Ember Kate

Chapter:: Five

“Road trip!” I hear somebody shout, and a heavy weight on top of me. I grumble, trying to smack whoever it is and felt like a disturbed and pissed off cat.

“What the hell?” I push somebody off of me and hope that it wasn’t my mom. Wait, why would she be in here? I open my eyes and see Locklan lying on the floor, his eyes wide open while he lies on his back.

“You are stronger than you look.” His eyes are watering and he looks away, rubbing his palm to his eyes gently.

“Did I hurt you?” I sit up, fully awake now. I wasn’t an idiot; I knew something was wrong with him. I just didn’t want to ask, because that would mean getting involved. And we’re already talking to each other every day; it can’t be more than that. The part where I care about his day and what’s happening with him and he cares about me the same way.

“No, of course not.” He rolls over and I can hear him wincing in pain. I want to ask, it’s on the tip of my tongue. I start to make a noise, but then I cough instead.

“Well, I’m getting dressed then. Did I hear you say road trip earlier?” I ask him, changing the subject as I take off my night clothes and put on a black v-neck with shorts. I look outside and see that the sky shows signs of it not even being noon, meaning it’s early for me to wake up. “Why are we leaving so early?”

“It’s kind of far away. You’ll see.” Locklan stands up and tries to bend backwards, stretching out his back; I look away when he winces. I slip my shoes on and grab my sunglasses before climbing out my window. Not looking back, I open the passenger door and sit in the seat I’ve been occupying for a few weeks now. While he struggled out the window, no doubt making his back hurt more, I wonder if Locklan would have cared if I ended my life that night. I wanted to ask him, and the words are almost thrown out, until he slams the car door and starts the engine and I lose my nerve.

~

I guess I fell asleep, because when I get shaken awake the clock on the dashboard says it’s four in the afternoon. We are parked in front of a Pizza Hut.

“What kind of pizza do you want?” Locklan asks, his window is rolled down and he stretches his long arms in front of him.

“Um, Meat lover?” I don’t know what he likes, and I don’t want him to spend his money on something he doesn’t really like. “I’ll eat anything; it doesn’t have to be that if you don’t like it.”

“That’s fine, I’ll be right back.” He opens his door and I open mine too, deciding I need to stretch my legs. He looks over at me with a confused expression.

“I need to stretch my legs, so I’ll follow you in.” he nods and clicks the lock button on the car remote two times. My legs are asleep, so I stomp it out while Locklan holds the door open for me. “Thank you,” I smile at him, and he does a little bow and laughs. He walks right up to the counter, and orders a large meat lover pizza. He pays in cash, and I can’t help but notice the broadness of his shoulders and the cute way his hair curls. I mentally kick myself and look around for a guy to check out, to get these feelings out. They weren’t feelings; it was just lust or something. Yeah, something like that.

I zone out while Locklan pays and he comes over to me and bumps shoulders with me. “What are you doing?” I ask loudly, wondering how he got so close while I wasn’t paying attention.

“I’m waiting for the pizza.” He says cautiously, like he might be doing something wrong. I shake my head and laugh, feeling stupid for being so weird. I blush a little, and wonder why it’s awkward now. I wish right now, more than ever, that I did jump. Then I wouldn’t have to deal with these awkward feelings and wondering how I can safely pull myself away from this situation. The guy comes up behind Locklan and hands him the pizza. Locklan thanks him, wishing him a good day; then we walk back to the car.