Chapter Twenty-Two
Ever since I had admitted to myself that I liked Logan, my liking for him only grew stronger. There was just something about him that made my heart skip a beat, as cheesy as that sounded. Maybe it was his silky brown hair that always fell in the perfect place without him even trying, or maybe it was his amazing personality and the small things he would do to make me laugh. Maybe it was his hypnotizing blue eyes that were so easy to get lost in. Or maybe it was his smile; his perfect, perfect smile—
"Lauren!"
"Huh, what?" I mumbled dumbly, ripping my gaze away from Logan and turning to look at Faith.
She raised her eyebrows, a small smirk forming on the corners of her lips.
"What?" I asked, trying to play it cool.
She simply laughed and shook her head, dropping the fact that she had totally just seen me ogling Logan.
We had all decided to come to a local burger joint after school just to hang out and eat their famous frozen custard. The guys were laughing and talking about guy stuff, leaving Faith and I in the corner, almost forgotten. While neither of us were making conversation, my eyes unconsciously kept flickering over to Logan.
Once all of us were done with our frozen custards, we decided to head home. I hugged the guys goodbye, and while Faith just waved, I didn't fail to notice the small smile Tyler had sent her way before turning to say goodbye to the rest of the guys. When she looked away from him, her gaze falling on me, I quickly looked away to pretend I hadn't seen anything and that I wasn't even looking to begin with.
The last person I had left to hug goodbye was Logan. His arms wrapped around me, pulling me close to him. The hug only lasted for two seconds, but it was enough to make my heart pound and put a dazed smile on my face.
"Bye, Lauren." He said warmly. He looked at Faith and raised a hand. "See you later, Faith."
Nearly five seconds after he had begun to walk away, he came to an abrupt stop and turned around. "Wait, today's Friday, right?"
"Yeah, why?" I asked curiously.
"Aren't you coming over for dinner today?"
I frowned, not having a clue what he was talking about, when realization finally dawned on me. "Oh, yeah. I completely forgot. It was set for six-thirty, right?"
Yeah, so I guess I'll see you in a little bit?" He said as he started walking back to his car, a smile beginning to form once more.
I nodded. "See you," I called and lifted my hand to offer a small wave.
I watched as he got into his car, but when I realized I'd been staring too long, I turned to Faith as I tried to suppress a smile. She had her arms crossed, and her eyes were narrowed. She was studying my face as if trying to figure something out.
"What?"
You like him," She realized, smirking at me.
"I do not." I tried to sound as casual as possible, fighting to keep the creeping blush off my cheeks. If I looked just a little flustered, my secret would be revealed.
Her eyes went wide and her jaw dropped to the floor. "No way," She said slowly. "You guys are secretly dating!"
My eyes widened and I shook my head rather quickly. "What–? No!"
"Well then can you explain why I've caught you staring and drooling at Logan the past few days, or why you get all flustered whenever he hugs you, or why you were invited over to dinner at his house?"
"None of that means anything." I tried to reason, sounding as casual as possible.
She huffed and crossed her arms. "You're really going to lie right to my face? We're best friends. Aren't we supposed to tell each other everything?" She rolled her eyes and began to walk away.
I groaned and threw my head back. I didn't want to admit it, but I knew I was going to have to. "We aren't dating, Faith. I just..."
I wanted to throw a tantrum, much like a toddler. I did not want to admit anything, or else I'd start to have stonger feelings for Logan, and the thought honestly scared me.
"...I just like him, alright?" I spoke quietly, looking around to make sure no one was lingering by to hear.
She turned around wearing the widest grin I'd ever seen. "I knew it! Oh, my god, I knew it!"
I rolled my eyes, but I couldn't force the growing smile off my lips. "It's not that big of a deal."
"Oh, my god, what if he likes you back?"
"I don't think he—"
"I'm going to go ask him—"
"No!" I shrieked with wide eyes. I grabbed her arms. "You cannot ask or tell him."
"But—"
"You can't."
She stepped out of my hold and sighed.. "Fine, but you better explain how your little crush came to be right now."
