Tye quickly looked at me, his face cracking into his handsome smile.
“Yes, it’s a thing.” He replied succinctly. Savannah screeched with delight.
“Dear god! I think my eardrums burst with that one,” my hands flew to my ears.
“Damn it, Tye,” Sam pulled his wallet from his pocket, offering Savannah an evil glare. “Couldn’t you have held out until after Easter?”
“What exactly was this bet?” Tye asked as he wandered over to the kitchen.
“I bet Sam you two would be together before Easter. You were cutting it close to the wire, but it still counts,” she stole Sam’s wallet and happily counted out a few notes. It suddenly explained their strange behaviour the night before and Sam’s keenness not to leave us alone for too long.
“They’re making money off of us,” I folded my arms in pretend anger.
“I know. I should have taken that bet,” Tye winked at me. The action had altogether changed from a joke to something much more seductive.
Savannah’s excited reaction was not the only one. When Tye kissed me goodbye outside the lecture theatre, lingering for a good few minutes, it was witnessed by my friends, who all started freaking out in their own way and demanding to know details over frappuccinos that afternoon.
“It’s only just happened; can you blame me for not telling you sooner?” I asked again as we found a table on the terrace outside of the coffee shop.
“I’m blaming you, definitely,” Cara offered as she sat down next to me, kicking me with her bright red heel for good measure.
“Okay, so kissing only started happening last night, but how long have you been ‘seeing’ him exactly?” Leonora tapped her long fingernails on the table excitedly like a cat.
“I guess we started talking the night of the house party where I bumped into you two outside under the fairy lights,” I pointed at Ellie. At this point, she face palmed.
“Oh sugar. I am such a bad friend,” her head shot up, her face pleading. “Ivy, believe me, I never would have gone after him if I knew you liked him. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“She knows that, hun,” Leonora waved her concerns away. “That is exactly why she didn’t want to tell you.”
At Ellie’s perplexed expression, Cara intervened.
“She wanted to see if he would go for you. If the man could be strong enough to resist temptation!” She explained dramatically, while eyeing up the Bakewell tart on Leonora’s plate. Speaking of resisting temptation…
“Can I have your brain please?” Ellie laughed, looking at me, yet somehow slapping Cara’s hand away as she reached for the tart. “I might be able to keep a guy then.”
“Keep him? Let’s slow down.” I piped up sharply.
“A little?” Ellie smiled, teasing me.
“More like a lot. Great huge marathon distances.” I picked up the frappuccino, using the spoon to wave in the air and illustrate my point. “It’s been less than twenty-four hours since he told me he liked me. I’m not going to be foolish here. I actually like what Savannah said. She called it a thing. So for now, there’s something, but no labels please.”
“Thing? We can work with that.” Cara said mischievously. “Boyfriend thing, kissing thing, wow thing.”
“Where’s the mute button on you?” I asked as the others laughed.
“Right here,” she leaned forward and tapped her own nose, so I dutifully bopped it gently.
“Alright, we’ll call it a thing for now,” Leonora came to my rescue, leaning her chin in her hand. “Hey, how did you do that, pixie?” Leonora sent a death glare to Cara who had a bite of Bakewell tart in her mouth.
I had the evening shift at the coffee shop when Kyle walked in. Following the interlude the other night at the pub, I had no wish to be alone with him and rather frustratingly, I was on lock-up duty. He was also hanging round. Making no sign of leaving.
He hadn’t spoken, but I wasn’t blind. He kept looking at me as I cleared away other tables. When he showed no signs of leaving, even when my co-worker Ally told him we were closing, fear started to creep into me.
I still wanted to think of him as the innocent-eyed boy who went on a few dates with Rosie, but he was doing his best not to resemble that kid.
As I went to cash up, I sent a quick text to Tye.
HEY – YOU STILL ON CAMPUS? I x
Tye replied within seconds as I counted out the cash.
