by A. L. Martin
“Did you tell her today when you got to the house?” Sam asked.
“Yeah. She didn’t seemed surprised that Dad pulled a dickhead move like that.” I looked straight ahead at the road, twisting my hands on the steering wheel. “I think everyone is right. If he wanted to talk to me bad enough, he would’ve got a hold of me by now.
“I’m sorry, Sunshine.” Gavin patted my leg.
“Thanks,” I whispered, low enough that he wouldn’t notice my voice crack from trying to hold back tears. I kept my eyes on the road as we followed Mom back to the house. I checked in the rearview mirror a couple of times to make sure Wyatt was still behind us.
I pulled in beside Mom in the drive, and Wyatt pulled in behind her.
“Are you okay, Londyn?” Sam asked.
“Yeah.” I tried to sound convincing.
“Well, you know I’m always here if you need to talk.” She smiled.
I turned to get out of the car. Wyatt was waiting for us over by the steps. I hadn’t realized that Mom, Jules, and Asher had already gone in the house until I looked over at Mom’s SUV to find it empty. I apologized to Wyatt on my way to the steps for making him wait. He told me there was no need to apologize, that he told Mom he would wait for us.
Mom was walking from the kitchen to the living room when we walked in the house.
“We are going to watch a movie. Want to join us?” She smiled, erasing the hostility from earlier at the restaurant.
“Depends on what you’re watching,” I mumbled, walking into the living room.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she insisted, trailing behind me.
I couldn’t help myself and started laughing, knowing she was going to get on to me for laughing.
I wasn’t in the mood to watch a movie, but I knew Gavin and Sam were always up for it. Their taste in movies was sometimes worse than Mom’s. Mom would either pick a super cheesy romance or a comedy that was so dumb it wasn’t funny at all.
Mom took her normal chair, while the rest of us had to figure out where to sit between the couch and loveseat. Gavin graciously took the floor and Jules and Asher took the loveseat, leaving the couch for me, Sam and Wyatt. I tried to hurry up and take the far end of the couch, but somehow Sam read my mind and flopped down in the spot the minute I moved toward it. She looked up at me with a big cheesy grin, then looked down at the spot in the middle next to her. I sat down, turning my head toward her, pressing my lips together to keep from saying something that would embarrass me.
She tucked her bottom lip under her top lip, then blurted out. “What?”
I raised my eyebrow in response to her because she knew exactly what I was annoyed about. Wyatt told Gavin to sit by me, and that he would take the floor. Gavin didn’t hesitate to hop up off the floor and take the seat next to me on the couch. Much to my surprise, a flood of disappointment fell over me. The disappointment must have been written all over my face like a flashing caution sign because Sam crossed her arms, touching my arm with the hand hidden under her arm. I didn’t understand why I was disappointed that he didn’t sit by me.
I had Mom pause the movie before we got too much farther in it and excused myself for a few minutes. I stepped over Gavin’s feet, turning to glance back at Wyatt sitting on the floor, propped up against the arm of the couch by Sam. I found myself jealous that she was sitting that close to him. I quickly turned away before he could catch me looking and went around the corner down the small hall to the guest bathroom. I locked the door behind me, I turned to find a confused stranger staring back at me in the mirror. I didn’t know this girl anymore. The girl I knew always had her life together, or so she thought. Now, this girl in the mirror wasn’t sure of anything anymore.
I walked back into the living room, asking if anyone wanted to drink while I was up. Everyone wanted something to drink, so I made my way to the kitchen to get the drinks and figured, while I was in there, I might as well make some popcorn too.
“Do you need any help?”
I turned around and bumped into Wyatt. I didn’t realize he was that close to me. “Sure.”
“I’m sorry if I’ve been rude to you. I don’t mean to be, but sometimes I think you’re better off if I am. If that makes sense.” His eyebrows furrowed together.
“You’ve lost me,” I said, getting glasses out of the cabinet. “Could you get the tea out of the refrigerator, please?”
