A Girl Like Her

Chapter 24.

Zander shrugged, smiling almost shyly now. He tucked a strand of his hair behind his ear and looked at me hesitantly. "I just figured bowling would be kind of fun for us both. I haven't been in ages and I just thought you probably haven't been in forever either. It's the perfect mix of a fun atmosphere while also being quiet since it'll just be us playing against each other. But I gotta warn you, I've never lost a bowling game before and I don't plan on it anytime soon either." He grinned, quickly getting out of the car and coming around to open up my door. "Come on, I promise it'll be fun." He grabbed my hand almost absentmindedly and I felt butterflies swarm my stomachs at the action. I don't think I've ever felt something so intense before. It was both refreshing and scary.

Zander brought out these feelings in me that were confusing. Most of the time, I felt safe with him. I felt secure and dare I say it, comfortable. But that was something I couldn't afford to be feeling right now. I couldn't let myself become distracted by a man when I was running from them already. If I let my guard down now, I was afraid there was no saving me a second time. I wouldn't be able to escape with my life again. I would be done for.

He led me up to the entrance of the building, quickly pulling open the door for us. Immediately my eyes began to adjust to the change of scenery. The lights were dim despite the light shining outside. The blinds were pulled down, and the variety of colors along the floors and walls reminded me of colors in space. Hues of blacks, purples, and blues ran along the carpeted areas. Almost every lane seemed to be full with people and there was doubt lingering in the back of my head that there would even be a lane open for us.

"Come on," he urged, my hand still in his as he walked toward the check in table. A big, burly man stood behind the table. His head was clean of any hair but he had a full beard on his face. His arms were covered in back sleeved tattoos and one of his ears was pierced. Wearing a loose black t-shirt with faded blue jeans, he looked every bit the stereotypical boss of a bowling alley. I feel like his name should be Al, even though his name tag clearly reads: Billy.

"What can I do for ya?" Billy asked, a country sort of twang to his voice as he eyed us up rather suspiciously. I almost forgot Zander and I were meant to be playing hooky. I also almost forgot how damn important adults find education for the youth. But really, what could he do to us? Call the cops? And say what? He couldn't really prove we were skipping anyways. Why did I care to begin with? I never cared about this sort of thing in Georgia. So why the hell did I care about it now?

"We were looking to play two games on one of the lanes," Zander said rather proudly without a hint of hesitation. He was confident as he grinned at Billy almost innocently. After a few moments of the cashier looking at us up and down, he quirked a smile of his own, nearly making my face blanch in shock. What was going on?

"Of course, Zander, my boy. I just need her shoe size and lane six is open and ready to go. On the house for today." Billy was full on smiling now, reaching across to shake Zander's hand in what seemed to be some long time best friend handshake. After they pulled apart, they both looked at me expectantly. I stared back, still slightly dumbfounded.

"Oh, right!" I blinked out of my mini shock moments later, quickly blurting out my shoe size and moving in a little closer to Zander as a red hot blush once again decided to make an appearance on my face. How embarrassing.

"I thought you said you hadn't been bowling in forever," I hissed softly to Zander while Billy grabbed our shoes.

He shrugged nonchalantly, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "I may have exaggerated a little bit on that part," he grinned sheepishly. "My brother and I used to go bowling all the time when we were younger. As soon as we moved here, one of the first things we did was look for a bowling alley because of how much we went." He raised his hand to scratch nervously at the back of his neck, and my heart momentarily warmed. He always gets this warm glow to him when he talks about his brother. Like they're inseparable best friends. I hate that I can't seem to see the same friendly and funny Adrian he knows so well, but it must all be in my head.