Conspicuous Secrets

Chapter Thirty

         

He pulled up to a small building on the end of a strip mall. "Bob's Breakfast" looked like a friendly enough place. It seemed to be a family diner and judging by all the vehicles filling the parking lot, it was popular, too. Holden was lucky enough to find a parking spot outside of the breakfast place, but we had to park a building down the street. Neither of us spoke as we climbed out of the black Charger and moved to the sidewalk where we walked to join the others down the others.

A few parking spots down, there was a group of four guys standing beside a dumpster, smoking. I noticed their gawks in my directions and honestly, the looks in their eyes made me feel extremely uncomfortable, but I kept my mouth closed and looked ahead of me. Kason glared in their direction and moved where he was walking between me and the strangers. I wish I would have thanked him for the gesture, but I didn't. I regretted it, but by the time we reached "Bob's Breakfast" and joined our friends, it seemed too late to say anything.

After getting a table, ordering, and receiving our food, the conversation topic of choice was a rundown of what we were doing today. I was sitting on the end of the table for six, with Kason in front of me, Aria beside me, Marla beside of her, Holden in front of Marla, and my brother between the other two boys. I ate my blueberry waffle in silence, while Aria talked about ice-skating and then grabbing sandwiches for lunch.

I was lost in my thoughts thinking about Kason, as any teenage girl would be when she has a big crush. It was something special with him—that I was sure of. I glanced up at him and saw him smiling at something Jaxon was saying. How would he react if I told him everything Jaxon had told Marla? Would he be understanding and supportive like her? Would he be upset at me? Angry? I didn't know. And that scared me. I didn't want to lose him from my life.

A hard elbow into my arm made me jerk out of my trance. Looking at the culprit, Aria looked at me with an amused look in her. She had caught me staring at Kason. Oops. Shaking my head, I grinned shyly, while she starting listening to whatever Holden was talking about. Glancing back at Kason, his dark-blue eyes met mine a second after like he had felt my eyes on him. I couldn't read his expression. He didn't smile, but the usual softness was in his stare.

"Lydia, what about you?" Jaxon's voice snapped me into the conversation.

I looked at my brother. "What?"

He grinned, obviously noticing what had happened, as did everyone else, judging by their amused smiles. "Do you want to go shopping around the small shops down the street after we go ice-skating?" he questioned.

I could feel Kason's eyes still on me, so I quickly glanced at him. His expression hadn't changed. "I'd prefer not to," I told my brother. "Shopping isn't really my thing."

"Come on," Aria complained. "I'm sure they have really cute souvenirs."

"We can just split up this evening," Marla suggested. "Those who want to go shopping can go shopping, and those who don't can go somewhere else." I nodded, liking the idea, as did everyone else.

Once we all finished eating, we all stood and left, agreeing to go immediately to the ice-skating rink. Walking back to Kason's car, I noticed that I was going to have to walk directly past the group of teenage guys who were still hanging out around the large dumpster. Kason was clearly lost in his thoughts, so I didn't bother switching sides on the walkway or speaking up. Which happened to be a mistake. Just as we walked by, one of them touched me where I would have preferred them not to. As soon I felt one of their hands, I jumped and immediately whipped around to gawk at them. "Are you serious?"

Immediately after I faced all three of their smirks, I was facing Kason's back. He had gently pushed me back so he stood between me and the three boys. "That was a mistake," Kason growled in front of me. I could see the anger radiating off of him. His back muscles were stiff and visible through his shirt. He was angry...and getting Kason angry was not a good idea.

"Oh really? Because I'm not regretting it," the middle guy said. His electric-blue hair was gelled in spikes and his eyes were a striking gold that were wide and crazy.

I placed a hand on Kason's broad shoulder, not knowing exactly what I was going to say. However, before I could even bring up my voice to speak, a smack filled the air as Kason's fist slammed into the boy's cheek. Gasping, I stumbled multiple steps back, trying to get away from the two fighting boys. I heard tires screech on the pavement, but my eyes didn't leave the boys in front of me. Kason seemed to have the upper hand with his size and experience, but the Blue seemed to know how to fight, too. I looked at the two friends of the fighting boy and found them already staring at me. At least they weren't helping their friend fight Kason. That's all that mattered.

"Hey! Break it up!" a familiar voice yelled. Jaxon and Holden came to the rescue, running up to the boys. As they grabbed Kason, the other boy's two friends seemed to agree and pulled the blue-haired boy back.

Kason and Blue separated, but the fury was still clear in Kason's blue eyes. Blue smirked. Arms comfortingly grabbed mine and I looked to see Aria and Marla now at my sides.

"Come on, Mitch," one of the boys said. Ah, so "Blue" was known as Mitch. Honestly, I liked "Blue" better.

"I better not see you again," Kason shouted as the started walking away.

"Right back at you, Chimp," Blue called.

I noticed Kason subtly grab his wrist that had been already sprained. "What in the world was that about, man?" Holden asked, sounding pretty angry. "I thought 'Enigma' was off for the weekend?"

Dark-blue eyes met mine, instead of answering. I didn't look away, only spoke for him. "Come on, let's just go," I told them all. "The ice skating rink closes early today." Not thinking twice, I grabbed Kason's uninjured hand and guided him to the car, assuming the others would leave us to get back to Holden's car. As soon as we reached his car, I faced him and held out my hand. "Give me your keys."

He furrowed his eyebrows. "What? Not a chance."

"Kason, you probably hurt your wrist even further. Just let me drive," I argued.

"No, Lydia, I've never let anyone else drive this car."

We were glaring at each other—both of our voices raised. "Kason, give me your keys."

"No, Lydia," he said sternly.

I tilted my head and raised my eyebrows, not moving my held out hand. After a long moment of me staring into his swimming blue eyes, he sighed. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys and dropped them in my hand before making his way to the other side of the car to get in the passenger's seat. "If you crash this car, I'm never talking to you again."

I smiled as he climbed in the car before following his actions. After buckling up and starting the car, I spotted Holden's Jeep waiting for us at the end of the parking lot. I followed our friends onto the street. "Why'd you start a fight with Blue?" I asked after a little while.

"Blue?" he questioned, looking extremely amused.

I shrugged. "Considering his spiked hair was bright blue, I think it's a suitable name."

His grin widened to the smile that I only saw when his attention was on me. "I think it's a great name for him."

"Come on, Kason, why'd you fight him?" I said more seriously.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see his deep-blue eyes on me. "Well, he grabbed you didn't he?" I nodded but kept my mouth closed. "That's why."

I didn't respond for a long minute. "Thank you," I finally said. "Not for fighting, but for standing up for me."

His smile softened. "Anytime, Lydia." Although it wasn't my real name, I loved hearing it roll off his tongue.

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This isn't a long chapter and it's not well written, but at least it is something.

A better and well-written chapter coming hopefully this weekend:)

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter anyway!