Page 158 of Before We're More Than Friends
Meet me at the dog park? Need to clear my mind
Dallas
Me too, it’s been a day
Be there around nine?
Raina
Sounds good
I looked at my mirror before cringing. My hair was a mess, my face and eyes were red from crying, and the camisole and shorts I’d slept in the night before were far from flattering. I brushed my hair and put on a fitted T-shirt, leggings, and jacket before finding one of my leashes for Penrose.
“Come on, girl,” I said as I hooked her to the leash. “It’s time for another night.”
She barked, her tail wagging as if she knew what she was getting into.Finally leaving this depressing house, I imagined her saying.All this yelling gets on my nerves.
I rubbed behind her ears. “I feel you, girl. I do.”
“I think they finally like each other,” I said as Houston and Penrose attempted to catch the frisbeeDallas had brought. Neither one of them caught it, and they both tried to pick it up from the ground. They bumped noses and exchanged a funny look before Penrose picked up the frisbee.
“I knew they would eventually,” Dallas said as Penrose brought him the frisbee. My heart warmed in my chest. “Houston loved playing with other dogs in Dallas. I bet he misses Toby’s dog, Buster.”
“Aw.” I sucked in a breath. “So, was your day better than mine was?”
“Probably not by much,” he said as he threw the frisbee. “I’m convinced that Hayden hates me now and thinks I have it out for him.” He gave me a summary of the fight they had at Hayden’s house. I hadn’t even known that Hayden and Dallas decided to stay home from school, too.
“I think it’s the end of Like Airplanes,” Dallas finished with a sigh.
“Gosh, Hayden really has his moments.” I shook my head as I threw the frisbee. This time, Houston caught it in his mouth and brought it over to me. “I’m sorry this happened. I have no idea what our group is going to be like anymore.” Our friend group had been through hell in the past few years, but we’d always put up with each other’s crap and stuck it out.
Maybe we’d finally reached our breaking point.
“What’s happened with you?” Dallas asked as he watched me throw the frisbee again.
“My grandpa is staying with us right now,” I said. “Thatwasgoing well, but then Mrs. Naysmith came to the door and ruined everything.”
“That’s Gracelynn’s mom, right?” Dallas’s eyes widened. “Is it because your mom is in the hospital?”
“Yeah, and I lashed out at her.” I huffed, the cold air making my chest ache. “And Arielle and Nonno got mad at me for it. Also, it turns out that Gracelynn had the nerve to make hermom send over the flowers and the card. And she acted like I was a jerk for being upset about it.” I explained everything about the fight, the rage in my veins returning.
“Oh.” Dallas bit his lip when I finished, looking down at Houston and Penrose.
“What?” I asked.
“Did you apologize?”
“To who? I don’t need to apologize to anyone.”
“It’s just that it was harsh to lash out at Mrs. Naysmith when she was trying to move things forward.” He threw the frisbee at the dogs. “They both had good intentions.”
“Are you saying I shouldn’t be upset?” I didn’t mean to raise my voice, but it happened anyway.
“I understand why you’re upset,” he said. “But it wasn’t right to take it out on everyone else. It reminds me of when my parents fight or Hayden and Caleb?—”
“So you’re blaming me?”
“I’m just trying to make sense of things.” His voice didn’t rise a decibel. “Arielle was right that you shouldn’t have treated Mrs. Naysmith that way. And though I don’t agree with how Gracelynn started with yelling at you on the phone, she does have a reason to be upset too.”