YEP, JUST AT THE PHYSICS BUILDING. YOU FINISHED YOUR SHIFT? T x
AT 8. KYLE’S HERE AND SHOWING NO SIGN OF LEAVING. I x
?! T x
DON’T PANIC! HE HASN’T SAID ANYTHING. HE MIGHT BE HERE FOR A PERFECTLY INNOCENT REASON, BUT THIS IS MAKING ME UNCOMFORTABLE. FANCY WALKING THIS WAY TO KEEP ME COMPANY ON MY WALK HOME? I x
I just didn’t want to walk alone. As Tye had as good as said the first night he drove me home, there’s no point putting yourself in a position where there was a risk at all. Kyle could still be harmless, but he had showed he wasn’t afraid to reach out and touch even when told not to.
I’LL BE THERE IN FIVE. T x
After I had finished counting up, Ally and I cleaned the counters and mopped the floor.
“He’s certainly sticking round for closing time,” I whispered to Ally as my gaze kept raising nervously to where Kyle sat in the far corner, reading with his drink finished long ago.
“There’s always one,” Ally whispered back. “I’ll sort it.”
As I took the money to the staff room and locked it away for the night, Ally shooed Kyle outside and took his cup away. Even when she closed the door, he took a seat on the low wall opposite, waiting and reading his book.
“He’s just a little bit creepy, isn’t he?” Ally asked as we collected our bags from behind the counter.
“I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks so.”
“You okay still to lock up?”
“Yeah, of course,” I waved it off and held the keys in the air. It was broad daylight and Kyle was not that stupid. She smiled and hurried to the door.
“See you tomorrow, Ivy!” She quickly slipped through the door and down the path, casting one wary look at Kyle before she left.
I followed her out, feeling my certainty slide slightly as Kyle looked up from his book. I turned the lock in the door, keeping my eyes away from him.
“How you doing today, darling?” His voice made my skin crawl.
“I was better before I saw you.” I finished with the keys and walked away done the stone steps that led back to the main road. “This is creepy, Kyle, do me a favour and just go away.”
“I could make your day a whole lot better for you if you like?”
“I have someone else who can do that for me.” I kept my gaze away as I reached the bottom step, but his hand suddenly took my elbow and spun me back round to look at him. “Hey!”
“So you and Tye are a couple then?” he leaned over me as I tried to wriggle my arm out of his grasp. “Believe me, darling, I could make you reach heights Tye can only dream of.”
“For the fifteenth time, no thanks. Let go of me, Kyle,” I made to stamp on his foot again, but I wasn’t wearing a heeled shoe, and he was prepared for this attack as I’d done it before. He moved his foot to the side – as I tried to use the distraction to walk away, he only grabbed tighter to my elbow and pulled me towards him until I collided with his chest. “Do you not understand English?”
“I have to say, your occasional fancy for violence intrigues me. Well, it’s certainly something we can explore.”
Errgh!!
“Fuck no!” I yelled at him, feeling that same wave of nausea envelop me again. I kept trying to squirm as he took hold of my other elbow as well. I didn’t think it would escalate like this. “Let me go Kyle. If you don’t, I will scream. People will come running.”
“I’m not doing anything. Just holding you.”
“And I said I didn’t want you to. You sick freak,” I aimed a hard jab with my knee between his legs – it
was well timed and took him by surprise. He capitulated, releasing me and allowing me to stumble back.
I turned to run, but Tye was a few steps in front having just appeared from the closest path – his face showed he had just seen my manoeuvre.
“What did he do?” He tore forward, ready to probably beat the stuffing out of Kyle when I stepped in front, interceding his path with my hands on his chest.
“Tye – calm down,” my words were sharp and firm. I didn’t want him to get in a fist fight about this.
“That bastard. If he touched you –”
“I think I got him,” I pointed back at Kyle who was crumpled on his knees on the floor, nursing his groin, with his face tightened in pain.
“You little bitch,” Kyle’s voice was soft and seething.
“That’s it.” Tye was moving around me before I could stop him and delivered one solid punch to Kyle’s face.
