The Road to Nowhere

Chapter 10: Naked

Chapter 10

Layke stands there with the happiest smile on his face. I can tell he's related to his brothers. He looks a lot like Scooter. Same hair and eyes. If there wasn't an obvious age difference between them, I would have thought they were twins. The only difference between them that I can see is that Lakye has prominent dimples on his cheeks, and Scooter does not.

I swear this kid looks familiar. I know I've seen him before. But where? For some reason, I can't look away from his blue eyes. I've seen those eyes before. Wait a second. Layke, as in the kid that saved my ass in the high school five months ago? How in the world did Cameron and I end up with him and his family?

"Nice to meet you..." Layke pauses for me to say my name. He fixates his eyes on me. I can tell he thinks I look familiar as well. Before I could let any words come out of my mouth, Linda speaks. 

"This is Summer." She says sweetly.

The facial expression that comes onto Layke's face looks like a lightbulb went off inside his head. "Summer? Aren't you the girl I helped out at the school on Z-Day?" He laughs.

"You two know each other?" Daniel asks.

"We went to school together," I say shyly. I hate seeing people that I used to know from high school. Especially this specific person. The last thing I remember is that we had a very obvious attraction to each other. I'm not proud to admit that. I just know that this is going to be awkward. 

"Ain't that wonderful," Daniel says with a smile on his face.

"I've never heard anyone call the day that everything fell Z-Day," I say to Linda to try and change the subject. The last thing I want Daniel to ask is how we met. 

"Yeah, I guess that's our little term." She says. "I'm going to put the dishes in the kitchen, can I get anyone anything?" 

"You said you've got some eggs for me," Daniel says. He follows Linda into the kitchen after she collects all the plates. 

Layke holds out his hand to Cameron. "I'm Layke, I don't think I caught your name." 

Cameron picks his head up from the table and glances at Layke's outstretched arm. Cameron's face contorts to show anger. His eyebrows scrunch, causing him to get lines in the middle of his forehead. His bottom lip changes from plump to flat as his mouth turns into a scowl. "Cameron." is all that escapes his mouth before he gets up from his seat and walks out of the back door and onto the screened-in porch. 

...

That was embarrassing. 

Not only is seeing someone that I used to know from high school humiliating but having your best friend act like a jerk the first time they officially meet is outright painful. 

The only thing I could let myself do is run. I don't think I've abandoned a social situation faster than I just did. I pushed my chair out from under the table so fast that it scratched against the wood floor. My shoes stomped as I nervously walked to the other side of the room and stepped outside. With my heart racing, I pan the area for Cameron. 

What's got into him? I know his masculinity was just threatened by a guy I used to know and had the tiniest crush on, but come on. Be nice. We are staying in the guy's house for Christ's sake. 

The only mammals I see are the cows in the distant fields, but no Cameron. I let my feet take me down the creaky steps of the porch and out into the backyard. The grass that made up the yard is yellow and dying. I could hear it crunch beneath my shoes. I turn the corner of the house to see a barn, about as tall as the house itself. My eyes immediately focus on Cameron, who's leaning gently on the side of the barn kicking his feet into the dirt. His head picks up when he senses me, and with a roll of his eyes, he takes off inside the open doors of the red withering building.