Her Touch

10

"SO YOU KNOW that thirteen squared is..."
"259?" I shook my head as I pointed to number thirteen on the paper.
"169," I said, correcting her mistake, "and four squared is..."
"16," I nodded.
"So 169 is equal to 16 plus BC squared, so how do you find BC?"
"Um..." the girl thought for a moment. "So, 169 minus 16 is equal to BC squared and BC is equal to the square root of 153, which is..." she calculated the root on her calculator, "12.4," she said making me let out a sigh of relief. She was the slowest of the three, but was getting somewhere.
"Good, at least you understand what you have to do, so do this exercise for homework," I wrote down the page number in her exercise book, "some of the last questions will take more effort, but all of it is what you've learned on Pythagoras' Theorem," she nodded as she began to put away her books.
"Okay, I'll try to complete it but I have cheerleading practice for most of my free time so I might not finish all."
"You better because we're going onto another topic in the next class, which is simple trigonometry for triangles that are not right-angled, unlike what we have been doing," she bit down on her bottom lip, before getting up from her seat.
"I'll try, don't worry. Anyway, gotta go, I have a class at 2:00," I checked the time to see that it was only 1:30, but before I could say anything, she was already out of the library.
I inhaled deeply as I picked up my satchel and got up. I made my way out of the library and the school, to begin my walk home.
My mother would be arriving later that night. I wasn't too sure what time, since I didn't really pay attention to what she told me over the phone.
Grandpa was not going to pick her up. His argument was that if it wasn't necessary for him to know what happened to me, it wasn't necessary for him to pick her up either. A lot of animosity was building up there and mom was going to ask me a million questions when she arrived. One would likely be if I wanted her to schedule an appointment with a nearby psychiatrist, which she should know wouldn't work out, since I wasn't open about my feelings, especially with a stranger.
I took a deep breath as I neared that diner, a smoothie on my mind, making me enter without even thinking about it. I walked over to the counter and the same woman who criticised my attire the last time looked up at me, "it's nice to see you wearing appropriate clothing," she said, scanning me. I held back a comeback and tapped my fingers against the countertop.
"Can I have a strawberry smoothie, please?" I asked, making her arch her brow.
"Sure," she mumbled, before I turned my attention away from her. The diner was empty, including the streets. I thought of taking a run, but I felt too exhausted to do so. I hadn't been too energetic lately, "here you go, honey," the woman said, making me turn to her.
"Thanks," I smiled as I fished for my wallet and took out a ten dollar bill. I handed it to her and picked up the smoothie, "keep the change," I said as I walked out of the diner and onto the street.
I exhaled loudly, as the wind gently caressed my skin, clearing my thoughts, as I walked the rest of the journey home.
When I got home and had already stripped from my clothing, I checked my phone to see that I received a message from Ava. Reading it brought a smile to my face, as I took a seat on my bed and just stared at it.
I made a hasty decision, one which I might have regretted later-I called her, needing to hear her voice.
"Hi, didn't expect for you to call," she said sighing.
"Sorry, I just wanted to hear your voice," I said biting down on my upper lip.
"Hmm, someone's getting clingy already, but babe, I have a class at the moment," I was lost in the thought of her calling me babe, before she spoke again, "Kylie?"
"Um... umm sorry, you have a class?" I questioned, knowing that she only taught Juniors and Seniors-all of the classes that I was in.
"Yeah, book club. You should join, it would be nice to have you around."
"Hmm... my schedule is a bit overloaded at the moment, pesky teenagers and their math problems," she chuckled, making a smile form on my lips. She had an adorable laugh.
"The time management varies, we usually decide the next time we meet up at the end of every class, but babe, I really need to get back. We'll talk later okay?" She said, before placing a kiss on the phone, "I'm sorry, I just couldn't help myself," she added, making me press my lips together.
"It's okay, I... ugh... liked it. Now get back to your class and don't text me, cause you're going to tempt me to call you again."
"Sure thing, cutie. But can I call you later?"
She asked with a lingering tone.
I hesitated for a moment, "text me first and I'll tell you if I'm in the mood."
"Okay, bye," she said, before hanging up. I removed the phone from against my ear, as I laid down and scrolled through my other messages.
Seeing one from Owen made my heart stop for a moment. What can he possibly want? It read, I talked to dad on the phone and he seems a little less opposed to hearing your name. I rolled my eyes.
'Would you please stop? Your constant obsessing about that ass is increasing my blood pressure!' I texted back, before I threw my phone down on the bed and got up.
That kid was sweet, but too intrusive. Even though he had good intentions, I didn't want to get on my father's good side. I wanted him to know of my anger and pain. I stormed out of my room and down the stairs, my mind spiralling out of control.
"Kylie, are you okay?" My grandfather called, as I stomped my feet into the kitchen.
"Yeah, I'm totally fine," I grumbled sarcastically, before opening the fridge, grabbing a bottle of water and slamming it shut.
"Honey, do you want to talk about it?" He walked closer to me and placed his hand on my shoulder.
"I'm fine, I think I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up when mom arrives," I said, already walking up the stairs. Mom was going to rent a car, so she would meet us at the house, which meant I didn't need to worry about her arrival.
When I plopped myself onto my bed and picked up my phone, I immediately went into Ava's messaging screen and just stared at it, before resting my phone back down and looking at the ceiling.

