Fix me

Chapter 24

I had barley felt his breath on my lips when my mom called out from behind us, “Violet, I’m leaving now!”

We pulled away from each other reluctantly and he had a small look of disappointment in his eyes. I smiled lightly at him, surprised to find that I felt the same way, even though I shouldn’t.

Mom came up to me and looked between me and Hunter with judging eyes. He evidently got the point that he wasn’t wanted there and made his way back to his aunt so that we could talk alone. I still wasn’t used to the cold sensation I received whenever he left. He snuck a look over his should at my in the process and I nodded at him to show that everything was ok and he left.

Mom’s lips pulled up slightly once he had left and she looked at me. “I’m so proud of you.” She said softly.

“It was just a swim meet,” I said, shrugging.

Her eyes lit up and she brushed hair away from my face affectionately. I let her, grinding my teeth together, but keeping my cool. “That’s not what I meant.” And with that, she turned and left, walking back to her car with my staring after her incredulously. What did she mean by that? What had I don’t to make her proud since she got here? I had accepted her as a neutral, not an enemy. Was that it?

Or maybe it was something more. Maybe she knew more about me than she led on. Maybe she knew more about me than I wanted her to. But that was impossible. She had been here less than a month. She knew nothing about what I had become since she had left. She could not read me like she used to. I was different.

She was different.

“Violet, are you coming, dear?” Amy called a few feet away. I nodded without really paying attention to her, my mind still spinning. We climbed into her SUV with Hunter sitting in the passenger seat and me in the back.

It was a quiet ride with only the music of the radio a soft hum in the background. My eyes slowly closed and I leaned my head against the window, relaxing. For a while, no thoughts pierced my mind, no worries invaded my thoughts. It was peaceful. And alien. But it was nice and so I leaned back and enjoyed it. It had been so long since I fully got to experience a feeling of calm and amity; I didn’t want to ruin it.

Amy took us to a breakfast/ lunch diner called Grannie’s. I had never been, but she said the food made up for the lack of building. In truth, it was a small, cluttered place, but with a cozy feel to it. It was about the size of a big McDonald’s with the inside filled with too many tables and chairs. It was a sort of maze, but the first thing I noticed when I walked through the door was the mouth- watering bakery right in front, the fresh scent of cookies and sugar infiltrating my nostrils. I breathed in the delicious scents and ignored the busy noises of yelling and chatting of the restaurant.

We were greeted by a kind looking woman a few years older than me and escorted to a booth in the back, me sitting next to Hunter and his aunt across from us. It was silent as we looked over the menu and Hunter gently placed his hand on my knee, warming my insides. It was a promise that we would finish what we started in the parking lot. Soon.

After we had ordered, Amy turned to me and asked bluntly, “So, what exactly is going on between you two?”

I almost choked on my water, dumbfounded. “What?” I asked between coughs. I was not expecting this conversation to come up until . . . well, ever really. It was certainly not one I wanted to have in the middle of lunch at a public restaurant.

“I’m not blind, you know.” She said with a teasing voice. “And as Hunter’s guardian, I think I deserve to know.”

I didn’t know how to answer her. Where we Hunter and I exactly? We were definitely past friendship. That ship had sailed the moment he had kissed me. But a couple? It didn’t feel right. It was too . . . general. I couldn’t quite think of a word that described what Hunter and I had.