Running Parallel

Part 5 - Connor

Exactly thirteen minutes later, I'm sitting on the paved loading ramp, my back against the building, when the backdoor swings open. Dyllan steps out, head turning as she scans the small vacant parking lot and overgrown bushes. When she lets the door go, it bangs shut loud enough to startle a flock of crows looting the dumpsters across the yard. I winch at the noise.

With the door no longer hiding me, she finally spots me sitting on the ground and grins.

"You're late," I inform her, then take a sip of my Coke.

She huffs a laugh, taking a seat beside me. Her elbow brushes mine. "Only you would point that out. I had to stop and grab my lunch from my locker, and a customer tried to stop me on the way to the staff area."

She stretches her legs out, her green converse sneakers settling next to mine. I frown at our feet, noting how her legs are a few inches shorter, and the way her dark jeans cling to her, accentuating every curve in her legs. Dyllan is pretty, with long dark hair, small delicate features, and a chest most guys would die for. If any girl could turn me straight, it should be Dyllan, but girls have never done anything for me.

"So how are you?" she asks while unzipping her lunch bag. "I didn't see you at all last night. I figured when Caleb invited me and Mandy to your place for a party, I'd at least have you if they hooked up with someone."

I fiddle with the cap off my Coke, the bottle tucked between my thighs. "Parties aren't my thing."

Understatement of the year.

"Don't tell Caleb, but I only went because Mandy didn't want to go alone." She opens a sandwich bag stuffed with carrot sticks and plucks one out, snapping off a large bite. "Caleb's my friend and all, but I couldn't care less about being in a place full of people I don't know, especially when everyone's drinking."

The bottle cap slips between my fingers and rolls down the ramp. I watch it go and take a swig from the bottle. Swallowing, I say, "I thought he said they were all friends he made in college? Wouldn't you know some of them?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I see her shrug both shoulders.

"I guess," she admits. She snaps off another bite of carrot and says as she chews, "I don't talk to many people at school. Mandy and Caleb are my closest friends. Brent doesn't like me hanging out with too many people. Says he hardly sees me as it is, what with school and work."

Brent. Just the name makes me frown. Dyllan has told me plenty of stories about her boyfriend, and none of them make me think boyfriend of the year. Manipulative, controlling, jealous—he's a real piece of work. Somehow she doesn't see he's not worth her time, and although I want to tell her to forget him, I can't. As much as we talk at work—well, okay, usually she talks and I listen and nod—I don't think we're close enough for me to tell her to breakup with her boyfriend because he's trash compared to her. Maybe Caleb could talk some sense into her, if I asked him to. He'd be way better at this sort of thing.

"If he knew you and I hangout, he'd throw a fit," she says, confirming what I already knew. The one time her boyfriend saw her talking to me was as I was leaving work after he dropped her off for her shift, and he cornered me next to my car and tried to intimidate me. He'd tried to get in my face, but he's a couple inches shorter than me, so the move was a little awkward. I'd leaned away anyway, because I don't like people in my personal space even on a good day, especially strangers. He raised his hand and shoved me back against my car, my elbow hitting the mirror. Then he'd told me to stay away from Dyllan.

It was like being in school all over again.

Dyllan doesn't know about my interaction with Brent. I never told her because I didn't want to start some drama, or worse, have her not believe me. But it did make me wonder, if he treated me that way after seeing his girlfriend talk with me once in passing, what is he like when they're at home?

"Anyway," Dyllan says, breaking me from my staring contest with my bottle of Coke. I glance her way. She's onto nibbling at a muffin. "The party. What happened to you? I spent most of the night sitting next to Mandy as she flirted with guys and got shitfaced. It would have been nice to have a wingman."

What did I do at the party? Something like fire consumes my face and chest. Oh, you know, only got fucked by my brother's best friend and then hid in our bathroom for the rest of the night when I found out the guy thought I was my brother the whole time. Fuck, I can't say that.

"Connor," she says slowly, watching my face, food forgotten. A grin creeps across her face. "Your face is red."

I clear my throat and drive my thumbnail into the backs of my fingers.

"Nothing," I lie, voice wavering. "Slept."

"You slept?" she asks, voice dry and flat. "All night? By yourself?"

I nod, staring at an ant crawling near my foot.

"Uh huh." She shifts, crossing her legs, one knee bumping mine before it settles against my leg. I have the urge to move away, put some distance between us, but that'd be weird. Normal people touch all the time. "So why are you blushing?"

"Not," I mutter, not sure what else to say. I can't tell her the truth because she's friends with Caleb and Caleb's friends with Luke, and I don't want Luke to know. I don't want him to be disappointed that it was me and not Caleb last night, or be mad and feel I took advantage of him. Maybe I did, because I knew the whole time it was him, but he didn't know it was me. But I thought at the time he did know it was me, so did I take advantage of him when he came into my room, came onto me, and only after let it slip that he thought I was my brother?

My head hurts. This is why I hate drama and parties.

"Okay, if you say so," Dyllan says with a shrug. Her face is still smiling, eyes alight with something bright. "You know I consider you a friend, right?"

No, I did not know that.

Something on my face must tell her that, because her eyes dim a bit and her smile shrinks to something sad and soft.

I lick my bottom lip, searching for the right thing to say to make her go back to being bright and happy.

"I guess you're stuck with me now," I try to joke, tension running through me. I flex the muscles in my arms, trying to relieve the twitchy feeling.

She knocks our shoulders together. "I don't mind, if you don't."

I blink, confused. What's that supposed to mean?

"Forget the party," Dyllan says, ignoring or just oblivious to my confusion, brushing crumbs off her hands. "Did you hear that Ashley got promoted?"

Dyllan spends the rest of my lunch break telling me about our coworker Ashley getting promoted to shift manager, and how one of the deli staff is 'totally hooking up' with one of the bakery staff. With my last minute of breaktime, I tell her I'll see her later and hop off the side of the loading ramp. Luckily, it's a short drop, not quite four feet, and I land without tripping over my own feet.

Only four more hours before I can kiss my bed.