“Tye!” I yelped, pulling him back, but he had already stopped, having achieved his aim.
“Stay away from Ivy, or it will be more than just a broken nose.”
“Tye – enough,” I linked our hands together and pulled him away down the hill.
Tye still hadn’t calmed down a couple of hours later as we stood in his lounge. Well, I was stood, he was pacing. Savannah was listening to the story sat on the settee while Sam was cooking dinner for the four of us in the kitchen.
“Tye, could you try and breathe a little? You’re red like a tomato,” I begged yet again, pleading with him to stop pacing.
“What was he going to do, Ivy? I think you need to start taking this guy seriously and stop waving it off.”
“I’m not waving it off, I’m just reading the situation.”
“No you’re not. He didn’t care if anyone saw him today. He had his hands on you in broad daylight on a busy campus.” He was still fidgeting and squirming as he walked to and fro.
“That is exactly why I was safe. It was broad daylight.” I paused as Tye’s face grew angrier. “I’m only making it worse, aren’t I?”
“Little bit.”
“Hang on a second, Tye.” Savannah held up her arms to get his attention. “You’re not listening properly to Ivy. What she’s saying is you’re right – broad daylight, busy campus. No one is so much of an idiot to attack a girl in that situation. Maybe he never intended to, only meant to creep her out.”
“Yeah right,” Tye looked away, continuing with his pacing.
“She’s right, Tye,” I shrugged. “He’s a scary guy. All I can say is he gets his kicks from scaring the crap out of me. That doesn’t mean he’d actually go further.”
He was also a scary guy that got his kicks out of talking about having sex with his old girlfriend’s sister. The thought made me nauseous, but that was hardly going to help the situation. It wouldn’t make Tye calm down, and it was just far too creepy for words to say out loud.
“Exactly,” Savannah agreed, bouncing up and down on the settee.
“Besides, after kneeing him in the nuts, he called me a bitch. So he’s probably lost interest anyway.” God, I hoped so.
“Nice!” Savannah offered a high five that I completed half-heartedly.
“I doubt it,” Tye was still angry, but he folded his arms and finally stopped walking.
“For now, don’t go anywhere alone Ivy,” Sam piped up from the kitchen.
“Agreed,” Savannah nodded. “Best to be safe.”
“I won’t.”
“That means no walking back from nights out by yourself,” Tye stared me down. “You call me.”
“I promise,” I held his gaze, relieved when I could see the hardness begin to fade from his face.
Chapter 13
“Why did I say yes to this?” I complained as the instructor flipped me onto my back again.
“You know why!” Leonora snapped from the edge of the room as Cara wandered over and offered a hand to help me up from the crash matt. We had all opted for our running kit for the self-defence class, and I had been hoping to treat it as more exercise than what it was.
“It’s proving more painful than I thought,” as I stood up, I stretched out the new bruises on my back. The instructor patted me comfortingly on the shoulder as Cara led me back to the side of the room.
“No pain, no gain, it’s what they say,” Ellie smiled as she marched forward for her turn. She was struggling just as much as me but had definitely brought a better attitude than I had.
Leonora had been attending the classes all year. When I finally spilled the beans to my friends on Kyle’s uncomfortable encounters, pressured into it by Tye who wanted others to look out for me, Leonora had wasted no time in getting to work. She had signed us all up for the self-defence class on campus, saying it was long overdue and it never hurts to be prepared.
“I like it,” Cara had taken to the class as a fish would to water, or a dolphin to playing in waves. For someone so tiny, she was athletic and fierce. It helped she danced as well, she had significantly more hand-eye coordination than Ellie and I put together. “What’s not to love? We just get to beat up a fit instructor for an hour.”
“I’m not sure I’m doing much beating up.” I rested my back against the wall and tried to wipe some of the sweat from my face. “It just all feels a bit pointless.”
“It’s not pointless and you know it,” Leonora looked at me with surprisingly sharp eyes. She had not taken too well to the news and was annoyed I hadn’t told her before.
