I hesitated before letting Mallory ask me her question, “Uhm, okay? What is it?”
I was nervous and so I turned to sit and face her completely.
Mallory started to play with a pillow tassel, “Well, you know my brother, Sam?”
“Uh, yeah, Mal, I’ve known him since about Kindergarten,” I said in a tone as if to say Well, duh!
“Okay, well, uhm, he has a baseball game tomorrow at the high school,” Mallory told me, “so do you wanna come?”
I was instantly relieved, “That’s all you wanted to ask me? Yeah, sure, I’ll come.”
“Well, uhm, actually,” Mallory continued, “his team is playing…”
I realized what the catch was to this invitation before Mallory even continued, “Oh,” I stared at a random spot on the floor.
“Yeah, that’s kinda why I asked,” Mallory explained.
“Yeah, I don’t know if I should come,” I didn’t look up at her.
“But it’s been almost a year now,” she said.
I was silent as I realized another thing, No matter how long it’s been, things will never go back to normal.