Smile

Fight or Flight

I stood, hands on my hips, staring at my masterpiece. The coffeehouse looked awesome. It was now 11:23 PM and we had just finished clean up. Each chair and table was in place, every floor swept, every picture hanged and every person exhausted. Chris, Euriah and Tank all looked at me with hopeful eyes from their perches. Tank was sitting on the floor Indian-style, Chris was slumped in a wooden chair, and Euriah was leaning against the display case.

Clapping my hands together I signaled it was time to go. The guys groaned thankfully but all trudged out the door like a pack of zombies. I locked the door and jogged over to my car.

Tank and Euriah were already pulling off when I got to my car. I waved and yelled a grateful "Thank you" to my friends. Chris was parked behind me and was waiting patiently to be noticed. "Thanks Chris", was all I said. I knew he was waiting for an answer on his text but I didn't have one right now. I liked Chris, like really liked him but I still wasn't sure if a relationship was what I needed right now. With everything going on right now, going corporate, graduation, Ky's condition, and this café, I wouldn't have much time for a relationship.

I got in Melissa and drove off down the street toward home. When I finally got back I was too tired for anybody. I waved to Ky, who was up watching TV and Dad, who was eating a sandwich and trudged up to my room. Not bothering to change I flopped down onto my bed and let sleep carry me away.

I woke up to rustling. Someone was in my room. I bolted into a sitting position giving myself a head rush. It was just Vanessa.

"I'm sorry, hon. I didn't mean to scare you. I just brought you up some breakfast", she said holding up a tray of food. When the hell did she get that?

Rubbing my head I muttered a small, "It's fine. Thank you".

She set the tray on my bed beside me and went to leave but stopped in the doorway. "So, what's going on with you and Chris?", she asked nosily.

"How do you-"

"He's here, waiting for you to get up", she confessed.

Oh goodness! "How long has he been here?".

Vanessa chewed the inside of her cheek thinking, "Maybe an hour. Should I tell him to go?".

"No. He can come up here", I grumbled cutting a slice of my waffles. She had made waffles, bacon, and scrambled eggs with a side of oranges and strawberries, my favorite fruits. Then I had a thought. I'd forgotten all about Ky's investigation. For the last two weeks we'd been trying to find out who had beaten Ky so badly but so far we had no luck. "Have you heard anything about Ky's situation?".

She shook her head solemnly, "No. We just know the gang who might have done it. X-ecution, but no one knows who's in it or where to find them, so we're at a standstill". Vanessa looked like she wanted to go off and find the guys herself. I knew this would be hard on her, Ky is like a son to her. When her and my dad found out his situation they took him in and as soon as Ky and I turned fifteenth he moved out, got a job, and got a place on his own. To be honest, he and Vanessa were really tight back then, so she has to be hurting far worse than she's letting on.

"Oh. Okay...", my voice trailed off. I didn't know what to say. Should I comfort her? No, she probably didn't want my sentiment. Whatever.

She nodded once then disappeared down the hallway. A few minutes later, Chris came up carrying his own tray of breakfast goods. Cautiously, he took a seat at the end of my bed.

"Good morning", I said awkwardly staring at a piece of waffle I had just cut.

"Morning", Chris said picking at his fruit.

This was too awkward. Sure we liked each other but there was no reason for us to be THIS weird around one another.

Softly, I jabbed him with the safe end of my fork grabbing his attention. "Hey, you", I offered him a smile.

He looked up from his fruit poking and smiled, "Hey". Okay, so there is no reason someone should sound so sexy when they say "hey". No reason whatsoever.

"What ya doing?", I averted my gaze back to my plate.

Chris set down his tray and took my chin between his forefinger and thumb, lifting my face. "Stephanie", he breathed his eyes searching for mine, "look at me, please". I obliged. Who was I to make an angel beg and Chris was an angel. Everything about him was angelic which scared me because I was everything that opposed him. "I always want to see your eyes, so please, don't look away from me".

My breathing hitched and instinctively my eyes wanted to dart off in every direction but I kept them trained and focused on the guy in front of me. I nodded but I really wanted to run. All of my fight or flight reflexes were kicking in and I just wanted to get the hell out. Nothing about this made sense and my body knew it as well as my mind did but my heart, my dumb heart wanted to stay.