To Ady, being alone was like being stabbed in the back. She couldn’t stand the quiet. The house was so empty she could hear the echoes of her footsteps against the linoleum of the kitchen. A piece of paper lay on the table. As Ady picked up the paper, her heart sank.

“Went to Grandma’s to take her shopping. Be back late this afternoon. Lunch is in the fridge. Call me if you need anything.
Love You,
  Mom”

This was the third time her mom had ditched her. For a month, they had made plans to go to the movies. Ady felt like her mother was trying to avoid her. She threw the note back on the table and trudged away. She grabbed the remote and flopped down on the couch. Ady flipped through the channels and then clicked the TV off. Who was she kidding? She couldn’t sit around all day and wait. That would just waste her Saturday.
She reached towards the table that filled the space in between the couch and the TV. She grabbed her phone and scrolled through the contacts. She came to the name, “Axel” and hit the button. Ady knew Axel would rescue her; he always did…

Ady was never good around new people. So the fact that Zane was dragging her to this new place made her bite the corner of her mouth. She was trying to keep calm and keep her mind off things by tuning out and singing along to the silly songs that Zane would play and sing to at the top of his lungs. Of course Ady would just laugh and this worked as a distraction for awhile, until the truck pulled into a gravel drive and the roar of the engine came to a stop in front of a garage that seemed to be a nice car shop.

She had to remember, she came to talk about getting her car fixed. That is the one way Ady could relax, just cruising around in her car. Plus, she needed to get a job. It would make her feel better if she could pay for things like gas and things at school. She finally broke out of her thoughts and found herself following Zane into the door of the garage and suddenly the world stopped Ady found herself lost in the deep green brown eyes of a stranger. The tanned man standing in front of her flashed a shiney white smile before breaking the silence.

“Hey, I’m Axel.”

Ady was speechless and couldn’t help but blush. She finally broke her fear of meeting new people, and she liked it.  If Ady didn’t believe in love at first sight, she did now.

Was wasn’t he answering her? This was the fifth time Ady had called Axel in the past hour. She was starting to get worried. Yeah, they got into another huge argument, but this wasn’t like him. He would always give Ady a chance to apologize. Besides, it had been days since they had seen each other. She couldn’t believe he hadn’t tried to get ahold of her before. Her mind went crazy, and of course she thought the worst. Ady always did.
Ady threw on her jacket and shoes and grabbed her keys and phone. She locked the door without even thinking about leaving a note for her mom. She rushed out to her car and frantically felt around on her key chain for the clicker. She finally got her car unlocked and she threw herself in, slammed the door, clicked her seat belt, and started the car. She didn’t even have it running for two seconds before she moved the shifter to reverse and flew down her drive. She was going to figure out what was going on. She had a feeling, and it wasn’t a good one.
This drive oddly felt just like the first time she and Zane had made this trip. Her nerves were completely shot that her lip hurt from biting it too hard. She knew she wasn’t going to like what she would find.  What was she going to do if Axel had up and left like he told her he would? These past few months had been full of fights, but Ady didn’t want it to be over. If they just sat down and talked, they could work it out. They could be happy again.

As she reached city limits her heart sank. Ady had to remember to slow down, she had already got a warning for speeding in this area and her mom would kill her if she got a ticket. She turned down the familiar road and found the gravel drive. She saw Axels little black two door car in the back drive and she knew he had to be home. The truck wasn’t running so he couldn’t have taken it.

Ady pulled into the gravel drive and turned the ignition. She opened her door and tried to gather all of her thoughts. Everything just seemed to be hitting her at once. How would she react if her feeling was right? Ady followed the small concrete walkway to the front door. She opened the screen door and let out a sigh. She knocked but heard no answer.

“Maybe he is asleep.” Ady let herself say it out loud. That might just make it true in her mind.

Ady walked back down the walkway and followed a rock path way in between the house and the garage. She would try the back door, considering it led right to his bedroom and he might be able to hear her knock if he really was asleep. Her feet seemed to clomp across the wooden porch. She made it to the door and knocked a couple of times. She got no answer.

