class. That's about it."
"And how are you feeling about…"
"Tyler?" I sigh. "It still makes me sad. I miss him so much, Mom."
"I know, honey, but it'll get better. I promise you, with time, it'll get better."
And yet, so far, it hasn't gotten better. I'm still heartbroken that he left. I keep reminding myself that I chose to get involved with him knowing it would end, hoping that'll make me accept what happened so I can move on. But I haven't accepted it, and I haven't moved on.
I should've prepared myself more, or guarded my heart, so that this wouldn't be so hard. But I don't think I could've done either of those things. I fell for Tyler before I even realized what was happening. I gave him my heart without giving myself permission to do so. It just happened. And even though he's gone, my heart still belongs to him.
Chapter Thirty
Three weeks have gone by and my mom's words about time making things better haven't held true. I still miss Tyler so much it hurts. Every day when I leave for class, and again when I come home, I check the driveway for his truck, then check the garage to see if he's there. My head knows he's not coming back but my heart isn't ready to accept that.
To make matters worse, I've been home alone a lot. Grams is always with Walter, and they're always at his house. They no longer try to hide their relationship. In fact, last week I went over to have dinner with them and they kissed right in front of me!
I'm so happy for Grams. I've never seen her this in love. My grandparents were in love, but it was different. My grandpa wasn't affectionate like Walter is, and he didn't compliment Grams, at least not in front of people. Walter is constantly saying how beautiful Grams is, and how wonderful she is, which makes her smile like never before.
As happy as I am for Grams, it's hard to be around all that love when the person I love is gone. I'm trying really hard to move on. Today I forced myself not to look for Tyler's truck, and when I saw the open garage I didn't go over to see if he was there. Yesterday, some guy at school asked me out and I almost said yes, but then couldn't do it. Jules said going out with someone else will help me move on but I'm not ready to start dating again.
"Hey, Grams," I say when she walks in the door at ten. I'm watching TV in the living room while doing some research for class on my laptop.
"Hello, Faith." She sounds tired. She looks tired too, her eyelids heavy and her body slouched. She usually has very good posture. "How was your evening?" She sounds distant, her voice monotone.
"Good. I got a lot done."
"That's nice." She hangs her coat in the hall closet but forgets to shut the door. She never forgets, and gets annoyed when I do.
I want to ask her what's wrong, because something clearly is, but I'm doing as my mom said and not asking questions. Maybe Grams had an argument with Walter. If so, I'm sure they'll be over it by tomorrow. Those two lovebirds can't stay mad at each other. Or maybe she's tired from all the day-long excursions they've been going on the past few weeks. Not wanting to pry, I haven't asked her where they went. I'm assuming they've been taking drives to see the fall leaves and visit some of the small towns around here. Grams loves doing that type of stuff. It's the only thing I can think of that would take all day but I don't know why she'd want to hide that from me.
Around midnight I'm laying in bed, unable to sleep, so I take my statistics textbook from the nightstand and read through the chapter assigned for this week. If anything can put me to sleep, it's statistics, a required class that I can't wait to be over.
Sure enough, a few minutes after I start reading I'm nodding off. I set my book aside and shut off the light. Just as I'm falling asleep I hear a noise, but it's so faint I ignore it. This house is old and makes lots of strange sounds, especially when the furnace clicks on.
I turn and adjust my pillow and hear the noise again. I sit up and hear it again. It's coming