“Yeah. Sure.” He grabbed the huge pitcher of tea, sitting it down on the counter. “I want to be friends with you, but I don’t think it would be wise if we were.” He moved closer to me, holding me in his gaze.
“You don’t want to be friends with me?” I inched closer to him.
“No. I...” He paused, leaning down. “There is something you don’t know about me, Londyn. Being close to me could prove to be dangerous for you.”
I listened carefully to the words that came out of his mouth, and yet I didn’t feel scared. I felt safe with him, something I never felt with Lucas.
“You should be scared of me, Londyn.”
“I’m not scared.” I raised up on my toes, moving closer to his mouth.
“You should be.” He brushed a piece of hair off my face with his finger. The touch of his skin brushing across mine sent a jolt through my body.
“Um…Your mom sent me in here,” Gavin said in the doorway of the kitchen.
“Huh? Oh. Yeah,” I said, backing away from Wyatt. I looked over at Gavin who was smiling from ear to ear. “What?”
“Nothing.” He shook his head, still smiling.
I poured the drinks and handed him a couple of glasses. Before he was all the way out of the kitchen, I told him popcorn was coming in a few minutes.
He raised the glasses up in the air to let me know he heard me as he walked out of the kitchen.
“I guess I should take these glasses out there, since everyone is waiting on us,” I said, easing past Wyatt.
“Maybe it would be best if I went ahead and left.” He murmured.
“Do you want to leave?” I asked.
“I know I should stay away from you, but I can’t anymore. So, with that being said, I’m going to apologize in advance. I’m sorry.” His eyes flashed down to the glasses, then back up, meeting my gaze.
“Sorry? You aren’t going to tell me what you are sorry for?” I insisted.
“No. You will find out in time. Just know I never meant to hurt you.” He took the glasses out of my hands and walked out of the kitchen.
I stood there looking around the kitchen in search of what I didn’t know. Maybe a clue left for me somewhere to help me figure out what that was all about. I grabbed the popcorn out of the pantry and tossed four bags on to the counter. I sat the box on the counter and popped the first bag in the microwave. I poured two more glasses of tea, waiting for the popcorn. I took out Mom’s glass of tea with her bowl of popcorn. She would try to say she didn’t want any, but would end up asking me or Jules for some. Sure enough, she tried to say she didn’t want any. I told her if she didn’t eat it, then someone would take it. For someone that didn’t want any, she started popping pieces of it in her mouth. I went back in the kitchen to finish popping the rest of the popcorn so we could get back to the movie.
I took out three more bowls of popcorn, giving them to Jules, Asher, Sam, and Gavin. Sam and Gavin offered Wyatt some of theirs. I grabbed my glass of tea and a bowl of popcorn. I told Mom to go ahead and start the movie back up. When I got to the living room, Gavin was on the floor this time and Wyatt was in Gavin’s seat. I sat in the middle, offering Wyatt some popcorn. I could tell he wanted to put his arm around me, but he didn’t want to upset Mom, sending her back into “Bitch Mode”. A couple of times I caught Mom staring over at us, watching every little look between us, or our body language toward one another. It was as if she was wanting him to do something she didn’t approve of she could get upset at him. Wyatt was close, but there was still a big enough gave to satisfy Mom. I peeked over at her when I noticed s
he wasn’t looking over at us, still in shock from how she acted at the restaurant.
Jules, Asher, and Mom wanted to start another movie the minute that credits started to role on the one we just finished. I told them to have fun, but the rest of us were going to go to the coffee shop to get some coffee. I asked Mom if she wanted me to bring her back any, but she graciously declined, saying she would be up all night if she drank it this late. Jules and Asher got up and walked over, sitting down in front of the movies to pick out another one to watch with Mom. I gave Mom a quick kiss on the cheek as the others went out onto the porch.
By the time I got outside, they were already down the steps, walking toward Wyatt’s car.