As we walked to her car, I began telling her all the details. "Well, when I first saw him I thought he was definitely high up there on the scale of good-looking, but I didn't like-like him. Then he noticed how shy and introverted I was, so he came up with this plan to break me out of my shell. I thought it was really sweet of him to be so interested in helping me, you know?" I smiled in a daze. "One of the ideas for the plan he had was to go to that party. Well, after that whole scene with Kacey, I let out all my anger on him, telling him that everything was all his fault. Then, I ended up in the hospital and even after I yelled and said all those things to him, he was still there with me every day. And I guess that's when I realized that deep inside, I always had feelings for him, I just didn't want to admit them."
I glanced at Faith and raised my eyebrows amusingly. She was biting her bottom lip in efforts to keep from grinning like an idiot.
When we arrived at my house, I told Faith to come along to help me get ready for the dinner. She quickly agreed, following me up the driveway. We walked up to my room and headed straight for the closet. I glanced at the clock on the way in, realizing I only had an hour and a half to get ready. I walked into my restroom to get started on my hair and makeup while Faith looked for an outfit.
Realizing I was too lazy to actually do anything to my hair, I just let it out of the bun it was in, letting my hair fall over my shoulders. I didn't want Logan to think I was trying to impress him by caking my face with makeup, so I went for a natural look. I applied a tinted moisturizer, just a little eyeliner and mascara. With a look in the mirror and a nod of approval, I stepped back into my room.
"So what'd you find?" I asked Faith, walking into my closet.
She turned around with her arms full. She stepped out and set the outfit on the bed. I stared at the clothes dumbly. I didn't even know I owned any of this.
"Well don't just stand there," Faith said, walking back into the closet. "Hurry up and change!"
I snapped out of the trance and got dressed. Once I was fully clothed, I looked into the full-length mirror and smiled. I wore a simple black v-neck shirt, topped with a cute white cardigan and a navy blue infinity scarf. Lastly, I had squeezed my legs into a pair of blue skinny jeans.
"Here," Faith said from behind me, holding my favorite brown combat boots. Thanking her, I pulled them on my feet and thanked God as well for allowing me to have a friend like Faith who could pick out my clothes so perfectly and precisely.
"You better get going because you only have twelve minutes left."
"I know, I know," I grabbed my purse and walked with Faith to my front door. "You can stay here if you want. There's food in the refrigerator so help yourself to whatever you see." I stepped out of the door, walking down the driveway.
"I'll be waiting here to know all the juicy details!" Faith called out.
I laughed, shaking my head amusedly.
I pulled my phone out from my purse and looked for Logan's address, which he had sent me in a text earlier. I realized his house was not very far away from mine; in fact, it was only a few streets away.
I came across the street in a little over five minutes. I walked up to a homey two-story house. It was red-bricked all around and had toys scattered all over the lawn. I walked up the steps to the front door and rang the doorbell. I could see a figure through the glass in the center of the door. It swung open and Katie's smiley-self appeared in front of me.
"Lauren!" She squealed, attacking my waist in a bear hug.
"Hey, cutie," I chuckled and bent down to return her hug.
Mindy emerged from the kitchen, where the wonderful smell of food wafted out and into my nose. I grinned when her eyes landed on me. "Hello, Lauren. I'm glad you could make it." She brought me into a hug, slightly squeezing me.
She made me feel so welcomed, and in a way, she reminded me of my mother. The thought comforted me.
"Do you need help with anything?" I asked Mindy as she walked back into the kitchen.
She shook her head immediately. "No, no, I'm just finishing up. Besides, Katie was helping me, so I got things done quicker."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive. You can go hang out upstairs while we finish. Logan was in the shower, but I think he just finished up. I'll call you guys down when the food is ready." She smiled.
I nodded, turning around to climb up the stairs. I noticed picture frames hung along the wall, and I slowed down to look at them. The first one was of Logan when we was a little boy. He was dressed in Nemo swimming trunks and had orange floaties wrapped around his arms. He was grinning widely at the camera, which made me chuckle in awe.
