My Beautiful Boy ✔️

07

"Remember when I went on holiday last year to Greece? Guess who was there, too. Maxwell. And, yesterday, he just randomly started to have a conversation with me." Sydney says, and Willow gasps in shock.

"No way." She exclaims. Maxwell Anton spoke to you?" She asks, dramatically.

"Come on, Willow. You know that I think he's really pretty. And, I don't know, maybe he thinks I'm pretty, too." Sydney says, blushing.

"Aww." Leilana, adds, grinning. "That's actually really cute. You have a crush on the boy." She adds, and Sydney covers her face with her hands, giggling quietly.

I clear my throat, getting up from the table. Willow frowns, glancing at my plate. "You haven't finished your food." She says.

"I'm just popping to the bathroom." I say, and she nods her head. I quickly rush off, trying to find Dawson. I see him at the front counter, serving a couple and their two children. I rush to the side, and Dawson glances at me before he quickly looks away.

As soon as he's done, I lean on the counter, trying to speak to him. "I didn't know you worked here." I ask him, and he looks at me, shrugging his shoulders.

"Not many people do." He says, quietly. I clear my throat and Dawson blinks, staring at me. The look in his eyes... It's like he's high on cocaine whenever he looks at me.

"Is everything okay at home?" I ask him. "I heard a noise-"

"You didn't hear anything, Alayna. Please, drop it." He says, pleading. I nod my head slowly.

"I don't want you to get hurt." I say, quietly.

"You don't owe me anything, okay? You don't know me." He says, and I realise that he's right. I don't know him. He's practically a stranger to me. A girl who also works here is approaching the side of the counter where the cooks place the food and she smiles at me as she walks past. I send a small smile in return before focusing my whole attention on Dawson.

"You know you can talk to me, right? About anything." I tell him, and he looks away before slowly nodding his head.

The girl glances from me to Dawson and back again before she clears her throat and walks away.

"Thank you for walking me home, yesterday." He says. "But..., you don't need to. Seriously, I'm fine on my own and I don't think I could live with myself if I was the reason you got hurt." He says, and I slowly nod my head. Even though I'm probably not going to listen to his pleas, it's nice to know that he cares about me as much as I care about him.

One thing he still has yet to catch on to is that I'm a very persistent person. I don't back down easily.

"Just so you know..." I say, moving away from the counter. Dawson glances at me, his eyebrows scrunched in confusion. "I don't back down from a challenge as easily as you'd assume." I say, and I hear him sigh. "And Dawson, you're not getting rid of me that easily." I sent him a sweet smile before walking away and back to the table where my friends sat.

Willow, Leilana, and Sydney Elizabeth are still on the topic of Sydney's love life. Especially now that she's met someone who could be really good for her. She's only ever kissed two guys and both of them were horrific and kinda underwhelming, in her own words.

"What have I missed?" I ask, sitting back down into my seat. I grab my fork and knife and take a bite of my food.

"We're telling Sydney to jump Maxwell's bones, but she wants to take it slow." Willow says, rolling her eyes. "But, I'm happy for you." She says, turning back to Sydney. "You're my little virgin bestie, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I love you, Sydney Elizabeth." She adds, and Sydney smiles at her, fanning her face.

"Gosh, I think I might cry." She says.

"Come on, that wasn't even soppy." Willow laughs, before wrapping her arm around Sydney's shoulder, pulling her into her side.

We continue our meal, having an occasional, random conversation whenever one of us brings up something random.

Leilana still hasn't told the others about her plans to become a stripper to make money, and she also hasn't told them about her family and money problems. I haven't said anything to the other two about Dawson or that I found him bruised up and bloody. I don't want to spill secrets about him that he's not comfortable with sharing. I respect him enough to know that he's a secretive person and he'd like to keep it like that.

***

As soon as I get home, my phone rings from my back pocket and I stop outside the front door to answer it. It's Dawson. I gave him my number, but he never called it until now. "Hello?" I ask, pressing the phone to my ear.

"Hey, Alayna." He says, and I'm silent at the sound of his voice. "I really need to talk to you. Do you think you could- do you think you can come over?" He asks, and I tilt my head in confusion.

"What- now?" I ask.

"If it's- if it's not too much of a bother." He says. "My parents aren't home and I need to talk to you. Please." He says, and I feel weirdly upset for him. He's clearly going through a lot, and I want to be there for him, but I don't know him well enough.

"Yeah, sure." I say, hesitating. "Is everything okay?" I ask.

"Yeah. I just need to see you. Be careful, okay? It's dark outside." He says, before hanging up. I move the phone and look up at the window of my bedroom. Sighing, I run a hand through my curly hair and turn around, walking out of the driveway and down the road.

I can't believe I'm doing this. I can't believe I'm not going home at almost midnight, but instead, I'm sneaking away to meet a boy. A boy that, weirdly, seems to have some sort of power over me where I can't say no to him. Where I find myself wanting to protect him and be near him all the time.

I'm well and truly fucked.