Free A Second Chance by Isabella Bearden Page A

too shocked to even move after Tate leaves. This whole friend thing is going to be harder than I thought. I go through the day ignoring Tate every chance possible. This morning was really awkward.
    *****
    I get home and notice Lily is in my driveway. I didn’t talk to her today at school and I don’t want to talk to her now. I get out of the car and walk past her to my front door.
    “Come on Rayleigh, just talk to me.” Lily says following behind me.
    I get in and she sneaks in before I close the door. “Fine, talk.”
    “I’m sorry about last night, but I didn’t think what you were doing to Tate was right. You know he loves you right?”
    I freeze. “What?” I wheeze out.
    “You can tell Rayleigh. He does. It’s so obvious.”
    “Um, Lil, you do know we’ve only known each other like, a month.”
    “Yeah so? My parents met, and a week later they were saying ‘I love you’. They’ve been married for twenty years now. Sometimes you just know. Plus you two have known each other longer than a month, think about. It’s almost thanksgiving, school started in August.”
    “Okay, so you’re right about the month thing, but still he can’t love me. We were only together for a couple of weeks at most.”
    “You never know Rayleigh, but really give the boy a chance.”
    I shake my head. “I can’t, Lil. He won’t be honest with me, and I’m not going to put myself in a position to get hurt.”
    “Just think about it, I got to go. But call if you need me.”
    I walk Lily out to her car, as she pulls away. I look over at Tate’s house. No one is at home. He is probably with Courtney.
    As I head back inside, I hear a car pass my house and pull up in Tate’s drive way. I turn to see if it’s him. Instead I see an older man, with salt ‘n pepper hair in a suit. I know I shouldn’t spy but I think that’s Tate’s dad. I haven’t seen him since Mrs. Davis and he got into that argument that morning.
    I watch him go in the garage and come out with boxes. I realize then, that Tate’s family isn’t all that perfect as I thought it was.
    I walk inside and go to the kitchen where I hear mom cooking.
    “Hey sweetie, how was school?”
    “School is school; by the way, I told Tate that he and his mom can come over for thanksgiving.”
    “Oh, I already know. I talked to Mrs. Davis today when you were at school.”
    So Tate already knew he was coming over here, then why did he even ask me.
    “Oh, okay. Well I’m going to bed.”
    “Supper is about done, honey.”
    “Mom, I’m tired.”
    “Are you sick? You haven’t been acting right.”
    “No, I’m fine. Just tired. Night mom.”
    “Night honey.”
    I go to my room; all I want to do at this moment is just take a hot bath, read and sleep.
    *****
    N ext day at school was more of the same. However, I ended up getting a ride with Tate today since mom needed her car. It felt a little awkward but the conversation was the same as we used to have before we started dating. “So, what’s going on with your dad? I saw him loading up boxes into his car last night.”
    “Parents are splitting up.” He states, like he doesn’t care.
    “I’m sorry. Wow. Can I ask why?”
    “Mom caught dad in the back office of the church banging another member of the congregation.”
    “You’re kidding me! Isn’t he supposed to be some pastor or something? Isn’t he supposed to follow what he preaches?”
    Tate lets out a laugh. “Yeah, you’d think. Hell, just last Sunday he did a sermon all about adultery. Yet he goes and does that. Mom is better off without him. They are just telling people it’s not working for them anymore, but I’m against that, I want to tell everyone what he did.”
    I don’t blame Tate for wanting to tell people what he did, but at the same, I wouldn’t want people to know. It would just be another thing for people to talk about.
    We pull up at the school, as we got out Courtney runs up to Tate crying her eyes out. I roll my eyes, just