lucke's Conflicts

Trying tô fit in part 5

Narrator's POV

Matheus was drinking a can of soda and sitting on the couch watching TV. Witney was next to him, but at the end of the three-piece couch, fiddling with her phone. Matheus and she didn't talk much. Matheus avoided making much eye contact with her, preferring to focus his attention on the program on TV. Leonardo was working, and Juliana was upstairs getting ready. She was going out with Barone to her mother's house.

Matheus, who had finished his soda, went to throw the can in the trash. When he turned his back to Whitney, the wolf observed his tail and the back of his body. Whitney discreetly pointed the camera in his direction and took a picture.

Whitney put the photo away in her files.

Matheus returned to the couch, still avoiding looking at Whitney, and sat down there just as Juliana came down the stairs carrying Barone in her arms.

"I'm thinking about taking Barone to see his grandmother, but I don't know if I trust leaving you two here alone," Juliana said, looking at Matheus and Whitney.

Matheus gave a suspicious look, and Whitney made a confused face, continuing to look at her phone.

"Can I trust you, Matheus?" Juliana asked.

"Yes," Matheus said, looking at the television and avoiding looking her in the eye.

"I'll wait, I won't be long," Juliana said, holding Barone in her arms as she headed for the door. Matheus heard the door slam, and now he was there, alone with Whitney.

Matheus remained glued to the TV, pretending not to notice a mischievous smile forming on Whitney's face.

Whitney asked him out again later that day. Matheus wasn't too keen, but she insisted, and they went out again in Whitney's car, this time earlier, around four in the afternoon.

"I don't want to go to that restaurant," Matheus said to Whitney as she passed the restaurant she'd taken him to the first time they went out together.

"Relax, I'll take you somewhere much better," she said.

"I don't understand how you can know so many places if you've never been here before," Matheus said, looking at Whitney with a sideways glance.

"Who said you've never?" she asked him.

"Stay here, I'll go get some snacks and be right back," the wolf said.

Matheus agreed with her. Whitney got out of the car, leaving her cell phone on the seat. Matheus saw the wolf go into an ice cream shop through the car window.

Whitney's cell phone started vibrating. Matheus felt an intense curiosity to pick up her cell phone and read the messages she had sent. Matheus could see from the cell phone screen that it was a friend of hers who had sent the message. Matheus held back for a moment. He was afraid to pick up his cell phone and read the messages and Whitney would arrive and see him. He looked in the direction of the ice cream shop and Whitney hadn't returned in three minutes. He saw some people leaving with ice cream containers and thought that maybe she was in line to buy ice cream.

Matheus glanced again in the direction of the ice cream shop, but there was no sign of it. His curiosity was piqued. He grabbed Whitney's phone and clicked on the message they had sent her. He was startled by what he saw. There were some pictures of him there. He couldn't make much sense of what was written, as the conversations were in French.

Matheus put his phone back where he was in the car until Whitney returned. He wanted to understand why she was taking his pictures or why she was talking about him.

Whitney returned to the car with chips and two medium-sized cups of ice cream. She handed one to Matheus and then put her hand on the steering wheel, starting to drive away.