Protection

Chapter 6.

For many days after I found school hard to cope with. Most of the time I sat on my own in the toilet crying, alone. I could have gone home, but I didn't.

Robert said I was making leaps and bounds. He said I looked better every day. He constantly tried to make me feel better about myself- for example he'd notice if I'd done something different with my hair, or if I wasn't wearing makeup he'd comment saying I was lovely without it.

It was superficial of me to fall for these compliments, but I was a girl. I was insecure and scared and upset, and Rob's kind words were like the balm to sooth my pain.

He would text me funny things at all times of the day, strange little comments that other people would think weird.

The thing is, Robert was weird. He was weird in the sense I had never met anyone I felt so comfortable around. He was weird and wonderful and handsome and charming and everything the boys at my Sixth Form weren't.

He was grown up too, he was 19 when I was 17. It was nice that he even cared about me.

Rob used to bring me little presents now and then- chocolate.because it reminded him of my eyes, flowers because they would never be as pretty as me. Silly, sentimental things that melted my heart nearly as much as when he smiled.

Rob's smile has always been something special to me. It's crooked, mischevious and incredibly suggestive. He has this habit of smiling, then looking me up and down so I felt like I was wearing nothing, he basically undressed me with his eyes.

It made my cheeks flush bright red. No boy or man had ever looked at me like that except for- never mind. I'd rather not talk about that particular experience.

Anyway, back to Rob. If I had to describe Rob in one word it would be amazing. No, wonderful. No, weird. As I said, he's different and wonderful and amazing, thus weird.

My Rob is very weird.