25 | twenty five
Scottie stood beside his car as usual as he waited for Stacey to come out of school. She showed up a little after the bell rang.
"Hey," she said.
"Hey there," he replied and pushed off from the car, walking over to her.
When they had finished greeting and joking at each other, the two got settled in the car, waiting for the heating to come on through the vents.
"Hey Scottie?" Stacey asked, hovering her hands over the heat.
"Yeah?" he replied, pulling out of school.
"Why me?" Stacey turned to look at him and he glanced at her briefly.
"What do you mean?" Scottie asked.
"Well, there are tons of other willing girls that you could have taken out on a date that day," Stacey said. "And you didn't have to stick with me afterwards."
"Why?" Scottie laughed. "Don't you like my company anymore?"
"I love your company," Stacey said seriously and Scottie sighed.
"What's got you thinking about this all of a sudden?" Scottie asked and Stacey looked out the window, her hand grabbing the arm rest tightly, nails digging into the fabric.
"My mom's cheating on my dad. And ...and my dad is just..." Stacey sighed and closed her eyes. "I don't know what's happening to my dad. I feel like I don't even know him - or my mom. My own parent's feel like I'm just staring at two strangers. And you know what the worst part is?"
Scottie looked at her from the corner of his eye, hearing every word she spoke.
"I'm scared of them," Stacey said. "I'm scared to go home. I'm scared to stay up too late. I'm scared to not leave the house early enough-" Stacey put her hand on her head and opened her eyes. "But at the same time, what scares me more than them is what they might do to each other."
Stacey turned to Scottie and he held her gaze for moment before he felt her warm hand on his limp one hanging from the arm rest as his other drove the car. "And that terrifies me."
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