On The Sidewalk Bleeding

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Kyle

            As I stood at till, waiting for our food, I could feel eyes on my back, but I could tell that they weren't Payton's eyes. I turned around to look, but didn't really notice anyone suspicious that could be looking at me from inside the restaurant.

            They could be outside though. You never know. Shut up, I tell my conscience. I push the thought to the back of my mind while I go and pick up mine and Payton's food. As I move to grab the tray of food, pain shoots up and down my torso, right along the area where the bruise started.

            I turn around quickly, gritting my teeth and biting the side of my cheek - hard enough to draw blood - so I don't groan at the pain that should have faded by now. I look down at my feet, trying to make it look like I'm walking normally, and not like it kills me with each step.

            I bend down to put the tray on the table, but I can't control the pain flashing across my face for but a second. Payton lets out a near silent gasp, and my eyes shoot down to see that her eyes are on me. I look to see that a bit of the bruise is peeking over the top of the shirt, so I quickly move to slide the shirt to cover it.

            The thing I notice the most, however, is that the bruise wasn't anywhere near my collar bone this morning.

            "What happened?" She whispers harshly at me. I can tell that she won't take nothing for an answer, but I try it anyways.

            "Nothing, I'm fine." Comes my short response. I don't need her to know the details of my run in with Luke yesterday.

            "You aren't fine!" She hisses at me, her voice only slightly louder than before. "Who the hell did that to you? I didn't see it earlier!"

            I didn't want to talk about this right now, so I shoot her a look, not wanting to be harsh, but at the same time, trying to be firm, I glare at her. She opens her mouth to speak, but I rush to cut her off.

            "Just stop. Drop it Payton. It's dealt with and it isn't important anymore."Her eyes lock on mine, trying to get me to tell her what she wants to know, and I stare blankly back at her until she flicks her eyes away.

            It's only once I know that I've won that I hand over her food. A chocolate milkshake and an apple pie. It wasn't a lot, and I didn't really care for the pies here, but at least she was eating something. A small thank you falls from her lips, but she doesn't look up at me. Her face looks slightly upset, but I hope that maybe if I keep silent, she'll start to talk. I keep my eyes on her when she lifts her head slightly and scans around the room with her eyes. I looked down at my burger for a minute before looking back up at her. I saw Payton's eyes focus on something behind me and then a guy in a hoodie walked past. I watched him as he walked outside and disappeared around the corner of the building. I took a sip of my drink and as I set it down, Payton knocked the box from her pie onto the floor. She bent down to pick it up as I continued to eat my burger. Correction, the third burger of the four that I had bought.

            What can I say, I'm a growing teenager.

            Noticing that Payton couldn't seem to sit still, I was about to speak but she beat me to it.

            "I'll be right back, I just need to use the washroom." And with that, she practically bolted from her seat towards the washrooms.

            I turned around just in time for me to see her nearly running into someone, letting out a string of unheard apologies, the person muttering on about teenagers these days.