Splinters: Part One

Part One | 34

I left the office and pulled out my cell phone.

"Hi, Brady!" Edaline greeted, running past me down the hallway.

I barely glanced up from my phone. "Hey, Eda."

"Hey, Brayden!" Beau waved a few seconds later, sprinting right behind Edaline.

"Hey, Beau," I smirked.

"Girls! Stop running in the house!" Melissa shouted.

Suddenly, a thump was heard and a wailing of sobs came after.

"Isabeau and Edaline! That's exactly what happens!"

"I didn't do it!" Beau defended.

"Yes she did!" Eda cried.

I took that as my opportunity to go to my room and close the door before Melissa questioned me on whose fault it truly was. I hated when she put me on the spot like that.

I sent Collie the message I'd typed, letting her know it was okay for her to come over. Her parents have been watching her back nonstop lately. I wasn't sure why, but I have a feeling that maybe it's about me. I knew they didn't like me, but maybe they didn't want her to be around me either. I shrugged at myself. Who knows.

Collie replied a few minutes later saying she was on her way. In ten minutes, she was at my door. I was waiting in the hallway when she knocked. When I opened it, she jumped.

"That was quick," she laughed.

I put a hand on her left cheek and kissed her, gently but firm. We stood together for a moment before I pulled away and grabbed her hand, hauling her inside.

"You're eager," she commented.

I laughed. "I missed you."

In the corner of my eye, I watched her smile. I almost did the same knowing that the things I say give her the same effect as they things she says to me. That's how I knew she loved me.

I pulled her up the stairs and into my room. Collie barely finished saying hello to Melissa when we got down the hall.

"Hello, Collie!" I imagined Melissa turning in her chair and noticing that we weren't staying to chat.

When I opened my door, I let Collie enter first. She sat on my bed as I closed the door. I turned around and felt my stomach drop when I saw a pair of boxers right by my dresser. I quickly grasped them and threw them in the hamper. Collie laughed behind me.

I whipped my head towards her. "Act like you didn't see those."

She shook her head, grinning. "Sure."

Pressing my lips together, I advanced towards my girlfriend and sat next to her on my bed. She put her hand on my knee and leaned into my side, resting her head on my shoulder. Outside, the sun was blocked by one of the blinds, but the brightness illuminated my room. Collie and I just sat, kind of just taking everything in, enjoying each other. It wasn't awkward, but I did want the silence to end, and just as I was about to say something, she beat me to it.

"Brayden?"

I turned my head a little as a response.

"You might've told me before, but I always forget."

"What?"

She waited for a long moment. "Why do you use the word splinter to talk about-"

"The bad parts of my life?" Now I was looking at her.

Her blue-green eyes held curiosity as she waited for me to explain.

I shifted. "Well, I used the term since I was little. When I lived with my grandma, she had a garden in the backyard which had this wooden fence. Sometimes, I'd go back there and walk alongside it and when I touched it, you know, I sometimes got actual splinters. Well one time, I got one and I told my grandma."