“Hurry up, Londyn!” Sam yelled, getting in the backseat behind Wyatt. Gavin was climbing in the backseat behind the passenger seat. I could feel the corners of my mouth lift up in a smile the closer I got to Wyatt’s car. I no more then closed the passenger door, when Wyatt was back out of my driveway and took off down the road to the coffee shop. Gavin and Sam were talking about what they were going to get once we got there. As for me, I still felt somewhat guilty for being with Wyatt, but I hadn’t heard a word from Hunter. He could’ve told me that he didn’t want to see me anymore, instead of leaving me wondering. My friends were right, though. I needed to move on, because if he wanted to really talk to me, he would’ve found a way by now. I made a promise to myself then in the car that I was going to make a conscious effort to move past the whole thing with Hunter.
“Everything okay, Londyn?” Wyatt glanced over at me briefly, then looked back toward the road.
“Yeah.” I smiled.
He parked across the street from the coffee café. There were a couple of people sitting outside, enjoying the warm evening. Gavin was the first one across the street, waving for us to hurry up. Gavin held the door open for me and Sam, then followed in behind us. Wyatt was by my side within a matter of seconds.
“What are you going to get?” He asked.
“I don’t know yet. I’m not sure if I want iced coffee or tea,” I said, looking down at the menu that was encased in glass.
“Well, I’m getting and iced mocha latte and German chocolate cake,” Gavin said, walking up to order first. Sam went next getting an iced caramel macchiato with almond milk, and a salted caramel cookie. I looked over at Wyatt, who looked indecisive on what to get by the way he kept scanning over the menu.
“What are you going to get?” Wyatt asked, leaning over closer towards me. “I don’t know what to get.”
“Well, do you like hot coffee or iced coffee? If you don’t like coffee, you can get a tea, hot or iced.”
“I do like coffee. It’s just overwhelming sometimes with all the flavors. I’m always scared I’m going to pick something I will end up hating.”
“You can stick with what Gavin got. A simple iced mocha latte. That is my go-to sometimes, when I’m having a hard time making up my mind.”
“Ladies first.” He moved to the side.
“Thank you.” I smiled, then turned to face the barista behind the counter. “I’ll have an iced cherry mocha latte and a piece of German chocolate cake.” I went to give the girl my debit card.
“I’ve got this,” Wyatt smiled, pulling my hand back. “I’ll have the same too. That sounds good actually.”
He handed over twenty-five dollars to the girl. I couldn’t help but notice how she couldn’t take her eyes off Wyatt for long periods of time. She smiled at him a couple times, but it was if she wasn’t even there. He was totally oblivious to her and the flirting. I didn’t know if I should be happy or sad for her. Then again, I was happy that he didn’t notice her or her flirting. She wasn’t ugly at all. In fact, she was rather pretty. Her long dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Her makeup wasn’t overly made up, but it accentuated her features. She told us someone would bring our orders out. Sam and Gavin were sitting at a table close to the left window. We were about to sit down, when Sam suggested maybe we could sit outside since it was warmer than normal for mid-spring. We let the girl know we were heading outside to one of the tables.
Gavin pulled the seat out for Sam and Wyatt pulled my chair out for me. A couple of different girls brought out our orders, instantly smiling when they saw Wyatt. They each looked at one another, then back Wyatt as they placed our orders down on the table. One had shoulder-length, dark auburn hair. The sides of her hair were pulled back in bobby pins. The other one had blonde hair pulled up in a bun with strands of hair framing her face. Both girls were pretty too. They exchanged a couple of giggles on their way back in to get the rest of our orders. They came back, still smiling and gazing at Wyatt, almost spilling my drink on me. Again, he was not entertaining their flirting. I turned to look at Gavin, and he must have noticed it too because he mouthed, “What’s up with that?”
I peeked over at Wyatt to make sure he wasn’t paying attention and shrugged my shoulders at Gavin. We sat there, talking, drinking our iced lattes, and eating our pieces of cake and cookie. Wyatt didn’t say much while he enjoyed his cake. Gavin inhaled his within minutes of getting it. I asked him if he even tasted it at all.
The girl with the long dark ponytail came out to check on us, asking if we needed anything else. We politely told her we were all good. She smiled down at Wyatt, asking him directly if she could get him anything else. He told her thank, but no.
