It Starts with Us by Colleen Hoover

I shake my head. “Not really. I met Sutton’s father once, but he died when
I was a kid. I don’t even remember his name.”
“What about my dad’s parents?” Josh asks.
“I don’t know anything about his family, either.”
Josh takes the papers from me. “They really should stop having kids do
these things; no one has normal families anymore.”
“You’re right, actually.” I hear a text ping on my phone in the kitchen, so I
stand up to go check it.
“Did you ever try to find my dad for me?” Josh asks.
I did try, but Tim never responded to the voice mail I left him. I just don’t
want to tell Josh that because I know it’ll be disappointing. I pick up my
phone but walk back to Josh before looking at my texts. “I haven’t had a
chance to really look into it yet. You sure you want me to?”
Josh nods. “He might want to hear from me. I’m sure Sutton has done
everything she can to keep us apart.”
I feel a stab of concern in the center of my chest. I was hoping Josh would
be comfortable enough here to not want to find his dad, but that was a
ridiculous hope. He’s a twelve-year-old boy. Of course he wants to find his
father.
“I’ll help you try to find him.” I point to the papers. “But do what you can
with that for now. As long as you try, they can’t give you a bad grade for not
knowing your grandparents.”
Josh leans over his work, and I finally look down at the text. It’s from
Lily.
Can I call you?
She should know she can call me any second of the day, and I would
answer. I take my phone to my room and call her without texting her back.
She picks up in the middle of the first ring.
“Hey,” she says.
“Hi.”
“What are you doing?”
“Helping Josh with his homework. Trying to pretend I’m not thinking
about you.” She’s quiet after I say that, and I immediately sense something is
off. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I just. I don’t want to go home. I was wondering if I could come to
your place?”
“Sure. Is Emmy still with your mom?”