Terrified of Love

Chapter 4

My dad and I are out for a run together, "You worried about the regionals? I know Clayton Prep has that one speedy Mexican girl, but I know you could beat her. Are you offended I called her Mexican cause she actually is" He says

"I kissed a boy" I blurt out

"Wow...that's something" He says
"Yeah, I wasn't gonna tell you, but you're kind of my go to, which makes me feel like a loser" I say
"Wow. That's your first kiss, huh? That's...That's a big deal" He says
"Oh, god, you're being weird" I say
"I'm not being weird" He says

"Yeah, you are. You're running farther away from me, moving your arms weird" I say
"No, I'm not. I'm just gangly. It's how I run. What a second, hold on a second" He stops running as I run in place, "Who—Who—Who is this boy? What school does he go to? What do you guys do together? How tall is he?" He rattles off questions
"His name is Jeremy, and he goes to tech school. And we mostly just hang out at Kennedy Park. And he's coming over today to do homework" I say
"Homework? What kind of homework do they give you at the tech school? Can he fix our AC?" He asks
"Can we stop talking about this?" I ask as I run away
"Cam? Cam, wait up!" He calls out to me

[Home]

When we get back from our run, I head into the kitchen, "Cam? Why does my to do list say, remove stick from butt?" Mom asks

I get a glass of water, "I don't know, but if it's on there, you got to do it, right?" I ask

"You guys need fuel after your run. I made cinnamon buns" She says

"No, no, no, no, no. I got all the sugar I need right here" Dad says and kisses her as I pretend to gag

"Did you know there are four hundred and thirty two girls at our school and ninety one of them have a name that starts with an M, which is twenty one percent, and the national average is only...nine percent?" Sam tells us
"I one hundred percent don't care" I walk over rand hit his phone, "Boop!" I say before I walk away

[Later On]

Jeremy and I are sitting on the couch as he is looking through the family photo albums, "Wow, I have never seen a less photogenic family" He says

"Yeah, we pride ourselves on that. Can we be done now?" I ask

"No, no, no. oh, look at you in this one. Look at you scowling!" He says

"Yeah, I was annoyed. My mom plans this autism walk every year, and she makes us take a picot to remember how sweaty we are" I say

"Oh, man, these are great" He laughs, "Hey, where's your dad in this one?" He asks

"That's weird. My mom never lets us skip. When I had appendicitis, she told me to walk it off" I say

Our faces are close to each other before we share a kiss. We pull apart quickly when we hear keys jingling. My dad walks in and we quickly stand up, "Dad. This is...Jeremy" I say
"Hey. It's nice to meet you, sir" Jeremy says holding out his hand

My dad shakes his head, "Thanks for stopping by" He says

Jeremy looks between us, confused, "Dad, why weren't you at the autism walk in 2004?" I ask

"Huh?" He asks

"You're not in the picture" I point out

"Oh, I don't know, I think and a work thing" He says

"Really? Mom let you skip it for a work thing?" I ask
"Yeah. So, you guys all done studying? Is Jeremy ready to go?" Dad asks

"No, he's gonna take me to track practice" I say