Stay with My Heart by Tashie Bhuiyan

Author:Tashie Bhuiyan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Published: 2023-11-07T15:06:29+00:00

30

KEEP DRIVING—HARRY STYLES

I knock on the door to the practice room before pushing it open. As usual, Sky is sitting on the floor, messing around with his guitar.

“Don’t you have a home to get to?” I ask, raising a brow.

Sky makes a face that makes me physically nauseous. That’s the face I make when I realize there’s nothing left for me to do but go back to my house, where no one and nothing awaits me.

Why would he make that face? What’s wrong with going home? How can he possibly dread it as much as I do?

“Sorry, I just meant...you stay late after practice a lot,” I say, fidgeting with my hair.

Sky releases a deep breath, one that’s so heavy I can feel the weight of it from across the room. “It’s just...easier to work here.”

I hesitantly venture inside, coming to a stop a few feet away from him. “Well, what did you do before you guys practiced here?”

Sky smiles humorlessly. “I spent a lot of nights at Thomas’ place.”

“Oh,” I say, my shoulders drooping. “I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s not—I didn’t say that to make you feel bad for me,” Sky says, getting to his feet. “It’s just—I don’t know. It’s weird not being able to go there when I need to get out of my head. I came up with so much of my music there. And now I don’t even have that option anymore.”

I suck my bottom lip into my mouth, staring at him uselessly. I don’t know what to say to him. I’ve never lost a best friend so suddenly before. I’m no longer in touch with most of my friends in New York, but that was because I moved away and we slowly drifted apart—not because they turned around and stabbed me in the back.

“Sorry, I know my writer’s block isn’t your problem,” Sky says, looking away from me. He puts his guitar in his case, zipping it up, and then goes to gather his sheet music and journal.

The entire time, I stand there, wanting to say something, but unable to put it into words.

Right as he starts for the door, I move, putting myself in front of him. “Hey, I didn’t mean anything by it. As long as the store is open, you’re always free to be here.”

Sky offers me a dismal smile. “Thanks, Liana.”

“No, I mean it,” I say, maybe a little too vigorously. Sky looks at me quizzically, and I force myself to think. Surely, I can give better advice than this. “Uh, when I’m stuck on something or really anxious, I’ve found walks to very helpful? Or long drives.”

Sky’s brows furrow. “And that works?”

I nod eagerly, glad to finally say something of use. Walks are something I started doing when Ma passed away, unable to stomach being in our New York apartment anymore, Baba’s grief thick and heavy in the air. It’s part of why we moved across the country, to somewhere new and fresh and devoid of any memory of my mother.

It’s helped in a lot of ways, but it also somehow feels worse.

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