I was so tired of just sitting around the house. I wanted to go to school, be around other people other than my brother and my mother. I wanted to get some fresh air. Finally I was cleared to go back to school and for once I was up before my alarm went off. I couldn't wait to get out of the house, the sooner the better.
I picked up my phone and texted Lennon.
Do you want a ride to school? My thumb hovered over the send button. I didn't know why I was hesitating. I shook my head and pressed send. Seconds later my phone vibrated, she replied.
You're coming today? I smiled, she was worried about me.
I typed my reply. Yeah, I'm all healed up. I added a winky face and sent it.
That's great! I'd love a ride.
I ran down the stairs, ready to eat breakfast and go pick up Lennon.
"Rowan careful." My Mom gapped at the bottom of the stairs. "Don't hurt yourself." I obeyed, I didn't want to cause her any more stress, but I had to admit she was acting a little paranoid.
"Okay..." I nodded and walked into the kitchen.
"Here is twenty dollars for lunch. I have to be at the office early today, can you drive Lachlan to school on your way?" She asked and I sighed. I couldn't say no, this was why I had a car.
"Um, yeah sure." I took the money and was engulfed in a hug.
"I love you honey." She let me go and picked up her purse. "See you later tonight." I waited until I heard the door close to text Lennon.
I have to drop Lachlan off at school on the way. Hope that's okay! I sent, huffing, thinking maybe I just ruined it, having some alone time together.
My phone buzzed and I looked down at it, half expecting her to say no, that she'd find her own way to school but she didn't. Yeah that's fine! I sighed.
"Lachlan, hurry up!" I yelled up the stairs. Lachlan stomped his way down the stairs. "Wow, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." I ruffled his hair.
"If you weren't hurt, I'd strangle you." He muttered under his breath. I ignored it and went to get my keys from the dish by the door.
"We're picking up Lennon on the way." I told him and he just smirked.
"Of course we are." He rolled his eyes at me and walked into the kitchen. "You're too predictable. You like her."
"No I don't." I said but I got a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach, like I was lying.
"You say that now but I can see it, brother, you're crushing on her hard." I shook at head at Lachlan. He never took me seriously.
"Can we go?" I huffed.
"But I haven't eaten." He whined.
I just poured him a bowl of cereal. "Here, eat it in the car."
"Fine..." He took the bowl. "Maybe it was you who woke up on the wrong side of the bed."
--
Lennon and I were finally alone in my car, sitting in the school parking lot.
"How have you been?" I asked her, turning down the radio so we could talk.
"I'm good..." She muttered, looking down at her hands.
"You sure?" I hesitated but questioned anyway. She didn't sound sure. Her eyes flickered up and met mine briefly. For a minute her mouth hung open, like there was something she wanted to say but didn't. "Lennon?" I urged her to tell me. Instead she changed the subject.
"How's the stomach?" She asked and her hand reached out. I waited for it to brush across my shirt, along my healing stitches, but it never did. She pulled her hand away right before it could touch.
"Almost all healed. I'm going to have one heck of a scar though." I laughed.
"Good." She smiled. "Lachlan seems like a character."
"Oh trust me he is. There's never a dull moment in the Taylors household with him around. It can get annoying though. I'm very short tempered." I told her and she gave me a funny look. "What?"
"You don't seem short tempered." She pointed out.
"Only with him."
"Oh yeah I get that, you should see me and my sister." She joked but I could sense the seriousness in her voice. This was bothering her.
"Do you guys fight a lot?" I asked.
"Lately we do..." She muttered. Did she want to tell me more? I wasn't sure.
"What about?"
"Um... Well... Boys I guess." She gulped and I nodded. "I just, she's only fourteen and she's into wearing all these scandalous clothes and lots of makeup." She paused, looking forward. "I just... Don't want her to be taken advantage of... Like I was." Oh... I sighed and reached forward slowly, making sure it was okay for me to hold her hand.
"I can understand that, and since she doesn't know where you're coming from it just ends in a fight, even though you're trying to protect her." I rubbed circles on her palm with my thumb.
"Yeah... Exactly."
