Chevelle's Story

chapter 11.2

Chevelle turned on the radio and flipped through the stations as Abel pulled out of the parking lot. Finally, she settled on a funk station that was playing her favorite Daft Punk song, 'Lose Yourself to Dance.' Chevelle didn't notice, but as she sang along, snapping her fingers and bobbing her head, Abel kept on sneaking glances over at her, unable to wipe the smile from his lips. At some point, he reached over and placed his hand on her thigh, and he kept it there for the remainder of the ride home.

When Abel pulled into his driveway, he peered over at Chevelle and saw her looking down at his hand on her leg with a smile.

"What's up?" he asked.

She chuckled, shaking her head. "It's nothing," she said. "I just like that you touch me a lot. It's nice that you're comfortable enough to do it."

Abel smiled, laughing softly. "Yeah, it just...it feels easy with you." And it had ever since that first day at the bar when he felt Chevelle's watchful eyes on him. It had been so easy to strike up conversation, to share things with her, so easy for him to want more.

He gave her leg a sharp squeeze before leading her back into the house.

Now that it was afternoon, the sun had moved around Abel's house, and Chevelle realized that he had actually set up his plants quite expertly. The ones that had been in the bright light that morning were now getting secondhand sunlight, while the ones that were shaded earlier were now in direct sunlight, and this rotation helped ensure that they all got the sunlight they needed.

"What do you want to eat?" Abel asked, taking the new pots he'd purchased out of their bags.

Chevelle shrugged. "I'm not picky," she said. "We can warm up some leftovers?"

Abel put a hand to his heart, feigning offense. "Chevelle, I can't feed you leftovers every time you come over," he said. "Why don't we order something? Whatever you want."

She smiled, chuckling softly. "Okay, how about Indian?"

Abel nodded, giving Chevelle his phone so she could order them some food while he began repotting his three leaky-potted plants. By the time he finished, the food had arrived and so they went to the kitchen and ate together. Abel was telling Chevelle a story about how the police tried to shut down Olympia last year, and as he spoke, Chevelle found herself growing sad as she realized that she would eventually have to leave him. That, as amazing as her time with him was, it couldn't last.

"Is everything okay?" Abel asked, setting down his fork as he turned to face Chevelle fully. Worry was etched into his brow, and it wasn't until then that Chevelle realized she'd been silent for quite some time.

She thought about brushing it off. About telling him not to worry, that everything was fine, but then she paused, wondering why that was her immediate reaction when someone was showing genuine care for her. Abel wanted to know what was going on in her mind. He wasn't just asking for asking's sake. And so, she told him.

"Sorry," she said. "I was just thinking about how I'll have to go home later," she admitted. She wasn't sure if she was referring to her home here, or her home all those cities away, but either way, she dreaded her departure.

Abel had a thoughtful expression on his face, like he wasn't sure if he should say what he was thinking, but then he looked at Chevelle and her eyes were encouraging, so he came out with it.

"So what's the whole deal with that?" he asked.

"Hm?"

"Your sister and your ex," he elaborated, before quickly adding, "If you don't mind me asking. I'm just curious as to how that can even happen."