like you have to say goodbye to some things and also get excited for what happens next.”
“Yeah, I guess. These early mornings aren’t as easy to get up for knowing I’ve already been accepted everywhere I applied, though.” He smiled at his sister’s nonchalance. He was so proud she had gotten into all six schools she had applied to for college.
“Are we stopping for coffee?” he asked as he approached the main intersection in downtown Hampton. He needed to know whether he should turn left at the light to park beside the coffee shop or turn right at the clock tower to head toward the high school.
“Yes, please. I need coffee. Want to just let me out and I’ll run in and get it?”
“No way. I can easily find parking this early.” He turned left and pulled into one of several open spots. “You stay in the car and I’ll run in,” he instructed, already unbuckled and opening his door.
He ordered Maddie’s favorite double dirty chai along with a black coffee for himself. He only had to wait two minutes before he was back in the car, steaming to-go cups in hand.
“You’re my favorite brother,” Maddie quipped as she closed her eyes and savored the first sip of her drink.
“I’m your only brother, but I’ll take what I can get, I guess,” he teased. “Anything else going on with you? Who went up to the cabin this weekend?”
He turned the car around right in the middle of the road since there was no one else on the street this early. They sat idly as they waited for the light at the base of the clock tower to turn green. Rhett felt a wave of déjà vu as he realized he had been parking on this side of the green and walking with Tori into Clinton’s at the same time the morning before. He had checked the posted schedule at work yesterday, and he was glad she wasn’t on for breakfast again today. She’d get to sleep in since she didn’t have classes until the afternoon on Mondays this semester.
“Chloe came up to the cabin with us this weekend, so that was chill. I’m trying to convince Mom to let me take a few people to the cabin without her over spring break, but so far, no dice. I’m pretty sure your high school antics ruined any chance I’ll ever get at getting away with shit like that,” she mused. Rhett smiled—she wasn’t wrong.
“What’s going on with you?” She turned the questioning back to him then. “How’s Tori?” she asked, a weighty accusation to her question.
“She’s good.” He chewed on the inside of his cheek as he wondered how much to tell his little sister. “She didn’t know I was coming home this weekend, either,” he offered apologetically. He glanced over at Maddie as he made the turn on the road leading to the high school. “Chandler and I had a fight, and I just didn’t want to deal with her drama this weekend.”
“So you got in a fight with your real girlfriend and came home to her?” She filled in the blanks.
“Maddie,” Rhett warned, lifting his left hand and running it through his hair in frustration. He hadn’t told her about the fight with Chandler because he wanted an attitude about the situation.
“What?” I’m not sitting in judgement of your little love triangle, Rhett. I just worry about you sometimes. Whatever arrangement you two have doesn’t seem fair…”
“Madison.” This time it wasn’t a warning. “Chandler and I have been dating for a few years now, but it’s always been casual between us. I don’t even think we’ll stay together once I move to Virginia. What Tori and I have… it’s just a lot of history, you know?” He trailed off, annoyed that he was trying to justify the situation to his little sister.
“That’s all fine, Rhett. And what I was going to say before you cut me off is that none of this seems fair to you.” Maddie glanced over and gave him a knowing look. “You know I love Tori like a sister, and I know she’s not your real girlfriend, but I don’t understand why not. It pisses me off.”
“You and me both.”