The next few were of him and an older girl, who had the same facial features as Logan. I could only asume it was the older sister he had mentioned once. There were a few pictures of Katie as a little baby, and some where Logan and his older sister were holding her. However, the next picture made me stop cold in my tracks. Logan, his older sister and Katie were smiling at the camera, while Mindy and a man that I didn't recognize had their arms wrapped around them. I looked closely at the man, finding that he had the same bright blue eyes and dark brown hair as Logan. It had to be his father.
I couldn't help noticing and wondering why there was only one picture, out of all of the other ones hung on the wall, of his father. I realized then that Logan never talked about or mentioned him, and it made me curious. Had he past away, making it hard for Logan to talk about it? Had he left his family when his children were young? I wanted to know, but I decided I'd ask some other day.
I continued up the stairs, peaking into the first room to the right. I walked in, looking around.
It was a typical boy's room, with dark blue walls and sports teams postered hung on the walls. On one wall was his bed with a nightstand to the left and an alarm clock on top. On the other walls he had a desk, a dresser, and a small table that supported the weight of a flatscreen TV and a stored PS3 under it.
Realizing this was indeed Logan's bedroom, I walked further in, over to his desk. There was a small lamp on the edge, along with a cup full of pens and pencils. A camera rested in the center. Curiously, I picked it up and turned it on. A picture of Katie and Logan popped up. They were at the hospital in Katie's room, and Logan had his arm looped her little waist while she had her arm resting over his shoulders. Logan's head was tilted, leaning on top of her's and his arm was extended towards the camera, meaning he had taken the picture himself. I clicked to the next one. It was of Mindy and Katie walking hand in hand at the park, their backs to the camera. The next one was a close up picture of a blue eye, which I instantly recognized as Logan's. This had to be his camera.
As I was about to click to see the next picture, a voice at the doorway stopped me. "Lauren?"
I spun around startled, dropping the camera from my hands onto the desk. Logan walked in as he pulled a white T-shirt over his head, but I managed to catch the sight of his lower–muscular–torso. Feeling my cheeks flush, I tore my eyes away from his body to meet his eyes.
"I'm so sorry–your mom said I could come up since you were out of the shower. I didn't mean to...snoop or anything."
He chuckled, shaking his head. "It's fine, I don't mind." He walked over to his closet, where he tossed the towel draped over his shoulder. "You look nice." He said, turning to look at me, the corners of his lips lifting up into a soft smile.
I thanked him, ingoring the fluttering in my stomach and picked the camera back up from his desk. I would've complimented him on his pictures, but when he looked down and noticed his camera in my hands, he walked over and took it from my hands, almost in embarrassment. "Where you looking at these?"
Getting this guilty feeling in the pit of my stomach, I began to apologize. "Oh, I'm sorry. I—"
I was cut off by the sound of the doorbell ringing. Voices came from downstairs, and at this, Logan seemed to forget about what had just happened.
"Oh, I think that's Brea!"
My eyebrows scrunched together. "Who's Brea?"
"My older sister," He explained while motioning for me to follow him. I realized the girl in the pictures I had seen earlier–Brea, according to Logan–was indeed his older sister. As we walked out of his room he smiled down at me. "You'll like her."
We reached the bottom of the staircase and my eyes landed on who I assumed was Brea. She was absolutely gorgeous. Her long, silky brown hair fell perfectly across her shoulders, and she had perfectly shaped eyebrows and eyes that were a deep gray. Her gaze fell on Logan, and her face instantly lit up.
"Logan!" She grinned, walking over to him.
"Hey, Brea." He greeted, hooking an arm around her neck playfully. "You're looking as ugly as ever."
"Shut up," She laughed, shoving him away from her. Her eyes flickered over to me then, and she sent Logan a very indiscreet glance before smiling at me. "Hi!"
"This is Lauren." He said, sending me a smile. "Lauren, Brea."
"You're absolutely stunning!" She said, pulling me into a hug.
Blinking in surprise, I lifted my arms and returned her hug with a small laugh. "Oh, thanks, but I don't think I'm anything compared to you."
