Page 53 of Finding a Melody

That was when I realized I hadn’t told them about my childhood friend moving here. Now was as good a time as any. They’d meet him on Tuesday anyway when they went back to school. It’d be good for Micah to have more friends than just me.

“An old friend of mine. We used to go to camp together when we were kids and we kept in contact since. It used to be just phone calls and texts, but he’s actually moved into the area.”

I tucked my phone away and grabbed my bags, already feeling my phone buzz against my thigh as Micah kept on talking. I smiled, loving that we talked so much more now that he was closer by.

Seth helped me move everything to his truck and I climbed in. The truck was definitely roomier than my car. More comfortable, especially for Seth.

As he pulled out of his driveway, my stomach fluttered at the anticipation of spending time with him. Since he worked a lot during the week, we didn’t get as much time together like I did with the others. I got to see the others every day at school, though this week had been after school only, but I could go a couple of days without seeing Seth depending on his schedule, and he lived only across the street from me.

“Where are we going?” he asked before we hopped on the highway.

“Faydelle Community Center.”

“Oh.” There was something in his voice that had me sending glances his way. He stared ahead of us with a small frown.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing,” he mumbled and reached for the radio. Before he had a chance to pull that trick on me, I grabbed his hand, stopping him from turning it up to avoid talking to me.

“It’s not nothing,” I challenged.

Seth’s jaw tensed up and I noted the way his other hand clenched around the steering wheel.

I sighed, letting him go. “If you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine,” I whispered. “Just say so.”

For some reason, it felt like a wall had been slammed down between us, and it actually hurt. I didn’t think him not telling me something personal would hurt. It was silly. I didn’t tell him all my personal crap and he had no reason to do it.

Seth sighed. I tried to ignore the burn in my eyes. This was so fricken silly. Why were my emotions so high strung today? There was no reason. Everything was going great. I should have been happy. Excited to play with the kids.

“It’s not that,” he finally spoke. “It’s just... I don’t like dredging up old memories. It’s way in the past.”

I nodded, my throat still feeling clogged as I refused to look at him.

Too much time went by in silence, and I suddenly wished I had let him turn up the radio. I could hear the clicking of the turning signal as he took a right, not far from the community center.

Still nothing was said as he turned into the parking lot and parked. When he didn’t move, I stayed still. The truck settled into a quietness that was too loud. I could hear all the small sounds, like my seat creaking from the slightest movement or the sound of Seth and me breathing. I became hyper aware of everything.

The boring looking building sat in front of us. It used to be a warehouse a long time ago, but then they converted it into a community center. It had everything it needed to keep kids happy and safe. There was a basketball court outside, a chain-link fence surrounding the area to keep the kids contained and from running out onto the road to get the ball.

They had it installed two years ago after a boy got hit by a car that had just pulled out of the parking lot. He was okay, but after that, more measures were put into place to keep them safe.

Without having to see it, I knew by heart that the inside had a massive gymnasium for the kids to play all kinds of sports. There were small study rooms, a little library full of donated books, an art classroom, a little fitness gym, and a cafeteria. There was also a music room, my favorite place to go. A good chunk of the kids and teens were outside for the day, soaking up what was left of the good weather before it became too cold.

Speaking of weather, winter was just around the corner. I’d need to talk to the director to get my list of kids. They had a rule here that during winter, if a kid wanted to play outside, they needed proper clothing. Many of the kids here were too poor to be able to afford that. The staff would collect a list of everyone in need and their sizes, and ask for donations. I always funded ten of them: five kids under twelve, and five teens.

There was always something fulfilling when I saw a kid wearing the winter clothes I bought for them, seeing them rolling around in the snow with cherry red cheeks and having a ton of fun. And it was scary to think that before that, they were lucky if they even had a thick enough coat to protect them from the bite of the bitter winter chill.

Seth didn’t speak up until I reached for my seat belt, finally wanting to escape this awkward silence. “I used to come here as a kid.”

His voice made me jump. I glanced at him, taking note of the tightness around his lips. This was something hard for him to talk about. The pain in his expression made me want to tell him it was okay, he didn’t need to explain. Instead, I felt my lips glued together.

“My dad, Paul, is actually my stepdad, and has been for a long time. He’s amazing, pretty much the only man I see as my real dad. He’s so supportive and he’s madly in love with my mom. He helps. Doesn’t even ask us what we need, he just does it so naturally that it’s like he’s my real father.” His smile softened. “He’s my only father. I have no doubt about that. But before him, there were others, and they weren’t the best. Nothing too bad, just not father material. And I didn’t want to be a burden, so I’d come here.”

“What about your birth dad?”

“Died when I was a baby. A work accident. Funny enough, he was in the construction business. I think that’s why I went in this direction too, as a lame attempt to be connected to him. When he died, it had to have broken something in my mom. She was always quick to latch on to men and fought to keep them. Eventually, they’d get fed up with her paranoid possessiveness and leave.” Seth shrugged it off and turned to me. “I like to think I helped them think leaving was a better option. No man wanted to be saddled with a kid who wasn’t theirs. But my current dad, he was different right from the beginning. Paul fixed whatever was broken in my mom. She got better. I got better. And he always kept his word. He never left. And trust me, I tried. It was hard to believe that he’d stick around. But he kept on taking my shit as if it was natural. It was annoying.”

I smiled at that. Seth was a fighter. I could see it in his eyes, his determination. He wasn’t going to let anyone put him down. I imagined he was always like that, even as a kid.