“I really don’t think he’s a threat, Leonora,” my tone was soft, trying to offer comfort, but it was no use.
“Yeah right. We never do,” she looked away and followed the instructor as she was called up for her turn.
“You know why she’s thinking like she is,” Cara explained as she threw me a towel.
“I know,” I winced, remembering the story she had told the three of us last term. It was the reason why she behaved the way she did. It was even more crushing we were the only three people she had ever told.
“She’s also right. There’s no harm in being prepared for something that might never happen.”
I stopped complaining after that and threw myself into the session, but things were still not quite right between Leonora and me.
As we walked back to our halls in Lafrowda, she stopped talking altogether for a bit.
“Please talk to me,” I begged for what I thought was the third time. She was marching ahead, her arms poker straight by her side. I was struggling to keep up, my own muscles sore from the strange workout and bashing it had just been given. “Please, Leonora. I’m sorry.”
She stopped suddenly, still not looking at me as I jumped in front of her, trying to gain some eye contact.
“You can yell at me if you like?”
“I don’t want to yell at you,” she shook her head, turning away and finding a nearby low wall to sit on. She dusted off the petals that had fallen from the magnolia tree behind the wall and sat, her eyes finally lifting as they gazed between me and the wall, issuing that I should sit too.
“You’re kind of freaking me out. You’re not acting like you,” I sat down anyway, keeping my focus on her. “What is it?”
She waited a few minutes. When all was quiet and there was no one around us, she snatched up my left hand from its surface on the wall.
“No more secrets. What is this.” She said harshly, gesturing down to the fresh doodling of ladybugs. The black sketches were standing in a circle, holding their little spindly hands and dancing.
“It’s –”
“Don’t you dare say it’s nothing,” she tossed my hand back down. “You’re in danger of that becoming your motto. ‘Ivy says it’s nothing, always nothing.’”
“Because it is.” I was starting to get angry too. No longer disappointed that I’d upset her, just frustrated by her behaviour.
“I don’t believe you!” She snapped loudly.
I looked around, but there was no one nearby to hear her. It was so rare
to see her display any kind of temper. She was one of my closest friends, and I was somewhat blindsided.
“Leonora, what is with you?” I whispered, urging her to lower her voice, but losing all sign of compassion. “If I don’t want to talk about something, I don’t have to.”
“No I guess you don’t.” She looked away, casting her eyes that had now filled with water to the horizon. “I told you something that only the three of you know.” Her words came crashing down on me, I felt my posture slump. “I trust you three with a secret I couldn’t ever tell anyone else.”
“This is different –”
“Is it?” She still wouldn’t look at me. “It’s something you refuse to talk about, sounds just the same to me. Why do you draw ladybugs?” She pointed back down at my hand. “You have to see that you’re actually damaging your skin when you do it. It’s always red raw, I’ve seen you bleeding before.”
“It’s nothing-”
“How can you keep saying that?” She snapped her head back as a single tear fell from her eyes.
“Leonora, please.” I was torn between anger at her invasion and sadness I was the one to make her cry.
“Why can’t you tell me? You know everything about me. I’m one of your closest friends and yet…”
“I can’t talk to anyone about this!” My temper snapped. How could she dare do this? I waved the hand in the air as if it were foreign from my body. “It’s weird!” I waved it even more manically. “It’s just me being ridiculous, it’s a way of coping is all.”
“Coping with what?”
“Nothing!” I practically shouted the word.
She stayed silent.
I lowered my eyes to the ground and leaned forward with my elbows on my knees. There was only one person in this world who I told everything to, and she was gone. I hadn’t been able to speak to her for six years.
That thought suddenly ripped open the hole of grief again. Years ago, when it had first happened, I had imagined my stomach was a black hole, everything disappearing down it. Now, it was there again. If those little people that I embodied as my nerves were there, they were all quickly disappearing down it, struggling to hold onto the very edge with their tiny fingers.
Distracted By You: Book 1 in The Exeter Running Girls Series Page 12