"Oh, shut up–you're beautiful!" She said, nudging my arm playfully. I grinned and suddenly felt as if I'd known her for ages.
"Alright, guys! Come over to eat!" Mindy announced, motioning over to the table that had already been set up.
We all made our way to grab our seats, and I tried not to show my disappointment when Katie beat me to the seat beside Logan and slid into the seat in front of him instead.
We served ourselves and made small talk while we ate. After a few minutes a moment of silence fell over us, and to avoid feeling awkward, I brought the rim of my cup to my lips and took a sip of my iced tea.
"So," Brea began, using her knife to cut through her chicken, "how long have you guys been dating?"
I choked on my tea and started coughing to cover it up. My cheeks flushed a shade of red, and I knew it had the same effect on Logan when his shoulders became tense.
"Oh, no, we're not dating." Logan said while I continued my coughing fit.
Mindy innocently patted my back in efforts to help me. I took a sip of my tea again, hoping it would stop me from embarrassing myself even further.
"Oh, I thought–I mean, it looked.. like you were.." Brea looked back and forth between Logan and I with wide, embarrassed eyes, which she couldn't have been feeling more than me.
"Yeah, no, we're not dating." I confirmed, glancing over at Logan nervously.
You wish you were, though. My conscious nagged me. Forcing the thought out of my mind, I didn't want to fill my head with ridiculous ideas because I knew that sooner or later I'd start to believe them and end up with another broken heart.
"But Logan," Katie said, turning to Logan with furrowed eyebrows, "I thought you said you thought she was pretty--"
Logan's eyes widened, and quickly covered her mouth with his hand, preventing her from finishing her sentence. He looked up at all of us and saw the looks we were giving him. He laughed awkwardly. "She doesn't know what she's talking about."
I looked down, not being able to keep the corners of my lips from lifting up in a small smile.
❧
After finishing up dinner, helping Mindy clean up, and exchanging numbers with Brea, Logan decided to walk me home.
"So, did you like dinner?" He asked, taking his gaze off the ground and looking down at me with a soft smile on his lips.
As we walked, his arm occasionally brushed against mine. It was crazy – and kind of scary – how much just a simple touch from him could drive me insane and send my heart pounding.
"Of course." I smiled. "It was really nice to meet Brea."
"I know she really likes you." He said, nudging my arm playfully.
We walked up the driveway to my house and stopped when we were in front of the door. I turned to face him, the corner of my lips lifting up, forming a small smile. "I had a lot of fun. I feel so comfortable around your family, even with Brea, and I just met her. I feel like I can just be me."
He smiled softly. "That's amazing to hear."
We stood there, just kind of looking at each other. My heart fluttered at the way he examined my face, and intensified when the corner of his lips lifted up into a half-smile.
I didn't think much of it when I saw him slowly raise his hand until he brought it to my face, slowly brushing a strand of hair away. I stared up at him wide eyes, and my lips slightly parted open. If I thought my heart pounded fast before, when his arm brushed against mine, this was a million times faster. It hammered in my chest, feeling like it would burst out of my chest any second.
"Katie wasn't really lying when she said—"
The door swung open as if on cue, revealing Faith standing there in front of us. Her eyes widened and she brought a hand to her mouth.
Logan dropped his hand from beside my face and bowed his head, pressing his lips together in an embarrassed smile. I looked away, wishing I could strangle Faith at that very moment.
"Oh my God, I am so sorry, I--" she began to apologize.
"It's cool, I was just leaving." Logan interrupted, hooking his thumb towards the driveway. He turned to me, meeting my gaze and smiled. "I'll see you at school."
And then he walked away.
My eyes followed his back as he walked down the street towards his house. His hand was rubbing the back of his neck as he looked down at the floor and kicked at some rocks. I sighed and looked back at Faith.
"I'm such a horrible friend." She said, covering her face with her hands.
I pursed my lips, nodding my head in agreement. I walked past her, into my house. "That, my friend," I said, "could not have been said any better."