"Why- Why didn't you tell your family?" I asked carefully. "You don't have to answer." I added, making sure I wasn't forcing her into anything.
"It's okay... Um- I guess I didn't want to change how they saw me. I didn't want anyone to look at me differently or pitty me, or think of me any differently. Maybe I was just trying to tell myself, it didn't change me... I was wrong..."
"Do I?" I asked her, but she just furrowed her eyebrows at me.
"Hmm?"
"Do I look at you differently, treat you differently?" I hadn't thought about it but I knew I didn't want to treat her differently. When I found out had I pitied her? Maybe. Did I think of her differently? Probably.
"No..." She shook her head. "I don't think so."
"Okay, good." I smiled at her.
"Rowan..."
"Yeah?" I searched her eyes, wondering what she was about to ask me.
"Why are you so nice to me? Why don't you look at me differently? I look at me differently..." She looked down at our hands.
I thought about it. Why? Was Lachlan right? Was it because I liked Lennon? I wasn't sure. I didn't know how to answer. There was no simple answer and I didn't want to scare her.
"You're not worthless Lennon... This doesn't make you a bad person or someone who doesn't deserve to have friends. You deserve to have someone to be there for you." I took a deep breath. "Maybe I do look at you differently, you're so strong Lennon."
A tear slipped down her cheek and I quickly wiped it away.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry..." I whispered, guiltily.
"No, no... it's just sweet..." She muttered, smiling and looked up at me. "I never thought about that." But her smile faded and we fell into silence.
"You can tell me anything." I told her truthfully.
"I just- I don't want to scare you away." She rushed out. "I'm just scared..."
"I'm not going anywhere." I promised.
"I don't know if I'm ready..." She whispered.
"I'll still be here." I assured her.
"You will?"
I nodded. "Course."
The bell rang and I almost jumped out of my seat.
"Guess it's time to go." I muttered.
"Yeah. See you at lunch?" She asked.
"Sure." I smiled. I never wanted to stop looking at her.
"Okay."
She hopped out of the jeep and I waited for her to close the door before making sure to lock it. The more I got to know Lennon, the more I liked her.
"What class do you have first?" I asked her as we started walking towards the school.
"I have biology." She told me. "What do you have?"
I had to think, it'd been awhile since I had to think about what my schedule was. "Um, math." I deducted.
"I guess we both have our fun subjects first." She said sarcastically. I just laughed.
"Hey Lennon, hey Rowan." A familiar voice said from behind us and Lennon froze.
I studied her expression, she turned as white as a ghost, like all of the color had been drained. I turned around to see Bradley behind us. He had a smirk on his face. Lennon turned around to face him, but she didn't make eye contact. She looked anxious, afraid almost.
I stepped in front of her, without thinking. It was almost like instinct, to protect her. I'd never seen her look so scared. She never had this reaction around me. It made me think. It made me angry.
"Hey." I nodded, folding my arms across my chest.
"You're back." Bradley pointed out.
"Yeah I am. Glad to be back." I looked down at Lennon, her chest rose and fell quickly. She looked up at me, as I'd silently telling me that my suspicions were correct, even if she didn't know she was doing it. But I didn't know for sure. Maybe I was just making it all up in my head, putting too much meaning to her actions.
"You two have been hanging out a lot." His eyes drifted down to Lennon.
"Yeah." I furrowed my eyebrows at him and felt Lennon lean into my side. I put my hand on the small of her back. "We should get going, class is about to start."
"Yeah, see you later." Bradley said and took off in front of us.
We stood there for a minute in silence. I watched her carefully. "Lennon..." I muttered, rubbing her back. "You okay?"
She shook her head and forced a smile. "Yeah. Let's just get going. Don't want to be late." She brushed me off and started walking.
I couldn't help but think, that it was Bradley and if I was right, he was going to pay for what he did to Lennon.
Guess who's back. Back again Rowans back. Tell a friend. (No seriously tell your friends)
Hi guys thanks for reading this chapter we hope you liked it!
Do you think Rowan is right or is it someone else?
HAPPY THANKSGIVING 🍗