Sixteen

        Eve doesn’t know I’m meeting Kelsey.

            Even though I completely agree with everything she said and I know what I’m doing is wrong, I feel like I need to see her. That’s the thing about falling in love; no matter how much that person hurts you, no matter if they rip your heart out, put it in a pipe and smoke, there’s still a part of you who wants to be with them.

            I meet Kelsey at a park. But it’s not just any park; it’s the one we used to go to years ago, before everything changed. When I see her, she’s only a dark figure lying in the double slide, staring up at the stars. Without questioning it, I take my place beside her and slide my hands into my sweater pockets.

            “I don’t know why we stopped doing this.” Her voice is quiet but I can still tell that she’s been crying all day. “It was the simplest thing but it was always the best part of my day.”

            “Things change,” I murmur. “So do people.”

            “Fallon, I’m sorry-“ she sits up and starts to look at me over the slide but I make her lie back down. She’s ruining this; this…moment. It seems like the wrong word, but I don’t know what else to call it. “You were right. You are right. You’ve always been and always will be.”

            I nod even though she can’t see.

            “That’s why I’m going to get better, Fallon. I mean it this time.”

            “How.” Disbelief pours itself into my voice, making my word no longer a question but an order.

            “I…I talked to my parents.”

            This time I’m the one to sit up. I lean over the divider and look at her. Her eyes reflect the stars and I feel like I’m reliving the past.

            “You talked to them?” I don’t remember the last time Kelsey talked to them. It was years ago, excluding a time or two when she brought Tyson to see them, but the visit never ended well. Once they knew she was doing drugs, they kicked her out. They refuse to believe that I stopped, but they’ve never given me the chance to find out.

            “Yes.” Tears roll over her cheeks but I can tell that they’re happy. “They’re going to get me help.”

            “Rehab?” I whisper. I want her to get better, but I’m scared to be away from her all over again.

            “I think so. They’re taking me next week, after everything has been settled.”

            Somehow, her hand finds mine and I lean back down in the slide. I give it a tight squeeze and smile.

            “So I guess we need to spend as much time together as possible before I leave.”

            Despite everything else, I nod. “Of course.”

            “Eve?” I call through the quiet house. I know Tyson’s probably asleep so I lower my voice. When I don’t get a response, I gesture for Kelsey to come silently inside. I leave her in the doorway as I head down the hall, looking for her.

            When I find her, she’s sitting on my bed. Her hands lie in her lap and she doesn’t look up when I enter. I can already see that she’s crying.

            “Eve, what’s wrong?”

            She shakes her head and when I reach for her, she swats her hand away. Her eyes are narrowed and she instantly goes from upset to angry.

            “You just don’t get it, do you?”

            “What?” I ask, stepping back.

            “All I’ve ever done is tried to help you. Then I get my heart involved along the way and you take no time breaking it and handing it right back to me.”

            “Eve, I never meant for this to-“

            “No,” she snaps, cutting me off. “But you never tried to stop it either.”

            “It’s not what you think,” I murmur, reaching for her again. She moves out of my grasp and I drop my hand. “Kelsey said she talked to her parents. She’s getting help; going to rehab.”

            “Well, good for her.” There’s sarcasm in her voice.

            I want to say more, to convince her that everything that she is assuming is untrue, but I can’t form the words. As much as I hate to admit it, she’s right.

            When she leaves, I follow her to the door, not trying to stop her. When Eve is at the door, Kelsey sticks out her tongue and gives her a wave. I shoot her a look and she stops, trying to look innocent.

            When Eve is gone, I wonder what I have to do to fix things this time. Or, if I can even fix them at all.

            “Are you kidding me, Kelsey?” Her father booms, throwing his hands out in front of him. He’s in her face, towering over her with anger in his eyes. Her mother sits on the couch behind him, her head in her hands as she cries.

            “Do you honestly think I would make up a joke like this?” She spits, growing just as angry as her father. “This is serious and instead of helping me, helping us, you’re freaking out!”

            Her father laughs bitterly. “Of course I’m freaking out! You’re pregnant with a drug addict’s baby!”

            He gestures to me but doesn’t even glance my way. I know if he did, he would try to kick the shit out of me and he wants to focus on his pregnant daughter right now.

            “Dad!” Kelsey cries, shooting me a sympathy glance. They’re both acting like I’m not even in the room. “Don’t talk about Fallon like that! It’s not his fault and he’s…he’s not the only one.”

            Her father runs his hands angrily over his face, desperately trying to calm himself down. “He’s the one who got you into the drugs, Kelsey,” he snaps. “Don’t you try to defend him because you very well know that this is his entire fault!”

            They continue fighting for what feels like an eternity. I don’t know how long it is before Kelsey’s mother finally rises to her shaky feet. Her whole body trembles as she sobs and I’m the only one to notice that she’s walking towards me.

            “Come with me.” It’s an order and I follow closely behind her on the way to the kitchen. Even with the distance and walls, we can still hear Kelsey and her father fighting as clear as if we were back in the same room as them. “The only reason I am even talking to you, Fallon, is because I know it wasn’t me but instead my husband, it wouldn’t end well.”

            “I know,” I tell her honestly, nodding my head.

            She runs her fingers through her blonde hair and shakes her head at me, disappointed.

            “It’s your fault that Kelsey is the way she is right now.” I open my mouth to object but she lifts her finger, telling me to keep quiet. “Until she met you, we never had any problems with her. She never did drugs, never swore, and didn’t even fight with us. Now all that has changed.”

            “I’m sorry.” I know the two words aren’t enough to express how sorry I really am, but there’s nothing else I can say that’s every going to fix things; ever going to make things okay.

            “Kelsey’s pregnant because of the path you put her on. You sunk her down to your level and now she’s going to be having your baby.”

            This time I run my palm over my face, trying not to break down or freak out in front of Kelsey’s mother. They think I’m fine; that I don’t care or see how this is a huge problem but I do. I just can’t express it to them because they have their minds set on what they think of me and there’s nothing I can do to change that.

            “I’m laying down a rule right now, and it’s for Kelsey’s benefit. If you care about her, even a tiny bit, you will understand what I’m trying to do and will let Kelsey get better.”

            “What’s the rule?” I ask, my voice quiet. The fighting in the other room has quieted down.

            “Once the baby is born, you are no longer to see Kelsey ever again, Fallon. You are not allowed to be the father of your child.”