Saving Face (a young adult romance) by Dell T.J

Author:Dell, T.J. [Dell, T.J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Published: 2011-10-10T23:00:00+00:00

Standing on the porch when Alyssa and Beth got back from the movie theater, were both her parents. Just standing there, in the cold, with no heavy jackets—as if they’d rushed out the door as soon as Beth’s car drove into sight. Alyssa and Beth approached the house slowly.

“Something’s wrong.” Alyssa stated when she and Beth made their way to the front door. “Mom, you’re supposed to be at the hospital for another two hours.”

“It’s your grandfather.” Her dad’s face looked pained when he spoke.

“Is he in the hospital again?” Alyssa forgot Beth was there and she rushed toward the house.

“Let me grab some things and we’ll go see him. I still have his greatest game DVDs. Last time they kept him so long and…”

“Alyssa sweetheart.” Her mom grabbed her arm before she could get through the door. “He isn’t in the hospital. He had a heart attack. There was nothing they could do.”

Realization didn’t dawn on her until much later that night. She was lying in bed trying to sleep when her thoughts finally made sense again. Her grandfather was gone. She wasn’t going to beat him at baseball on Sunday, because she wasn’t going to be seeing him on Sunday. She wasn’t going to be seeing him at all anymore. The very idea was so foreign that she couldn’t process it. All night she’d thought of anything else. She’d made lasagna for dinner. Pop loved her lasagna. No one had eaten much that night. She’d cleaned the bath room. She’d dusted the upstairs banister that her mom always forgot about.

At some point she was pretty sure she’d texted Beth to be sure she got home all right. Alyssa wasn’t sure when she’d left. Beth called back, but Alyssa didn’t answer. What would she say? So she went to bed. Not to sleep, because she couldn’t sleep. She just laid there all night—not sleeping, not thinking, not doing much of anything.

The viewing was more of the same. Alyssa hung up coats, and fetched trays of refreshments. There was a couch reserved for her family. Presumably so other mourners could find them easily and tell them lots of stupid things that wouldn’t help at all. So she didn’t sit on the couch. Cousins Alyssa couldn’t name made conversation with her that she’d never be able to recall. The cousins were all wearing black. Pop hated black on young people. Said it wasn’t appropriate for anyone under thirty—Alyssa wasn’t sure why that was. She wore her blue skirt.

She didn’t think much about Pop. She didn’t linger at the photos depicting his life story by the entranceway. She didn’t join in while his bowling league from Stoneybrook were swapping stories. She didn’t even talk to her dad when he tried to get her to sit down. He was crying. For two days she’d watched him cry for the father he hadn’t gotten along with. Alyssa hadn’t cried. Not one tear—her mascara was in zero danger. Maybe, she thought briefly, maybe she hadn’t loved Pop enough.

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