I sat there, looking at Gavin and Sam before turning to the left of me at Wyatt.
“How do you not see these girls flirting with you?” I blurted out before I could stop myself. I looked across at Gavin, who was pressing his lips together to keep from laughing. Sam hurried up and stuck the last bite of cookie in her mouth. I slowly turned my head back to Wyatt, who had a sheepish grin on his face. I tilted my head slightly, crossing my arms as if I was a teacher waiting for an answer.
He laughed when he glanced over and saw me sitting there. “I never said I didn’t notice it.” He leaned in closer to me. “I can go talk to them if you want me too.” He leaned back in his chair, smiling. I didn’t say anything in response. I took a couple more bites of my cake and a few more sips of my iced latte.
The other girls came out to see if we wanted anything else and offered to take our empty plates. They were a few feet away from us when Wyatt shot up out of his seat and turned around in the direction they were walking.
“Oh, for your information girls…Yes, I do find her beautiful. Is there anything else you’d like to know?”
The girl with the blonde hair fumbled a glass for a few seconds before it shattered on the brick sidewalk in front of her feet. The other one managed to keep hold of the dishes as she spun around to face him. Her eyes were wide with shock. “Excuse me?” she demanded. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
“Please. You know exactly what I’m talking about. You made the comment that you didn’t know what I saw in her,” he stated, pointing back to me.
I sat there clueless as to what was going on. I looked over at Gavin and Sam, who both were sitting there wide-eyed with their mouths open, looking back and forth between Wyatt and the red headed girl. They stood there for a few minutes, staring at one another before finally Wyatt asked if there was anything else they wanted to know about. The blonde shook her head no, tugging on the other’s sleeve, motioning her head toward the door.
Wyatt asked if we were ready to go, holding out his hand for me to take. He asked once we were all back in the car if we wanted to go anywhere else or go back to my mom’s house. We decided to go to the mall for a little bit. There wasn’t anything I really wanted to buy in particular. I just wanted to spend more time with him before heading back to Mom’s, where she would be watching us.
Wyatt came around and opened the passenger door for me, helping me up out of the car. Once I was out of the car, he closed the door behind me, still keeping a hold of my hand as we walked up to the mall. I kept looking down at our fingers interlocked with one another. He let go of my hand briefly to op
en the door for me, Sam, and Gavin. He quickly took his place beside me, taking my hand in his again. I wasn’t quite sure how to react to this strange feeling I felt each time he took my hand. When Hunter touched me, it was electrifying, exciting, nothing like I had ever felt before. With Wyatt, I felt an overwhelming closeness like I’d known him my whole life, that I could trust him with anything. I didn’t know how to react to this feeling.
He pulled me closer to him a few times as we passed a couple groups of guys that made it quite obvious they were looking at me and Sam. Sam nudged my arm, smiling when she saw what he was doing after the last group of guys. Gavin was walking on the other side of Wyatt, talking to him about music and a few other things.
We got back to Mom’s a few hours later. Gavin and Sam said they could come in for a little bit. Wyatt wanted to come in, but he didn’t want to get Mom upset again. I told him it was find, and that she was over being upset. I told him I had no idea what had gotten into her because how she acted was out of character for her. I told him to come in for a little bit and he could leave when Gavin and Sam did in about an hour. I explained Sam’s parents were strict on her about being home before midnight. He shook his head in disbelief, opening the front door for me.
“How was your coffee,” Mom asked, walking out of the living room.
“It was good. I was bad and got a piece of German chocolate cake too.”
“I take it you weren’t there the whole time.” She smiled, walking past me toward the kitchen.
I trailed behind her. “We decided to go to the mall for a little bit. Sorry, I didn’t let you know we were going there too.”
“Londyn, I’m not upset. I’m glad you were out having a good time. I also want to apologize for the way I acted at dinner. I don’t know what came over me. I hope you can forgive me. Wyatt seems like a nice guy.” She walked around the counter, giving me a big hug.
“It’s okay, Mom. I told him you weren’t upset anymore.”
