But I was okay.
Slowly, the air came back into my lungs and, breath by breath, the rock lifted, leaving me picturing only one thing: David.
I jumped out of bed and headed straight for the shower, eager to start the brand new day.
Sam burst through the front door. “Ara, David’s waiting for you across the road.”
My spoon hit the side of my bowl, splashing milk onto the placemat, as I leaped from my chair to peer out the window. David’s head whipped up, his eyes meeting mine for a split second when I pulled the sheer curtain back. And I was out of there. I grabbed my bag, leaving my bowl on the table, and ran out the door. In the case of David versus Breakfast, the judge and jury were in; we all knew the verdict.
Outside, the morning sun cast a spotlight on his perfection. I wanted to stop walking and just stand still—gawking at him for a while. But he looked different somehow, than he did yesterday. His mysterious green eyes held a smile in the corners, but the depth of focus in them, when added with his thinly pressed lips, made him look almost uneasy.
“Hi, David.”
He took my backpack and threw it over his shoulder, then started walking, without saying a word and without the usual smile.
My brow contorted into a frown. “David?”
“Mm?” he said, but his eyes didn’t answer, like they usually did.
“Is…everything okay?”
“Uh, yeah.” He dropped his fingers from the bridge of his nose and looked up, remembering suddenly that I was alive. “Sorry. I have a lot on my mind.”
“Oh.” I stared forward, wishing I had pockets to shove my hands in so I wouldn’t chew my nails. “Anything I can help with?”
“No.”
“Maybe I can at least listen? You know, lend an ear.”
“If discussing this problem would solve it, then I would. But it won’t, so there’s little point.”
So, he’d taken a leaf out of my book. Suddenly, Mike’s threat to either talk to someone or have him do it for me didn’t seem so big and scary. In some ways, after sitting with David in my backyard last night, letting the sun set around us, just two friends, holding hands, I’d almost considered telling him what brought me to live here. So many times I even opened my mouth, and while sleeping last night, had, I think, resolved to ‘let him in’. But his sudden distance, like someone had flicked the ‘reality’ switch, made me think all that magic I felt with him was an influx of hormones and, today, the world was back to its usual cold self.
I stole a glance at David; he was walking beside me in physical form, but his mind and spirit were so far away that his eyes had completely fixed on one spot—narrowed with deep concentration. I almost wondered if he was trying to start a fire with telekinesis.
“So…did you…did you get up to anything interesting last night?” I asked.
“Interesting?” he said, kind of confused.
“I just…never mind.” I looked away. And he didn’t mind. Didn’t even bother to engage in small talk.
At the top of the stairs, Emily and Alana talked casually as if they’d been close their whole lives, despite their friendship being only as old as theirs to mine. They didn’t really match, as friends. Alana was so plain and almost gothic; she was smart and read books by indie authors, whereas, Emily was so colourful; she always looked fresh and happy, or maybe…overexcited. She must drink coffee every morning—lots of coffee. Mind you, that never worked for me. But despite originating from different ends of the galaxy, they seemed to fit on exactly the same page. Kind of like I thought David and I did—until today.
“Hi, guys.” I waved as we reached the top.
“Hey.” Emily smiled.
“No cheer practice this morning, Em?”
“Not for me. Had a meeting with the school board.”
“Oh, okay,” I said. “What for?”
“Benefit concert.”
“Cool. So, where’s Ryan?”
“Right here.” He popped out from behind the glass doors, wearing a wide grin.
“Hey.”
“Hey.” He gave me a quick hug, then cupped hands with David, who’d managed to wake up enough to appear social all of a sudden.
“So, new girl. You made it through your first week, and—” Ryan scratched the back of his neck and looked at Emily.
“Well, we were thinking,” Emily jumped in. “Would you like to come to Betty’s Café tonight—to celebrate?”
“Is that the little fifties-style café?” I asked.
Emily nodded. “Yeah, the pink and blue one.”
“It belongs to Emily’s aunt.” Ryan hooked his thumb in Emily’s direction.
“Aunt…Betty?” I raised one brow.
“How’d you guess?” Emily faked surprise, then waved a dismissive hand in the air as she laughed.
“Well—” I looked at David, wondering if he’d go. He placed his guitar case on the ground and rested his hands in his back pockets, then, ever so subtly winked at me. “Uh, sure, you know what?” I looked back at Emily. “That sounds really great.” The distraction would be a welcome relief; maybe I could stop thinking about David for a while.
“Okay, it’s settled then.” Emily bounced on the balls of her feet. “So, we’ll carpool?” She looked at Ryan and Alana, then especially at David.
“Um—” I froze, trying to think of a way to say I never went in cars with teenagers. I didn’t want to insult their driving ability or have them make the standard enquiry, complete with raised brow.
“Actually.” David took a small step forward. “I uh—I was going to ask Ara out tonight.” He looked directly at me then. “So, perhaps…I could be your escort?”
My brow folded. He was going to ask me out? What kind of out? Friends? More than friends? Friends who like to hold each other’s hand then ignore each other in the morning?
“Oh, a date? Really?” Emily said. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realise you two had—”
“We’re just friends,” David said in a very business-like tone.
“So you don’t mind sharing her for the night, man?” Ryan asked.
“Not at all.” David kind of nodded.
“Yeah, and, um,” I chimed in, looking sideways at him, “—and, really, hanging out with you guys’ll be great.”
“Okay. So, you bring Ara, David, and I’ll go with Ryan and Alana.” Emily linked her arm through Alana’s.