The Exception

Chapter 19

She, however, remained standing.

"You can sit down, if you want," I commented.

She looked both hesitant and confused. It was then that I realized that I didn't even tell her why I brought her over here.

"I just wanted to apologize for being so distant. I know I said that I'd give this a try, but... I just... wanted to talk, I guess." I stated, hoping that she would see what or where I was going with this.

"Oh, ok." She replied simply and sat down at the far end of the couch.

"So, tell me about yourself? Do you have any siblings?"

Sharp pain shot through my chest as I looked away towards the pool. Unfortunately, she hit a soft spot I wasn't prepared for. I couldn't answer. Not to mention, I getting nervous as well.

Since when do I get nervous? I thought to myself, slightly puzzled.

"I um," She began slowly, "I have two sisters and a brother. My sister Sarah is 13, Marissa is 11, and my brother Daniel is 6. We..." she trailed off.

As I was beginning to calm down, I turned to face her, nodding to let her know I was listening.

"We used to have all girls until 6 years ago when my brother was finally born. He almost didn't make it, but he pulled through sure enough."

I turned my head to the side, "Really? I'm glad he survived."

"Yeah, so am I." She smiled lightly before looking down at her hands.

So, I guess it's my turn...

"I have two brothers and one sister. Alec, Gabe, and June. And... well, I only have my brother Gabe now."

I felt reluctant to go on, but, Tyler said I needed to give her something.

"Um, basically Alec and June died about 2 years ago."

I didn't really want to get into details about how they died, so for that moment, I left it at that. Taking in a small breath, I continued.

"Ever since then, my relationship with Gabe has been strained. He tolerated me, but he also never agreed with my way of thinking. So we rarely ever talk."

"Oh..." she responded, "I'm sorry about your family..."

"I... can we talk about something else?" I tried to change the subject as I began to feel the same pressure I had been steadily feeling ever since I left the hospital.

"Um, sure..." She paused. At that moment, I was sure that I was probably showing visible expressions of my pain since she suddenly changed her train of thought.

"Hey, are you ok?" She asked concerned.

"I'm fine." I stated with as much control as possible.

"Are you sure? Because you -"

"Look, I said I'm fine ok?" I stated a little more harshly than I intended.

The pain suddenly vanished and I was able to realize how rude I came across.

Looking into her eyes, I saw so many emotions. I realized that I had unintentionally snapped at her when she was simply concerned about me. As I opened my mouth to say something, Nicole came through the door from the house.

"Ah, there you are! They are about to start line dances and thought that you would want to join!"

"They are? Ok, I'll be there in a second." She excitedly replied.

"See you later, Josh," she said with a hint of sadness.

'No, I'm sorry Selena, I didn't mean to snap at you!' is what I wanted to say.