Someone Else's Fairytale

Chapter Six: Mom's Issues

“Hey!” I called out to Matthew as I got out of the car. He looked good. His hair was shorter, and his cheeks were sunburned. Dappled shade from the cottonwood in the neighbor's front yard shielded him and the front of our house from the intense sun.

He got to his feet and smiled.

“When did you get in?” I asked him.

“Ah, just a little while ago. Where you been?” His eyebrows shot up when Lori hauled her duffel bag out of the trunk.

“We saw Danger Fields. It's good, but probably not your thing.”

“And it's not out yet. Not until next week,” said Lori. “We saw the premiere!”

“Oh.” Matthew looked even more confused now.

I got my suitcase and went over to him. “I need to go for a run. You want to go for a run?”

“Sure.”

“Meet you in an hour?”

***

There was a big, open sports field on campus, right along Central, where Matthew and I jogged. We did our laps, then walked to cool down. By then the sun was sinking low and the air was cooling off.

“So, yeah, I went to LA for a couple of days,” I said. “Saw a movie premiere, that was fun.”

“Why'd you go to LA?”

“Just for a vacation. You were right. I work too much.”

“So you bought tickets to a premiere?”

“No, I got the tickets from Jason Vanderholt. He had some extras.”

“You called-”

“He called. I've never contacted him. He was just being friendly, is all. Really.”

“He's been calling you?”

We were both sweaty, but Matthew's sweat had a nice, clean scent to it. I hoped I didn't reek too bad. “He called once. And Lori's already given me a hard time about all this, so please don't you start.”

“Well, did you see him in LA?”

“We kind of had dinner at his house, with a bunch of other people and... It was one of the most random things that has ever happened to me.”

He lifted one eyebrow and looked at me. “Every girl's dream, right?”

“Not mine, and no, nothing 'dreamy' happened. I met his brother and his wife and kids. They seem nice.”

Matthew only stared.

“Please don't give me a hard time about this. Lori was telling me I should flirt with him, and... no way. I'm not interested.”

That earned me a half smile. “This would happen to you.”

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“Of all the people for Vanderholt to go after.”

“He hasn't gone after me.”

“You hope he hasn't. I get it, I do.” He put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed.

I put my hand over his and squeezed back.

That seemed to settle things for Matthew. He left his hand on my shoulder as we walked back to my place.

***

“Hey, Chloe, it's Jason. Just calling to wish you luck. Class starts tomorrow, right? Hope you've got at least a couple fun ones. Anyway, just saying hello. Talk to you later.”