Attracting Trouble

Chapter 14: Superman

No one is home.

With both my sisters at college, the house can empty out quickly.

Dad left a note taped to the front door that he and Mom went to the city, which is only an hour away, to run some errands.

The hard part about living in such a small town is that if you need something specific, you may need to travel away to get it. Especially if you don't want to spend an arm and a leg on that specific thing.

We may have a mall, but trust me when I say this: it's tiny. It may not even be considered a mall, but that's what everyone calls it.

I take the note and open the door, then set the note on the counter. The door isn't locked because Connor is upstairs and he happens to know where the key is.

I clutch my clothes tightly to my chest and walk up the stairs carefully, not in any hurry to see him.

I've known it for a while now. We've been growing apart and it doesn't even have anything to do with Will. This was happening before he came back. This was happening shortly after Connor and I became a thing.

He's sitting on my bed when I walk in. I look at him with a blank face - at least I hope it's blank - and he looks up at me with anger etched in his features. It's barely there, but I can see it.

"Hey," I say quietly, scared that the tension in the room will shatter from my voice.

"Where were you? I've been here for like, ten minutes." He stands to follow me to my desk where I set my damp clothes on the chair. I realize how cold my legs are from walking in the chilly atmosphere outside.

"Oh, it's nice to see you too, Connor. I've been great, how are you?" I say in a mock tone. I hear him grunt from behind me.

"I don't need to ask that since I already know the answer," he replies calmly. I turn to him and cross my arms over my chest.

"Oh, really?" I demand.

"Hey, you're the one that has been ignoring me," he argues. "That doesn't mean I don't keep tabs on you."

"What does that mean? Are you spying on me?" I ask him, angered by the thought.

I think back to feeling as if someone was taking pictures of me earlier today. My anger becomes much more than that.

"Look, I'm not here to talk about that."

I stare at him with empty eyes. "What are you here for then, Connor? To tell me how awful I am for not talking to you? My bad, I should be more forgiving even though-"

He reaches for my wrists and grabs them in his hands, jerking me towards him with all his might. I wince slightly but try to hide it.

"I'm here to ask you why you've been hanging out with Will Dawson. That's why you haven't been talking to me. That's why you didn't have time," he spits. I pull my wrists from his grasp and walk around him towards my bed.

When I turn back to him, he's showing me a picture of myself in the parking lot with tubs of ice cream in my arms. Will is in the very corner of the shot.