"Hello, may I ask who this is?" A little boy questioned over the phone. He didn't seem much younger than me.
"Who are you? I thought it was someone else calling," I said, biting down on my upper lip.
"My dad calls this number sometimes and yells at someone. I was just wondering who it is," the boy said, making my eyes well up with tears.
"I'm his daughter, he calls my mother sometimes, why does he... I thought he doesn't want anything to do with us."
"You're my sister? He never told me about you. Can I have your number? I can't be on the phone for very long," I hesitated for a moment before giving in.

"Kay," I heard my grandfather say. Looking up, my eyes locked with his worried ones, "I'm making dinner, I was wondering if you wanted to help," he said, his hesitance clear.
I shook my head and sat up, "I don't feel too well at the moment," he nodded, but still walked over to me. He sat next to me on my bed and placed his hands in mine.
"You're not afraid of me, are you? I mean after everything that happened..."
"I'm not. I'm not afraid of men, grandpa, and neither am I a lesbian because of it," I stated, before pulling my hands away.
"I was just wondering, dear, but know that I would never do anything to hurt you," he said, sincerity laced with his voice.
"I know grandpa," I gave him a small smile.
"By the way, I invited Ava and her family over. Just a heads up," my eyes immediately glimmered with happiness.
"Really?" I smiled before pressing my lips together.
"Is there something I should know about?" He asked, obviously suspecting something about Ava and I.
"No, I just really miss Natalie," I gave him a shy grin, knowing that he knew I was lying, but I wasn't ready to discuss whatever Ava and I shared.
"Okay, honey, get ready. I'm downstairs helping Marge make dinner," he said, referring to the housekeeper, who occasionally helped him make dinner.
I immediately picked up my phone and texted Ava, 'hey, why didn't you tell me you're coming over?'
She took a few minutes to respond, so I ended up staring at the ceiling again, 'I'm sorry, babe, but I wanted to surprise you.'
I smiled as I replied to her message, 'you'll get to meet my mom. She'll arrive soon.'
'Oh great, it's nice to make a grown woman panic.'
'Panic?' I texted back.
'I'm going to meet the mother of the girl I like,' she texted back, which also included a wink emoji.
'You're adorable, but my mom is pretty chill. Just be yourself.'
'Okay, cutie, I'm getting ready, will be there soon.' I pressed my lips together, before placing my phone down and getting off of my bed.
I walked into the bathroom and took a quick shower, before drying my skin with a towel that I had used earlier, and heading into my closet.
Knowing that Ava was coming over, I decided to wear something to make my presence a bit more noticeable, and it would show my mother that I was more than okay. She was likely going to arrive in between dinner, or maybe later. So, as I picked up a short, black, body-fitted dress, that seemed to make my ass look a lot bigger than it was supposed to be, I thought of what Ava's reaction would be. But then I thought of how it might sexually arouse her and threw it back into the pile and frowned. I decided on a pair of shorts and a white button down, along with a pair of boy shorts and sports bra.
As I finished getting ready and took a final glance at myself in the mirror, I knew that I should have made a better effort, but it didn't matter anyway.