The girl with the bad reputation

Chapter 9

I LOOKED HIM IN THE EYES, "NO PROBLEM CHARMING" I WINKED.

Then I began to walk, have you ever had the feeling where you can sense a person staring at you. Well, I had that feeling quite often last week. I turned my head and I smiled at him with a small wave, which he returned and began walking the opposite way.

As I walked home my mind kept thinking back to my interference with the handsome stranger at school;

"Watch it," I said.

The mysterious stranger simply stared at me looking so amused. He was nothing I had dealt with before. His torso was filled with rock-hard muscles and his hands felt firm on my hips. He had such a firm grip I felt safe without even knowing him. His large frame towered over me making me seem incredibly small. His magnificent deep ocean blue eyes rested on my face, while I couldn't control where to look. My eyes kept looking up at his face which seemed perfect then they went to my hands on his chest and lastly they found his hands that felt so good on my hips. It felt as if his hands were made for mine only.

When I arrived home my mother hugged me tightly with a concerned look on her face.

I had asked her what was wrong. She told me that I hadn't texted her or informed her that I didn't come home after school.

My dad has been working a lot lately. His job converts a lot of his time. It involves traveling and lots of late-night work hours. So we haven't seen him quite often lately. He has been sent off to the offices abroad to help the other offices.

She had said 'us' earlier in the greeting which had sent me off and I simply had to ask.

"Who is us, mom?" I looked at her with a glint of hope. Until another face showed up. Hamilton. But then a face I haven't seen in a long time. The face that always cheered me up.

The face of my favorite cousin, Mason.

Mason is your typical charmer. He had his jokes combined with handsome looks. We would spend a lot of time laughing about girls trying to get with him and be mad at me because they thought he chose me. Which he did. Just not in that way.

When I saw him, I squealed with happiness and hugged him tightly, my mother smiled warmly at us. She knew how much I cared about my family, and my aunt and uncle live in another country. So, it's only on holidays that we see them.

"How'd you been?" I asked excitedly.

"I'm good Heather" he answered, his voice getting a lot deeper.

And he got a lot taller. He's like six feet and three inches now and I'm only five feet and six inches tall.

"You've grown a lot since last!" I said which made him laugh. A sound I've missed a lot. Mason had been there through a lot of my childhood. He had experienced me go through a lot of traumatic memories. He even helped me through my first period. The stress in that poor boy's eyes when he saw a bloodstain on my pants.

I remember his words clearly.

"Is that blood on your pants" were the words that caused me to panic. I panicked so much I had him buy me pads and tampons. He bought several telling me he didn't know what to get because all of it looked the same.

He never questioned helping me once. Okay, maybe one time he did. But that's because it was pretty crazy.

"Yeah that's called getting older Heather" he winked at me, teasing my height compared to his. I couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous he looked winking.

I hugged him once again, "I missed you so much" I whispered into his shoulder, but I know that he heard it. Because he whispered in my ear " I missed you too, my sunflower".

My eyes found him and tears made him seem all funny. A nickname he gave me when we were younger. A nickname that had a huge meaning to both of us. A sad smile found my lips when a single tear escaped my eyes. He used his thumb to remove the single tear. He returned my sad smile and grabbed me back into a hug.

I truly missed him. So much had happened since the last time I saw him at Christmas.

There's a lot I haven't told him, but a lot of memories are brought back every time he visits. Memories that we both share and hold close.

Having a reputation to maintain is hard. This is why I enjoy being myself for once. I never have to pretend to be someone I'm not around Mason. He simply adores my flaws. 

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(Edited 18/01/22)