Life's Not A Doughnut

Chapter 6 ~ After

Saturday night, party night, the fun night of the weekend.

And I had absolutely no where to be.

I had cooked myself some chicken noodles for dinner and gotten settled in for a date night with Netflix. The new season of Teen Wolf had just been released so it was going to be a good night alone with myself. Mum was at a friends house with all their other friends that went to the same yoga class.

It was sad to think my own mother had more friends than me. Or actually had friends at all, for that matter. She hadn't betrayed anyone and been practically forced out of town.

How I envied her.

My phone buzzes against the wood of the coffee table. I pick it up and see a name I definitely don't expect to see. William O'Brien. It used to be 'Will' with a love heart emoji on the end, but that's one of the worst parts about losing someone. Changing their name back to something meaningless. William O'Brien. It was so cold and empty, devoid of any feelings towards him.

I slide the screen to open the text.

'Busy?'

'Not particularly, you?'
I tread carefully, unsure of how to approach this random act.

'Want to go for a drive?'

I hesitate. What does he want? To yell at me? To murder me and then dump the body in the ocean? My feelings overrule my brain, once again, and I type back quickly.

'Okay'

+++++

He pulls up in front of my house ten minutes later. I changed from my track pants into jeans and put on a clean jumper. I also position a beanie on my head to make my messy hair look purposeful.

Nervously, I cross the road in front of my house and climb into the passenger seat of his black car. It was actually a share car between him and Mia, but she hated driving it because it was a manual.

"Hey," I try my best to sound casual.

"Hey," Will replies smoothly, "Have you eaten yet?"

"No," I lie, wanting a distraction in case things get awkward.

"Chinese?"

"Sure." I agree.

He pulls away from the curb and heads towards the Main Street. The air falls silent around us and I begin to panic.

"How have you been?" I blurt a little too loudly.

"Good, you?"

"Fine," I nod.

I fidget my fingers anxiously in my lap. The town is surprisingly quiet, probably because there isn't much to do here in the way of partying. Everyone heads to the bigger surrounding towns for the night out.

"What do you want?" Will asks me, a blank expression on his face.

I stutter, "Um, I don't want anything from you. You asked me to come out tonight, right? I'm just going to be around again for a while and I didn't want things to be hard for everyone. I just wanted to say sorry and, just maybe, you could finally stop hating me."

He looks at me with a confused frown. "Nora, I meant what do you want to eat?"

I realise we are parked in front of the tiny Chinese shop down the Main Street. The street light above us is the only thing giving light inside the car, casting shadows over Will's face.