All Those Words

Chapter 24

Asa

The next day, I can't contain my excitement. Calysta goes around the house, helping the other kids with their homework while her parents go to work. She busies herself with cleaning and cooking and eventually tries to make a dent in her own assignments. And I hover around her like a bee over a flower but I can't control myself. I can't wait to see my family home again and I can't wait to spend some alone time with her.

I linger around her as she helps Lennon with her homework, pretending that I'm helping Trixie who just rolls her eyes as if I'm the dumbest guy on the planet and can't help her with anything. But underneath the table, I'm tracing circles on Cal's knee, making her squirm uncomfortably. When she's dusting furniture, I blow at the dust before she can get to it. When she's cooking, I hug her from behind, placing sweet kisses all over her neck and making her giggle, only to jump away when one of the kids come barreling in. At lunch, I shovel the food down my throat and will her to eat faster. Her eyes are wide as she watches me and Lennon tells me to slow down so I don't choke again. Everyone laughs, except me and I practically clear the table before everyone's done.

"Whoa, Flash," Calysta calls to me as I shove the dirty dishes into the dishwasher. "Slow down. We have time. I even told dad that we were going out. Cece's coming over to help Trixie babysit the kids."

Despite being happy that her dad said yes to let her go out with me alone and Trixie offering to take care of the others, the happiness of knowing I'm going to spend alone time with Cal trumps everything. So I rush her up to her room and tell her to get ready. She laughs at my impatience but I know she's just as happy about today's events. I quickly get ready in jeans, a white t-shirt and my ratty old sneakers. I feel like it's better not to dress well when we're going to that side of town and so I don't put on my watch either.

I have to do a double take when I see Calysta come down the stairs. She's dressed up in tight jeans and a low cut white shirt.

"We look like a proper couple now," she says with a grin. "We're both wearing jeans and white tops."

I hear her words but my mind doesn't register them because I'm busy staring. I know my eyes are bulging out at this point but I know I have to tell her to change her clothes. She sees my eyes flicker to her cleavage and she gives me a hard look. I look away quickly, my cheeks aflame and she buttons up her shirt. I decide that she looks fine and I don't want to waste any more time on asking her to change. I lead her downstairs and when she goes to unlock her car, I tell her that we should take a cab. Because of course, taking an expensive looking car into that neighborhood is never a good idea but I don't tell her that. She doesn't question it and we walk, holding hands to the main road and wave down a cab.

I tell the cab driver where to go as she gets in so she doesn't hear and he looks hesitant but agrees since she's already in the car. I get in, too and hold her hand the whole way. We talk about my part time job, her scholarship, my college pans and I tell her that I've finally made my decision to work for a while first. She doesn't object and I can see that she's trying to be understanding about it.

Finally we make the turn into south side of town and Calysta looks out the window. The difference between here and where we live now is considerably visible. Her expression looks strained and she turns to me. My heart jumps to my throat and I pray that she won't ask the cab driver to turn around.

"What're we doing here?" she asks me. "You know this side of town is dangerous."

"I wanted to show you something," I tell her when the driver stops. "The house I grew up in before social services took me in. Will you come with me?"

I can see her fighting herself on whether she should accompany me or not. He sun is still out so there's less of a chance of something scary happening. We're just going to visit a house and then go back home. It won't take long. Someone might be living there now and maybe we'll only get to see the outside. On the off chance that nobody is, we might be able to go inside. She knows it means a lot to me. She can see it on my face. I haven't ever spoken to her about this place but I have thought about it a lot.