Broken Glass, Broken Hearts part 73

Before, the first thing I would have heard after asking my parents if a boy could come stay overnight would be a slightly over-dramatized, "No," from my father. Now, though, the first thing I heard was, "Oh, yes, of course!" My mom said it, not my dad, but the expression on my dad's face made it fairly obvious that he, too, was excited at the prospect of a guest coming over. Anything to distract them was good, even a boy staying overnight to visit their daughter. "Oh, that would be very nice! When we met him, he seemed like a very nice boy!" Her voice was too energetic, fake. "Ok," I said, "Thanks." And with that, I waved and went out the front door, where Selena was waiting in her brother's Jeep to take me bathing suit shopping.

I wasn't sure how I was going to tell my sister about my decision. I didn't know if I should just casually mention it or if I should burst out of a cake holding a sign that read, "WE'RE GOING HOME!" Eventually, I decided the best path to take would probably just be to tell her, no casual setup, no party balloons. So I walked over to her room, knocked on the door, and pushed it in when she hollered permission for me to do so. "You intruded?" she said, sitting in front of her giant speakers and adjusting the volume in a way that was very irritating for onlookers ears. "Yup," I said, "I've got some news." She turned, facing me, and said, "Good news, or bad news?"

"I'm thinking you'll think it's good news."

"Goody. Spill."

"We're moving."

"News Flash of the century. Thanks for the memo."

"Back." Her face froze, her eyes slowly widening, and then the largest smile I had seen on her since she was a child broke out on her face. She screamed giddily and crossed the room quickly, throwing her arms around my neck in a hug and jumping up so that she was hanging from me. I laughed, slumping over slightly from her weight, and let her get back on the ground before saying, "So you're cool with this decision, I take it." She looked around the room and said, "Oh, gosh, I sure will miss this place." She turned back and grinned at me mischievously. I laughed and noogied her, and she squealed and tried to wiggle out of my grasp. It was just like when we were children.

Selena was very enthusiastic about her approval of Tyler visiting me. A little too enthusiastic for comfort, actually. I tried, unsuccessfully, to change the subject during the entire shopping trip, but she kept finding her way back to Tyler and I. "What do you think he wants to tell you?" she asked, her voice thick with a gossiper's deadly curiosity. I shrugged, "I don't know, he's probably just getting back to me on that shotgun wedding we'd been planning on. I was fine with just getting it done at the local place, but he's a real romantic, you know, so he'll probably want to surprise me with tickets to Vegas." Selena grinned, shaking her head at my sarcasm, but she persisted, "I don't think the whole marriage thing will happen any time soon, but maybe he'll ask you out... what do you think?"

"About dating relating to marriage? Oh, yea, it's like the gateway drug to married life."

"You are so ridiculous."

"And this is coming from you."

"I know. You should probably be worried."

"Oh, dear, I do believe you're right."

"Get your therapist now, before all the good ones are taken." I chuckled and shook my head, and Selena grinned before leading me into another store. At least I had managed to stop the interrogation... for the time being.

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