Bunny

13

I made it back home and my dad was microwaving one of the tv dinners.

"Welcome home, how'd it go?" he asked me.
"Um...Pretty good. I actually think that I might become friends with her son."
"Really? Not too scary for you?"
No, he's still scary. "Um...I don't know. He's nicer than I thought he'd be I guess."
"Alright well good. As long as it doesn't go past a friendship, it's alright."
"No, it would never do that. He's a bit much..."
"Yea. That's Westdale. I don't want you with one of those types. It's a bad crowd and I don't need you in danger."
"Yea..." I thought about him. "Anyways, how was your day?" I asked.
"Same ol' same ol'. I fixed up Ms. Wilkins' car. Had a blown out motor. Other than that, I sat here."
"You have to work tonight?"
"Nope." The microwave beeped and he opened it to remove his meal.
"We should watch a movie."
"Go ahead and pick." he offered.
"Yay!"
Movies were my favorite thing in the world.

I'd wanted to be a director ever since I learned what the word meant.
I could have everything taken away from me but as long as I had a working tv and movies, I'd be just fine. My dad knows this and humors me with movie nights pretty often.

I sat on my knees as I looked through all of our options.

"What's the family like?" My dad asked as I read through a movie description.
"Um... Well the mom is very sweet to me. Her son says that's just a fake persona. Which I think is true because she speaks to him differently. To me she's like a sweet suburban mom and to him she's a hard ass from the streets."
"Ah."
"Yea. But the son is...he doesn't hide it, you know? He goes back to where he's from and helps the people that still live there. He's a bit rude. I don't think he cares that much about authority in the sense that if he doesn't like you or you annoy him, he'll let you know. Regardless of if you're an elder or superior."
"Sounds like an asshole." My dad said and came to sit on the couch with his food.
I snickered. "Yea, a little bit." I chose a movie then got up to slide it into the DVD player. "But he's nice, I think. When you get to know him. His dad passed when he was young, I think that's why he has an 'all of you suck' attitude because the only person he thought was the greatest, left him. No one else is gonna fill those shoes."

"Hm...You two got different ways of coping." he stated.

I went and sat down next to him after pressing play.
"What do you mean?" I wondered.
"Well, he's clearly still hurt from losin' his dad so he hates everybody. But you lost your mother and you're sweet to everyone. Like you treat every interaction like it'll be your last."
I thought about it.
"Gotta give that kid better coping mechanisms. He needs to do better."
"Yea..."

____________________________________

"Morning." I greeted as I walked into the kitchen.
"Mornin'. We're out of coffee." he replied.
"Aww, dang it."
"I'll go to the store in a bit." he stated.
"No, it's okay, I got it. I need to warm my car up anyway to make sure it starts for work later."
"Alright. I'll look at it when you get back."
"Okay."

I grabbed my keys and headed out the door.

I was still in my pajamas which was just small shorts and a shirt. The cool breeze woke me up quickly.
I hopped in my car and hurried to start it for the heater.
It wasn't freezing outside, I just have a very low cold tolerance. If it's below 70, I'm cold.

I reversed out of the driveway and headed to the store.

Luckily, I could visit a smaller store since it was just a few things and not groceries so I wouldn't have to go to Westdale.

I made it after a few minutes and quickly walked inside with the bell of the door ringing, letting everyone know about my entrance.

"Welcome. Can I help you with anything?" greeted the clerk.
"No, I'm okay, thank you." I replied kindly.
He nodded and went back to his phone.

I heard the bell to the door ring again as I slipped into my aisle.

There were more options than usual so I sent my dad a text asking what he preferred.

The door rang again. I assumed the store was about to get busy for whatever reason.

My phone buzzed.
"Send a pic of the options." my dad texted.
I'd have to take more than one.
I took the first of the options at the top and sent it. Then I bent over to get the ones near the bottom.

"I like your shorts." I heard from behind me and quickly stood up.
I bumped into someone then turned around.

I wasn't supposed to see this face until later today.
"Mornin', bunny." he smirked and bit his lip. I saw his dimple on his left cheek.
I took a step back nervously. "Thank you...and...good morning."
He smelled really good.
"Don't usually see you this early." he pointed out.
"We ran out of coffee..."
He looked past me at the coffee options.

My phone vibrated.
I looked and saw the text from my dad. "The red kind. Dark roast".

I turned around to face the shelves and took a step back to find the one.
I accidentally bumped into Isaiah again.
"I'm sorry...!" I stated and turned back around.
"Don't worry about it." He took my hand and spun me back around to look at the options. I saw his eyes were on my body as he did it. "Keep lookin'." he permitted.

I looked through the shelves and finally found the one my dad was talking about.

I grabbed it.

When I turned around, Isaiah's eyes looked up at mine while he licked his lips.

"Um...I got it, I guess I'll see you later today..."
"Gimme your number." he stated.
"Why?"
He scoffed. "So I can text you, dumbass."
"Okay..."
I questioned why he'd even need to do that.

He handed me his phone and I began typing in my number with my name. I read the name then realized he probably wouldn't remember that so I backspaced and typed 'Bunny' instead.
I handed it back to him.

"Damn, you look good." he said as he looked back down my legs.

I just stood there nervously.
"I make you nervous?" he asked.
"A little..."
He smiled. "Your honesty is cute."

I didn't know what to say back.

"You smell really good." I stated.
"I took a shower when I got home from the gym."
"Why are you here?"
"She asked me to get her more coffee." He reached past me and grabbed it. "Cute coincidence, ain't it?"
I snickered to myself.