Count On Me(40)

“Don’t even think about it.”

I’m confused. How does he know what I’m thinking and better yet, what part should I stop thinking about? It’s crazy, but just when I start to feel okay around him something like this happens and I’m filled with uncertainty again.

“Isabelle, I just didn’t want you covering your mouth.”

I still don’t get it and it’s obvious from the look he’s giving me that he knows it.

He moves closer to me and he reaches his hand out to my hair and catching a tendril in his hand, he tucks it behind my ear. His body so close in proximity to mine that I feel the breath escaping through his nose on my face, tickling me. It’s only when I reach up to rub at my nose that he catches my fingers and brings them into his own.

I don’t know if it’s from the run or it’s a reaction to him being this close to me, but I can feel the sweat rising not only on my face, but my hands and I’m embarrassed by it. He’s holding my hand and is getting sweat on for it. I wait for him to notice and pull his hand away, but after a minute or so of being still with not even an attempt to pull away, I realize I’m over thinking it.

It’s been so awkward being around Kayden, especially when we’re like this. It’s not the contact that spooks me so much. It’s the way he is with me. Two weeks ago he didn’t even blink in my direction and now it’s the complete opposite. I’m not sure how to react to it. As much as I like it, I wonder when he’s going to realize that I’m exactly what his friends think I am, get bored and leave me.

“You’re frowning. You should know, that isn’t allowed here. It’s a pretty big rule and you’re breaking it.”

I’m not sure when the park started making rules, but I definitely don’t want to break them. I pull the phone out from my jacket and I text him. If there are more rules I need to know about, he’s the only one that can tell me. It’s so beautiful here; the last thing I want is to be kicked out before I’ve gotten to enjoy it.

Are there any more rules I need to know? I don’t want to get kicked out.

He laughs and it makes no sense to me. I read over my text and I don’t see where I said something funny. It’s only when my phone goes off, that it all makes sense.

I was kidding. There are no rules. Well other than making sure that the princess gets home before turning into a pumpkin.

My stomach does this weird flip as I see the emoticon on the screen. In the time we’ve been texting back and forth he’s never once done one, happy, sad or otherwise. Seeing it now makes me feel all tingly. I really wish I understood what this means because it’s strange.

“Come on princess, you need to eat. We don’t have much time before we gotta head back.” He says out loud this time before pulling me closer to the group of trees.

It’s only when we’re both seated across from each other, our hands no longer together, me already digging into my lunch that the questions start.

I’d been expecting them since he rescued me from school, but considering he went the entire car ride without saying a word; I thought maybe he didn’t want to know what happened before he got there. I’m finding out now just how wrong I was.

“What did Dillon say to you before you texted me?”

Putting my canister of soup down carefully on the grass, I text back my response.

Nothing. I texted you before he actually said anything.

“Okay well, what happened after you texted me then?” he pushes and again I pick up the phone and answer him back as quickly as I can, hoping that my answer is good enough so I can finish what’s left of the soup. If I don’t eat all of it, my mom’s going to worry and that’s the last thing I want.

That he was sorry and he wanted the chance to talk to me about it.

“Son of a bitch!” he yells which immediately makes me flinch and back away from him. “I’m sorry, Isabelle. I’m not yelling at you. I just don’t know what his game is and it’s driving me nuts.”

For two days after Amy and her friends hurt me, I didn’t eat. I couldn’t even look at food. The day I spent at home, my mom tried everything to get me to at least try and eat something, but I couldn’t. It wasn’t just because of what they did to me; it’s also because of what I’d seen between Dean and Kayden. It was scary and it tied me up in knots. I hated that Kayden had to live with that, especially after doing something so nice for me.

I went back to school the day after and still wouldn’t eat. She made me soup like she always does, but I didn’t eat a bit of it. I just let it go lukewarm, then cold in the container. Eventually my appetite came back, but for a little while it looked like I might never eat again.