Page 71 of The Design of Goodbye
“Tired?”
“Very. I think the day’s caught up to me. Suddenly, I can’t keep my eyes open. Maybe it’s because I’m not cold and hungry anymore.” He got up and carried his dishes to the sink. “I need to leave.”
“Why?” I scrambled out of my chair.
“I’m about to fall asleep on your kitchen table.”
“I thought you agreed to stay the night,” I said. “I’m not letting you leave. It’s not safe to bike out there.”
“I didn’t know you meant to sleep,” he said, sounding nervous. “And you walk out there all the time.”
“For no more than an hour, and I stay close to my neighborhood. Biking around town at two in the morning isn’t safe. You don’t even have a jacket you can wear.”
“Oh, right.” He covered his mouth to hide another yawn. “I kind of need that.”
“You’re staying.”
He shuffled his feet and stared at the ground.
“Liam.”
“Okay,” he relented. “I’m staying.”
He followed me downstairs, where he stood nervously in the middle of my room as I grabbed an old comforter, a few blankets, and a pillow.
“Here,” I said, handing everything to him. “Make yourself comfortable. I’m going to put our clothes in the wash.”
I grabbed his dirty clothes I’d told him to leave in the bathroom and left as he started making his makeshift bed next to mine.
“What’s all the commotion?” came my dad’s voice as I walked upstairs. He was in the kitchen, half asleep, and looking in the sink. “You get hungry again? Are you doing laundry?”
I bit my lip so I didn’t blurt out the truth.
Should I lie?
The truth won out because, come tomorrow morning, unless I wanted to sneak Liam out, my dad had to know. And plus, I did have a handful of Liam’s clothes in my arms.
“Liam’s here. He crashed his bike and needed a place to stay.”
Instantly, my dad woke up. “Is he okay?”
I nodded.
“Did he call his parents to let them know he’s spending the night?”
“He didn’t ask to call them,” I said, finding it slightly strange he hadn’t, “so I don’t think so.”
“Where is he?”
I’d really been hoping he wasn’t going to ask that. “In my room. Sleeping on my floor.”
“Why didn’t you offer him the guest room?”
“I forgot we had one.”
“Madison.”
Okay, fine. The thought had occurred to me, for like a split second, but I’d ignored it. I’d wanted Liam sleeping in my room. Near me.