“Axel, it’s me. Answer the door.” Ady said with a hopeful voice. She stood and waited for awhile but no answer.
Ady then found herself walking back to the garage door. She tried turning the knob, but the door was locked. There was a crack under the door just big enough she could see if he was in the garage. The lights were off and the radio wasn’t blaring music, so he couldn’t have been in there. Ady stood up and tried to collect her thoughts. What was going on?

By this point her face was beet red and she could feel the heat escaping her body. She stormed right up the back porch and knocked so hard on the back door that the door flew open and she thought she might have broke it off the hinges.  As the door flung open, she saw Axel, standing in the door way. Axel was just as shocked as Ady.
“What are you doing here, Ady?”  The sound in Axel’s voice made Ady believe her previous thoughts.

“Well I came to talk to you. I tried calling you a million times.” Ady’s voice cracked and she could feel the cool tears fill her eyes and start to slowly fall down her cheeks.

“Yeah, I know.” Axel wouldn’t even look Ady in the eyes. She knew he was trying to avoid something, she could hear it in his voice. But at this point, she didn’t know what it was. She could only think of the worst.
“Ady, I think we need to talk. Remember Megan?” As soon as this came out of Axel’s mouth, Ady’s heart broke. The tears seem roll out of her eyes faster.

“Yeah, what about her?” Ady knew what was coming, but she asked anyway. She was hoping that at any moment she would just wake up and all of this would be a terrible dream.

“Well, we ran into each other a few days ago, and, well, I think we need to see other people…”

Ady lost it. She couldn’t dig far enough in her brain to find the right words. It seemed as she lost all control of her body and she just fell to the ground.

“What does this mean?” Ady finally chocked out the words. She couldn’t think of what else to say.

“It means we are done Ady. We fight too much. You are always mad at me. I just think it would be for the best. You can go on with your life, and I can go on with mine.” Ady couldn’t believe what was coming out of Axel’s mouth. He had always said that if they ever broke up, they would always be friends.

“We can’t just talk about this? I mean, this is all of a sudden. I don’t want to lose you.” She was crying so hard she was sure the neighbors could hear her wales by now.

“No. I just want you to leave. Please, just leave me alone.” Ady forced herself off the ground. Now, all Ady felt was anger. The sadness didn’t exist. How could he do this to her? She spent her whole summer with him, never seeing her friends and not getting a job. Her world revolved around him. That’s how much she loved him.
“What is your deal? I really don’t understand what is going on right now?” Her voice began to get stronger and louder.  She was about to explode.

“After all this time, you are just going to give up everything? After all I gave up for you?” Ady was yelling so loud she could hear her echoes traveling off the trees outside. Ady was frantically moving around the house grabbing things she had left behind and wanted to take with her when she left, like eyeliner, a couple of hoodies, and a love letter she had written for him. He never really appreciated it when she gave it to him, why would he if she left it?

She ran to the front door, flung it open, and raced to her car. She jerked the door open and threw her things in the car. Axel was standing in the front yard watching, almost like Ady was putting on a circus for him. He stood there and just gazed at her like he was amused. She was a freak in a freak show.

“Ady, be careful please.” Axel knew how crazy Ady got when she was angry, especially while driving.

“Why would you care? You don’t seem to care that you are completely ripping my heart out. Why does it matter now?” She was so lost in all of her thoughts that words just fell out of her mouth before she could think about them.

“I hate you!” Ady forced the words out, but she seemed to feel better after. Maybe he would feel the pain that Ady was going through.

She looked back at him, and his eyes filled with sadness as Axel saw how good it made Ady feel to get those words out. Ady got in her car and slammed the door. She couldn’t stop the tears so she sat there for a minute trying to calm herself down enough so she could see to drive.

Ady stuck the keys in the ignition, looked at Axel for one last time, and left the driveway. Maybe now, Ady could focus on herself. She was in the beginning of her senior year. She had so much to look forward to, and no time to look back. Ady could do so much more with her life now then putting herself with negative people. She could now make time for her best friends, Zane and Tara. Ady remembered what it was like to have friends, like times when she, Tara, and Zane would just sit outside around a warm fire on a cool night and talk endlessly about the little joys in life. She was excited to be able to do that again. She could finally sort through the mountains of college information filling her table on decide on her dream school. Things were about to be different, and Ady was ready.