☆ halcyon girl - five ☆

☆ chapter 10 ☆

By lunch on Friday, a good amount of people at the table had figured out that Dylan and I were dating. Eric knew and he was frequently scowling when we were together, but he seemed fine when I was alone with him. I'd told Devon and Robyn and I think Dylan had told Brooks, too. Other than word of mouth, there wasn't really another way to figure out that we were dating. He was still driving me to and from school while I was at my dad's house but we didn't hold hands in the hallway or anything. I was eating a piece of (quite disgusting) cafeteria pizza when Dylan plopped his tray next to mine and sat with me.

"Hey." He looked around the table, almost anxiously.

"Hey. Is something wrong? You seem nervous." I raised an eyebrow and rubbed his arm.

"No, it's nothing." He hesitated. "Just worried about Rocky. Maybe I'm being irrational but I'm just worried that he would get really aggressive if he found out about us." He took my hand off of his arm and held it under the table.

"Oh. If he comes over, let's just ignore him. Or we can even leave. Go hang out outside, I know he hates it out there where he isn't the center of attention. Just don't worry." I squeezed his hand.

"Yeah, you're right. Thank you." I wasn't convinced that he had calmed down, but I accepted his answer. He dug through his backpack and pulled out a bag. "I brought you something." He yanked out a plastic baggie with a brownie in it. "My mom made some a few days ago and I had a feeling they'd be gone by the time you came over."

I took it out of his hand. "Thanks, Dyl." He pursed his lips and blushed.

More people came to the table and filled it up. Our moment wasn't so private anymore so we became a lot more quiet. I let my leg shift to touch his as we ate, trying to savour the brief exchange.

After school, Jan picked me up. I didn't let Dylan drive me home because I was gonna see him tonight and Jan was off work anyways. I climbed into her SUV and smiled.

"Hey sweetie. How was school?" she asked, carefully pulling out.

"Good. Uneventful." I sat on my hands and looked at her. She was younger than my dad and a good fit for him as far as I could tell. At least better than my mom was.

"What time are you going to Dylan's?"

"Five." I didn't have as much time as I would have preferred to have to get ready, but it was still doable. I bounced my legs and scanned the parking lot for people I knew. I didn't see anyone.

We pulled up to the house and I ran ahead of Jan. I grabbed my tiny bag of makeup off of my dresser and went into the bathroom.

My makeup from school had almost completely worn off. I decided to leave my foundation because I didn't really need any more than they light amount I already had. I redid my eyeliner and added some shimmery pink eyeshadow to my eyelids. I put on some lip gloss, adding to the girly vibe I was evidently going for. I already had planned my outfit.

I put on my brown and white plaid skirt that reached a little past mid thigh and paired it with a white tank top and a grey cardigan. I was really thankful for the cooler weather because I could hide my scars a lot more easily. I put on my Mary Janes, strangling my pointer fingers as I shoved my heel in. I brushed my hair and pinned back a few strands. I had taken really long to get ready even though I was barely doing anything. I still had forty minutes before I had to leave, though. I sat on my bed and looked around my room. I had remembered to bring my sketchbook so I started to draw. I didn't get very far in my illustration of Dylan's cat before it was time to go.

"I'm ready, Jan!" I called, shoving my phone and the gloss I'd used into my mini bag. I slung it over my shoulder and walked out to the living room where she was sitting.