Taking His Dare

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

“Dizzy!”

Tom’s voice and his hands on my face brought me back. I started gasping for air, my hands automatically going to clutch my chest. Tom started rubbing circles with his thumbs on my cheeks, soothing me. I took in one last, calming breath, and mumbled out a sorry.

“What was that?” Tom whispered. He looked worried, and I instantly felt bad.

I hesitated, deciding where to start. I knew he deserved to know after what just happened, but I wasn’t so sure I could explain it with the lake right in front of me. I warily looked at it and then snapped my head back to Tom.

“Let’s get out of here first.”

Tom didn’t hesitate. He closed my door and jogged to the driver’s door, plopped himself into the seat and drove away. I held my breath until we got to the entrance, and then exhaled. Tom must have heard it, (although I have no idea how he couldn’t, the car was dead silent) and just looked at me, which was enough to set me off. So I explained to him what happened. He listened intently, showing signs that he was hearing what I was saying. By then, I could care less if he really was listening or not. I talked and talked, and he just listened. At first, I told him what had happened that day. Then I started going off on stuff I don’t even know what, and he still listened. He eventually stopped driving and parked in a McDonald’s parking lot and shut the car off.  

“Figured you’d be hungry after all that,” he said when I gave him a questioning look.  I silently climbed out of the car. We walked side by side into the fast food restaurant. He didn’t say anything and neither did I. I was worried—had I scared him off with my freak out and rambling?

When we got to the counter and he asked me what I wanted to order, I automatically said chicken nugget Happy Meal, and then blushed. It’s what I always got. What can I say; I’m a kid a heart. He laughed, though, and relayed that to the worker and ordered himself a burger. There would be a five minute wait, so Tom told me to find a table while he waited and paid for the food. I walked over to a table in the back, near a window that was facing the parking lot. After I sat down, I let out a heavy sigh. And I thought this day would be amazing. Figures. Something just had to play in to make it less than perfect, less than fun, less than anything. I drew a frowny face with my finger in the fogged windows, and then hastily wiped it away when I realized what I had drawn. Headlights from a car shined through the windows and into my eyes. I clenched then tight so the light wouldn’t hurt my already sore head.  Just then, Tom came back.

“Here you go,” he said, placing the try with my Happy Meal on it in front of me. “I told them the girl toy. I figured you’d like My Little Pony more than Tonka.” He smiled lightly at me, and I returned it.

“Thank you,” I said, not only referring to the food, but for everything he had done today. Cheering me up at lunch, calming me down at the lake, and listening to me ramble.

“You’re welcome,” and from the way he said it, I could tell he could tell I didn’t only mean the My Little Pony.

“I get why Rut is so protective over you now,” Tom said to me, taking a bite of his burger.

“Yeah, since he was there  and kind of made me go out that far he feels somewhat responsible for it, even though it was just my body,” I explained, and Tom suddenly smiled mischievously.

“What’s with the grin, Cheshire?”

“Nothing, it’s just now there’s some proof that Rut has a heart, and I’m thinking blackmail.”

I laughed a big laugh that made my stomach hurt. Tom had laughed with me after he first told the joke, but now it was only me, laughing like a hysterical hyena. I couldn’t help it. It felt good to laugh after today. So I just kept laughing.