Part III; Chapter 5
Fall 2026
“Shepherd!” Dad’s voice carried up the stairs just as I finished zipping my backpack. “You’re gong to be late!”
My feet slid across the hardwood at the top of the stairs; I caught myself on the carpet runner, making my way down to where Dad stood in the foyer. He tossed me a set of keys and my sweater. When I looked, I saw the keys to Mom’s Explorer; I hesitated, feeling the weight of her Hanson keychain in my hand. “Are…are you sure?”
“Yeah,” Dad said without missing a beat, as if there was nothing abnormal about me driving the Explorer. “How else are you going to bring your brother and sister to school? I’m taking the Buick into the shop and you won’t be comfortable in the Tacoma.”
My eyebrows furrowed in momentary confusion as Dad shrugged, holding out a brown bag nonchalantly. The sound of the Explorer’s horn jolted me back to action; I grabbed my lunch from Dad’s hand, said a quick thank you, and ran to the car. Junia was slouched in the passenger seat, playing with her hair, with Abe leaning over the center console. He was poised, ready to push the horn again; I waved him back into his seat as I opened the door. I sat for a moment before starting the SUV, a bittersweet feeling tightening in my chest.
“C’mon, SHep,” Junia barked. “We’re going to be late, and if Kylie Anderson gets to homeroom first, she is going to sit next to Mark Johnston, and I can’t let that happen. Are we picking up Macy?”
“Um…not today,” I answered, carefully backing out of the driveway.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Junia sit up more in her seat, turning a bit to face me. “Did something happen between you two?” she probed. “You guys haven’t spent any time together since your little camping trip last month, and Macy’s been acting weird—she won’t come over here to hang out with me.”
My knuckles began to turn white as I gripped the steering wheel, my teeth clenched. “No, nothing happened,” my words came out harsher than I anticipated, but I didn’t care.
Junia clearly didn’t believe me, and sighed heavily beside me. “I guess I’ll just have to ask her, if she’ll even talk to me.”
“Just shut up, Junie. This is not…it doesn’t concern you.”
“Macy is my best friend, Shepherd—that means it does, in fact, concern me, and exactly why I tried to warn you that this was never a good idea. I knew something like this would happen, and now I’m stuck in the middle of it. This is my Sophomore year, OK? Macy’s the coolest girl in our class, and if I’m not friends with her anymore, I’ll be ruined for Junior and Senior year. Plus, we’ve been best friends since, like, Kindergarten. I’d miss her.”
“Junia! Shut up!” Abe called from the back seat. “Can’t you see he’s upset?!”
“Whatever,” Junia muttered. She didn’t say another word the whole ride to school.
When we arrived, Macy was waiting for her; she shot me an awkward glance laced with a sad smile before walking away without a word. It was a moment of foreshadowing that defined the rest of the day for me, and despite no longer being looked at with pity by my classmates and teachers, caused today to be the worst first day of school in history.
When the final bell rang, I flew from Miss Marker’s AP History class. I was hoping to make it to the car without incident, however Macy was leaning against the wall by my locker. She pushed off when she saw me, biting her lower lip. “Hey,”
“Hi.” My response was purposefully terse, and I avoided eye contact.
“We need to talk, Shep…” her voice trailed off, as if she was waiting for me to affirm her statement. When I didn’t, she continued. “I’m sorry, OK? I miss you.”
“Just don’t, Macy.” I slammed my locker door shut, pushing passed her and through the now-packed hallway. I ignored the guys from the soccer team when they called my name, and locked myself into the Explorer until Abe and Junia got there.
When I finally saw them coming through the parking lot, Macy was literally being dragged behind Junia. She shoved her friend into the back seat, climbing in after her. Abe got in the front, offering me a weak smile. “Macy’s coming to our house,” Junia announced.
Neither Macy nor I protested, despite the obvious tension in the vehicle. Silently, I drove us back to our house. Abe’s door was open before my seatbelt was off, and he was running full-force toward the house, calling for Dad the whole way. I took my time getting my stuff out of the car, hoping Junia would already be in the house. When I finally turned to head in, Macy was waiting on the porch.
She stayed sitting as I approached, taking a slow drag off of a cigarette. I contemplated walking in passed her, but sat down next to her when she extended the cigarette to me. I shook my head, resting my arms across my knees. “Sorry doesn’t really change what you did, Mace.”
“I know,” Macy whispered. “I fucked up, OK? I never meant to hurt you.”
“What did you think was going to happen? That I was just going to be OK walking in on you with another guy? Or that because it was with my friend the fact that you cheated on me wouldn’t be as bad?”
“I don’t know,” Macy sobbed. “You just…you were spending so much time with everyone but me, I just thought…”
“You thought what?” I snapped.
Macy sniffled, flicking her cigarette butt into the yard. “I thought that you didn’t want to be with me anymore.”
“We were on a camping trip with our friends, Macy! Of course I was going to spend time with everyone. I’m sorry if you felt left out, but you should have talked to me first.” I stood up and turned toward the door, pausing before I went in. “I loved you, you know.”
I didn’t wait for her to reply; instead I just walked inside, leaving her crying on the front porch.
“Hey, Shep!” Dad greeted from the living room. “How was school?” His tone changed when he saw me, his face scrunching in concern. “Is everything OK?”
“Yeah, fine.” I lied, making my way to the kitchen.
“Now, I know that isn’t true. C’mon. What’s up?” He followed behind me, keeping an awkward distance from me as I poured a bowl of cereal.
I remained silent as the Lucky Charms hit the dish, waiting until I had put the milk back in the fridge before saying anything. “I think…no, I know that Macy and I just broke up.” Tears bit at the corner of my eyes, and I stayed facing the counter so Dad couldn’t see.
“I’m sorry, Shep;” Dad’s voice was soft; I heard him approach me and was oddly comforted when his hand hit my shoulder. “Want to talk about it?”
Swallowing a lump, I shook my head. “No…not right now. I just want to be alone for awhile.”
“OK…” Dad’s voice trailed off, and his hand fell from my shoulder. “I’m here when you’re ready, though.” He offered.
I forced a smile, turning to look at him. “I know.” We stood there silently for a long moment before I threw my arms around him in an awkward, unfamiliar hug. “It’s good to have you back.”