Candles

15 | B O U N D A R I E S

I HAD REALIZED GREYSEN WAS secretly a four-year-old trapped in the body of a grown man. We were currently eating lunch and even though he had ordered the simplest thing on the menu, he had somehow managed to make the biggest mess. I had barely touched my food because I was so busy watching him mess up his clothes. Harry was watching, too, but he was eating and watching. Greysen was cute and he did have a baby face. He reminded me so much of a child that it almost bothered me. I wondered if he was always this way when he went out to eat. The possibilities were high but there were always doubts. I doubted he acted this way all of the time but then again, it was Greysen and he was an odd man.

Everyone I met seemed to be odd.

I put a fry into my mouth and nibbled on it slowly. Greysen was trying to get the ketchup off of his shirt but he was only making the situation worse. No matter how many times he wiped the stain, it just decided to stick around and deepen into the fabric of his tee. Harry sipped his coke and shook his head at the sight of his friend. I wanted to shake my head, too, but I felt it would be unnecessary to do so.

Harry stood up from the booth and when I looked at him, he nodded his head as if to say, "Let's go," and walked toward the front of the small restaurant. I looked back at Greysen and he was too preoccupied with his mess to notice what was going on. I stood up from my chair and followed Harry out of the door. He walked toward his truck and I stopped dead in my tracks. Were we going to leave Greysen? Harry passed the doors and went straight for the hood of the truck. I was astonished when he sat down on it, laying his back against the windshield.

"You're going to get hit by a car if you keep standing in the middle of the parking lot like a deer caught in headlights."

I cleared my throat and found myself joining Harry on the hood of his red truck. I was not too close to him but I was not far away, either. I believed in personal space and since Harry did not try to get closer to me, I assumed he respected that.

Oh, and he had a girlfriend.

I had to respect that, too. I did not have any feelings for Harry but there were certain lines I had to make sure I did not cross. Jillian already hated me and I had a weird feeling she would be extremely upset if I decided to go tonight. If I did go—and I still had no idea if I was actually going to go or not—I would ignore her at all costs. I wanted my head and I was not going to let some psychopath have it. I wanted to be on everyone's good side tonight. Perhaps Jillian would realize she was being extra and change her mind about me? She was nice when we first met. I believed she was one of those girlfriends who did not want their boyfriend talking to other girls.

It was weird how the two of them were a couple. I barely knew Jillian but she bothered me. She was nothing like Harry and I had no idea what he saw in her. Looks were deceiving and if it was her beauty that drew him in, he had a bad storm coming. He was caring toward her, though. I had noticed it when he went to get her purse with her medicine inside. My eyebrows narrowed. What was the medicine for? I closed my eyes and exhaled slowly. My curiosity was going to be the death of me. I knew it was but that did not stop me from being curious.

"How long have you been friends with Greysen?" I asked.

"Middle school," he replied. "We losers had to stick together, right?"

"You considered yourself to be a loser back in middle school?"

"Let's face it. Everyone was practically a loser back in middle school. They were either whores that were also losers or nerds that were always going to be losers. Then again, I didn't go to one of the best schools here in Seattle."

"You're pretty smart."

"Well, I am pretty and smart. Thank you."

"I didn't mean it like that."