Stewart's Story Read Online Free

furious when he finds out you invited me.”
    “Does that mean you'll come?”
    Stewart sighed. “Yeah, it does.”
    Stewart hung up and put the phone back, then rubbed his eyes and groaned. It was too late to go back to sleep. He had to get up for teaching.
    In the afternoon Stewart began to gather his things back into his duffel bag. He'd just gotten his toothbrush from the bathroom when Leah burst through the door.
    “Beat it, Jeff,” she said.
    “Hey!” Jeff responded from the kitchen, “This is my apartment.”
    Leah turned and fixed him with a stare, raising one eyebrow and he slunk into the hallway.
    “What happened to you last night?” Leah demanded, turning on Stewart. One hand was on her hip.
    “You passed out,” Stewart said, “I went home.”
    “I don't get you, Stewart.” She walked over to the couch where he had been spending his nights and sat down with her legs wide.
    “What's not to get?”
    “Stop packing for a minute and talk to me. You weren't even going to tell me you were moving?”
    “I'm just going to my dad's.” He put his duffel bag on the floor and stopped moving, facing her.
    “Why do you keep putting me off?”
    “Come on, Leah, I know you don't really want washed up old me.”
    “You must have a pretty low opinion of me if you think that I can’t deal with you being in a wheelchair.”
    “Be honest with me and be honest with yourself.”
    “You act like you’re totally comfortable and secure with your disability, but maybe you’re the one who needs to be honest with themselves. I swear to God, when I look at you I just see Stewart. The same Stewart I loved as a kid. The changes are just details.”
    “I wish I could believe that, but I know the kind of men you date and it’s not me.”
    “Sure,” Leah said, snorting. “You know everything. Clearly my pattern is jerks.” And she left the apartment, pulling the door shut behind her with as much force as her lean, muscular arms could manage. The entire apartment seemed to shake.
    The door opened slowly and Jeff gingerly walked back in. “What the hell did you say to her?”
    Stewart glared at him. “I don't want to talk about it.” He continued to pack his things into his duffel bag.
    “You’re about to explode,” Jeff said.
    “I’m fine.”
    “Look, I understand, it’s more than you expected. After hiding away from all us lunatics, it’s got to be difficult to come back and deal with us again.”
    “You’re cool,” Stewart said, a smile creeping onto his face, “I got no problem with you. The others I can handle. I’ve had plenty of people in South Carolina and Massachusetts wanting things from me too. I have it under control.”
    “You sure about that?”
    “Yeah,” Stewart said, not at all convinced himself.
    He threw his bag into the back of his car and pulled his body into the driver's seat. While he disassembled his chair and put it on the seat beside him, he wondered what he would find at his father's house. He had to admit he was curious to see the inside of the house again, to see how it had changed and whether it still felt the same or not. He called Ellen and let her know he was on his way.
    She had done as she said and there was an aluminum ramp over the stairs. It was steep and it creaked and shook as Stewart wheeled up, but it worked. When the door opened Stewart saw the two girls standing in front of him. They just stared at first.
    “Hey,” he said. “Remember me?”
    They were eerily similar, both tall and thin with long blonde hair, both wearing tight jeans and layers of different colored t-shirts. Both nodded at him. One was slightly taller than the other. Stewart tried addressing her. “You're Samantha, right?” he said.
    “Yes,” the shorter one said. “And I'm Sylvia.”
    “You were this tall when I left,” Stewart said, holding his hand out flat at the same level as the top of his wheel.
    “Mom said you were coming back,” Samantha said, her voice much softer than