Sunkissed Serendipity

Chapter 16

Isla

I hadn't meant to make things awkward between us. If he were anyone else, I would've run to him and engulfed him in a hug before they could even say my name. But this is not anyone else; this was someone that I had spent almost three days with across the country all alone and then said goodbye. I said goodbye to him in the airport, made it final by kissing him, and then told him I'd see him again once school started.

I hadn't thought I'd see him again so soon, and the kiss that I gave him makes me cringe, which is automatically the awkward factor in all of this. I had kissed him, and while I had thought that I wouldn't see him until school, I didn't care about it. But now that I had seen him only a week after the goodbye kiss, well, now it was awkward.

But it shouldn't be this awkward.

I should give him a smile and ask him more about his brother. I had babysat for five hours straight because he hadn't come home when he was supposed to. Or maybe I can talk to him about where he works and how that goes, but I cannot seem to get myself to speak.

I don't think it is all my fault anyway. Julian was standing there behind the couch, his hand holding his food and his feet planted on the floor. He wasn't moving, and when we had first seen each other, he hadn't said anything. If he had said something, anything, I would have said something back. But as soon as I said my goodbyes to his brother and then ultimately to him because it didn't feel right not to say bye to him knowing I saw him, he said something.

His words didn't feel good to me either. It made me feel weird for some reason—something I couldn't place yet.

I chuckle at his words, pretending to be nonchalant and then saying, "Yeah. I have to get going."

Julian nods, and I look over at Jack to find him not even paying us any mind. He had barely remembered my name before. Jack was definitely the only quiet, almost eleven-year-old I have ever seen. Anyone else would have made me go crazy over small things and constantly ask to do things. But as his mom had said, Jack kept to himself, and it was easy for me to take care of him because he had learned to do most things himself. I was merely watching over him, which was the easiest task for me.

I place my purse over my shoulder and then take out my phone from my pocket. I checked the time on the phone to find that it had become after sunset and the world was going to darken in a moment. "I should get back home before it gets too dark."

I start to walk toward the front door and then hear him ask, "Are you walking?"

I shake my head, turning over to glance at him and saying, "No, I brought my bike."

Julian's eyes pass over something quick in them, and the corner of his mouth hitches up. I give him a confused look, but he shakes his head, moves on, and then looks out his windows. Sure enough, the world was already darkening, and I knew that the path to my home would be lit up by streetlights, but there were a few streets that didn't have lights, which was a safety hazard, but no one really lived there.

"It's dark out," Julian says, his eyes moving back to my face. "You'll bike home by yourself at this hour?"

I brush a piece of hair away from my face and give him a nod with a smile that I hope he sees as confidence. "Yes, it should be fine."

"I mean—"

"Well," I didn't mean to cut him off, but I knew that I needed to get home. "I should go home." I start to walk out of the house and hear him calling after me.

"Isla, wait," I hear him say, but I shake my head, knowing that he was probably going to tell me not to bike home. I didn't want to have him say that because I didn't have any other rides, and that would surely be an awkward conversation. I get into the driveway and pick up my bike, and when I get on it, I find Julian walking out of his house as well.