When I See You

When I See You - Chapter 3

Chapter THREE

"Becca, you want a ride home?" Maddie asked me after school, later that week. "My dad's here."

   I usually walked home since it was only a few blocks, but I agreed to the ride that day. It was cool, and cloudy. It had rained a lot that morning.

   I jumped into the back of Maddie's dad's truck and said hello to him, dropping my bag by my feet. We were at my house within a few minutes, so I thanked him before hopping out again, then waved at Maddie.

   "Call me tonight," she yelled before I closed the door.

   Nodding, I watched them drive away, then turned and started to walk up the path to my house. It was raining again, lightly, so I moved quicker to get into the house before the downpour. But, somehow, I tripped on a piece of the stone pathway and hell, hard, onto the driveway.

   "Ugh," I said, loudly.

   Glancing around, I was glad no one had seen me wipe out, but as I got back to my feet, I heard a voice.

   "Are you okay?"

   My face went red immediately, but I looked over anyway. Parker was sitting on the front steps of his house. How had I not seen him sitting there?

   Finally standing again, I nodded. "Yeah, uh, the path is wet."

   "Your elbow is bleeding," he said, his voice monotone.

   I turned my arm to look, and there was in fact blood coming through my white sweater. Great. "Shit," I mumbled.

   "Do you have stuff to clean that up?" he asked, getting to his voice.

   Surprised, I managed to say, "Oh, yeah, I'll get a bandaid."

   He hesitated, but not for long. "No, come here. You need to clean it. I'll get you a sterile wipe, and..."

   I just stood there, shocked that he was even talking to me. Like we were friends.

   "Hurry," he said to me, then forced a half smile. "I mean, it's ruining your sweater."

   I followed him into the house, still in shock. I wasn't even sure how my legs were moving. I looked around the front hall area, just with my eyes. The house was similar to mine, but very different inside. There was stuff everywhere. Mess, clutter. My mom kept our house annoyingly spotless.

   "Stay here, I'll grab the stuff," Parker told me, then disappeared down the hall.

   I didn't move a muscle until he was back, ripping open a little package with a cleaning cloth inside. Then, I slid off my sweater and dropped my bag by my feet. Holding up my elbow towards him, I winced a bit as he dabbed at it.

   "It doesn't look too deep," he spoke, wiping it again. "Just keep this bandage on so it doesn't get infected."

   Now, he was opening a little square bandage package.

  "Are you, like, a doctor?" I asked, then realized how dumb that actually sounded. "I mean, how do you know all this stuff?"

   He stepped back after applying the bandage to my arm, so I pulled my sweater back on.

   "I just know," he replied, keeping a straight face.

   "Okay... so can I ask you about last weekend?" I changed the subject.

   He stepped back again, like he was ready to run. "What about it?"

   "Just that you showed up at my door on my birthday and asked my Mom for-"