"Got any tens?" Wyatt asked as he sat across from Harper at the dining table .

 "Go Fish!" Harper exclaimed, chuckling as Wyatt hesitantly grabbed a card. "My turn! Uh, got any-" The door opened before she could finish. Harper turned her attention to the door, seeing Wyatt stiffen from the corner of her eye. She ignored it and kept her eyes on the door. "Um, who is it?" She called.

" It's your dad! " Her father called from around the wall. When he stepped into view, his eyes immediately darted to Wyatt before going back to Harper. "So, did you like the school?"

 " Yeah, actually! Most of the people there are really nice, and those whose aren't won't mess with me, so that's good. I also think that I could easily pass all my classes. "

 "That's good. Wyatt, do you mind if we talk about what happened today?"

 " Sure, boss, " Wyatt replied with a grin, standing up, "Sorry, we'll have to finish our game another time, Harp."

 " Not necessarily, " Harper replied with a smirk, "Fours?"

 Wyatt grumbled and searched through his hand before handing her two fours. Harper laid down her hand -which consisted of only fours - before running to her room, laughing.

Harper slammed the door shut me fell into the bed, gasping for breath. She pulled out her phone and scrolled through her messages, most of which were from "Dylan the Snake" asking if he could come to her house and if she would teach him soon. Every time she either replied with "No, I'm busy right now" or " My dad doesn't want anyone over right now ", but he kept insisting. Eventually, she turned of her notifications so she wouldn't know when he was texting her before going to Bailey's messages.

Hey, Harper! Mom's kinda going berserk. Every day she checks your old room, insisting you'll show up. Sometimes she even claims someone kidnapped you, and I have to show her out texts to prove you're fine. 

What? Why?

I was hoping you knew. The weirdest part is that she's not mad. She knows that she got divorced, and she knows you left with him. Honestly, by all medical standards, she's perfectly sane. But whenever someone brings up you...

Geeze, I didn't know she cared so much.

I don't think she does. Thomas had the same reaction, so he hid in the roof for a while. Mom never even called his name. Then, when he went to the front door, mom answered and looked at him for a moment before telling him to scram, thinking he was dad! We had to put them in the same room together for 5 minutes while restraining mom. Unfortunately, she also thought Hayden was dad.

Why?

Who knows? Anyways, how was the school?

It was nice! The place is huge and the students are really kind. You'd like it there.

I'll bet. Sorry, gtg help Hayden with his homework.

Okay, see ya!

Bye!

Harper tossed her phone on her bed and flopped backwards. She put her hands on her head and sighed. "It's not your fault. It's not your fault. It's not your fault." Tears fell down her cheeks as she thought about what her siblings had to be going through. What they must be thinking about her selfish act of leaving. "It's not your fault."

Frantic, Harper looked around the room until she found a chair that didn't look very expensive. She hurried over to it and punched the back of it until her hand broke through. She pulled her hand back and gave herself a small, sad smile before bursting into tears. All the stress from the last few days had been building up, and she didn't want to mess everything up like she had with her parents' divorce.

 "Uh, Harp?" Wyatt asked from the other side of the door, "You good?"

"I'm fine," she replied, her voice shaking.

"Does that mean I can come in?"

Harper hesitated for a moment, "Sure."

Wyatt slowly pushed the door open, carefully shutting it behind him as he entered. He looked at the chair before going to Harper's still clenched fist. "What's up? " He asked, sitting next to her on the floor.

Unable to form words, Harper grabbed her phone from the bed and opened up her messages from Bailey. She scrolled until she found the start of the conversation and handed the phone to Wyatt. He finished reading it quickly before looking back at her. "So you really think that this was all your fault?" He asked cautiously. He sighed when she nodded, "Harp, I don't know much about you, or your family, or why they split, but I do know it wasn't your fault. Something just happened with your parents, that's all. You weren't involved, okay?"

Harper looked at the chair, " Are you sure? Maybe my mom didn't like me and divorced dad because she knew I'd go with him. Or maybe she didn't like my PTSD or something. "

 "You've got PTSD, too?" Wyatt asked gently. 

Harper nodded, " Do you? "

"Nah. My sister did, though. It took her a few years to get over it."

" What happened with her? "

"She... Some of her classmates used to use her because she was shy and did whatever she was told. One time she almost fell off a cliff into the ocean because some of them were stupid and pushed her. Took a toll on her. "

"I'm sorry. Has she gotten better?"

" Yeah. She got better about 5 or 6 years ago. "

"That's good."

Wyatt sighed, " I know. How 'bout you? "

Harper looked at her lap, "Well, when I was ten, dad left. We didn't know where he was, and he didn't say goodbye. About three weeks later, my mom told me that dad had died. I don't know why, but... She did. And we all believed her. I guess that was how I got mine. I stopped doing things I used to do with him, like tree climbing and hiking. I ate very little. I couldn't focus on anything. 

"When he came back... It was like I had just put myself back together again. And he ripped what I had fixed into pieces. In full honesty, there's a small part of me wishing he'd never left, or never come back. I just feel kind of... empty. And full of anger. And sadness. I don't know. I'm sorry, I shouldn't be ranting. "

"There's nothing to apologize for." Wyatt said as he turned to face Harper, "You know, my sister used to vent to me a lot. She said it helped. You can always tell me anything. "

Harper smiled before wrapping Wyatt in a hug, "Thanks."

" For what? "

 "For listening. And understanding. "

"Hey, it's no problem, Harp." Wyatt said as he pulled away, " Also, I'm pretty sure your father said he has an early morning tomorrow, so I'll be taking you to school again. You good with that? " Harper nodded vigorously, "Wow, you must be really excited! " Wyatt laughed, "Well, see you tomorrow then, Harper!"

" Bye, Wyatt! " Harper exclaimed as her door shut. Still smiling, she changed into loose fitting clothes before crawling into her bed. You got this, Harper! she thought, Tomorrow is a new day! It's the start of a new chapter! A new life!

Story word count: 1235