While I'm Alive (An Owen Grady Story)

Chapter Twelve

CHAPTER TWELVE

"UNPREDICTABLE. IT WAS BECOMING MY FAVORITE WORD TO PARTNER WITH OWEN GRADY"

SONG TO LISTEN TO: LITTLE BIT BY PERRIN LAMB

"I feel like I haven't seen you in weeks." I said into the phone, leaning against the cool window of the monorail.

"It definitely hasn't been that long, but I get what you're saying." Claire sighed on the other end. "I promise we'll make plans soon. Things should start to slow down by the end of the month.

"You don't need to be sorry." I reminded her. "You're a busy, important person and I'm totally fine with that. Besides, I've made other friends so at least I'm not home alone wallowing in misery all the time."

She laughed. "Yeah, you and Owen are getting pretty cozy..."

I was glad she wasn't there to see the burning in my cheeks. "Not talking about this again. Just friends, remember?" The phrase put a strange taste into my mouth and I wondered if the doubtfulness in my voice was only noticeable to me.

"Friends or not, I still don't get the appeal of spending time with him." Claire said causally. There was the sound of an elevator pinging in the background. I smiled a little, shaking my head. I'd given up on trying to explain this to her a while ago and wasn't about to jump right back into that pointless argument. As if sensing this, Claire went on. "I'm not going to give you a hard time, though, because you clearly like hanging out with him. So to each their own."

"Thank you for that kindness." I joked.

"You're so welcome." She quipped. "Alright, I'm about to finally be home for the first time since 5am so I'm gonna let you go. I'll try and stop by the bar and see you later this week."

"Looking forward to seeing your beautiful face!" I said cheerfully.

"Yours too! Bye!"

I hit the red 'end call' button and slid my phone back into my pocket. The monorail continued it's streak through the forest, winding around the outside of the park. The familiar ride was sometimes enough to lull me to sleep for the short ride it took from Main Street to home, but tonight I was wide awake. It was never a good idea to drink coffee past 6pm but when did I ever take my own advice? We finally began to slow down as the well lit platform came into view. I stood up from my seat and shouldered my purse, waiting for the doors to glide open with their futuristic whooshing noise.

It was late, only a few windows in the mobile home park glowed yellow. The moon hung low in the sky, though, giving me just enough light to see by. The gravel road crunched under my feet as I made the short walk. It wasn't until I was almost outside my front door when I noticed the flickering glow of firelight coming from Owen's place. My attraction to Owen had only been a tiny dilemma at first...something that was obviously there but easily controlled. Ever since he had kissed me, though, my whole head was a mess of wonderings and what-ifs. The reason he had done it was incredibly clear, but I couldn't stop picturing that look on his face when we had pulled away. It was driving me crazy. Almost as crazy as my unhealthy compulsion to do it again.

I barely hesitated half a second before dropping my purse off inside and heading in his direction. The porch light that usually flooded his yard with a yellow glow was off for once. The only light came from the twinkling christmas lights strung up around the deck's railing and the orange glare from the fire. He had his back to me, sitting in a rickety plastic lawn chair. I plopped down into the empty one next to him, returning his surprised look with a grin.