Count On Me(33)

When I finally come out, he takes me straight to the office. At first I thought he was bringing me here so he could tell the principal what happened, but the minute he flashes his smile, I know it isn’t going to be that at all. In fact he’s doing the one thing that I want more than anything.

“Isabelle needs to call her mom. I hope that’s okay, Ms. Owens.”

“Of course!” she answers easily. She’s another one that is used to this. Needing to call home is definitely a repeated occurrence and no one usually stood in my way. Kayden didn’t know that though. He lost the right to know anything like that when he ditched me to be cool.

“I’ll be right outside when you’re done. I’m gonna warm up the car and bring you home.” He whispers to the top of my head before again flashing that award winning smile.

He’s waiting out front just the way he said when the call is done and the minute I get into the car, I see the notebook with the gel pen waiting for me. I’ve never been so thankful to see paper in my life.

“What did your mom say? Is she gonna meet you at home?”

No. I told her I would be okay by myself. I can’t have her missing work. She does that enough.

“That’s not exactly the truth, is it?” he asks and I’m confused. Just what is he getting at?

What part?

“You being okay alone. The last time I drove you home and she wasn’t there, you seemed pretty freaked.”

He remembers that? All the talk about serial killers? I watched a horror movie the night before and like always, it bled over into my everyday life. I took it too far, too literal and now I was actually afraid of my own shadow. He’s right though, I did lie to my mom. I really wouldn’t be okay alone.

Yeah I lied to her. She needs to stay where she is.

“Well, you can always come over to my house. I mean, it’s probably not as fun as yours, but you can hang there until your mom gets home.”



*****



So here we are. We’re standing silently in his living room, neither one of us looking at the other. If it’s possible it’s more awkward then it was at the school when he walked into the bathroom. I didn’t know what to say, what to do and I didn’t want to take one more step into his house until he gave me permission. I didn’t feel at all okay here.

Maybe I should have gone home after all.

“Do you want something to drink?” Kayden asks, cutting into my thoughts. “Despite the way it looks, we actually have soda and juice.”

He’s trying to make light of the broken bottles and attempting to deflect off of the fact that there’s a whole lot of drinking that goes on here. There’s more that happens and I know all about it, but I don’t even want to think about that. What happens in this house and with this guy is none of my business. I need to remember that during my time here.

Kayden might be helping me out more than I ever expected him to, but we’re definitely not friends. I’m not even sure we ever could be considering who his friends are.

He moves away from me and goes to the fridge, pulling out two cans of soda and placing them on the bar. I didn’t say that I wanted anything to drink, but apparently that didn’t seem to matter to him. He was going to get it for me anyway. Just who is this guy and what did he do with the real Kayden?

He pats the empty chair at the bar and smiles, letting me know that it’s alright to sit. It’s looking at him the way he is now, the smile lighting up his face, I wish I could return it. I want to do something so simple for him because he deserves it.

“What the hell is she doing here?”

I flinch as I hear the groggy, yet angry voice behind me. I’m frozen in place, afraid to even turn around and see the face of Kayden’s older brother Dean. It’s only when I feel his hand squeeze mine that I allow my now hitched breath to release.

“She had an issue at school; her mom couldn’t make it home, so I brought her here.”

“So that’s why the phone’s been ringing off the hook for the last thirty minutes? You left the damn school!”

The way his voice raises scares me. I know that Kayden deals with this a lot so he won’t be affected, but I don’t like it. He left school for me because he wanted to do the right thing and yelling at him for it is wrong.

“So? I leave all the fucking time and you never say a word.”

“It’s different, Kayden.”

“Why? Is it because for once, I left for the right reasons? Dean, get over it and stop yelling, it scares her.”

“It’s my god damned house! I’ll do whatever I please, whenever I please, you hear me? I don’t care what some stupid mute kid thinks.”