No Time Like Goodbye

Chapter 8- Dylan

My hands were sweaty as I gripped the steering wheel tightly, tapping my fingers to the music playing over the radio. I was so stupid. I had been so close to telling Hazel exactly how I felt, yet at the last moment I choked. Now I was getting pizza, the last thing I wanted to do at the moment.

"So, Dylan, um..." Hazel started, trailing off after a few phrases. I glanced at her as the brakes ground to a halt at a stop sign.

"Yeah Hazel?" I responded, not really sure what was on her mind. Anything that made Hazel Rivers speak up had to be important, though, so I listened closely.

"I was just, wondering. What you were going to say, before. I know you didn't just want to get pizza." Damn, she was smart. I couldn't get anything by her, could I?

"Nothing," I said quickly as I almost ran over a trashcan- or was that a cat? I didn't really care at this point.

Hazel frowned at me. "Dylan, please, just tell me." Her voice was soft, serious. I glanced at her awkwardly.

"It's nothing. I promise. Honest."

She sighed and let it go, looking out the window silently. I could tell she was mad at me for refusing to tell her, but for once I didn't care. I had another 27 days with her. 27 days until she went to look at dorms with her father and her leaving began. I wasn't going to mess it up.

I pulled into the one pizza place in town, a run down restaurant on the town square with a leaky roof and faulty electrical wiring. But the pizza was good, the best you could get for miles.

The pizzeria was owned by a portly Italian man that went by the name of Phillíp. He had immigrated to America with his parents as a small child of no older than 5 from Italy in 1943, when Benito Mussolini was still in charge of their homeland. Now, Phillíp was in his late seventies. He couldn't walk very well, and his sons ran most of the business. I had met him on several occasions, although he was rarely seen nowadays. His two eldest sons, Samuel and Aústin, along with a few other employees, kept the place running.

I walked in with Hazel and headed for our normal booth in the corner. She followed me, sliding into one of the seats. She was still ignoring me, I could tell. She had a sort of scowl on her face that I rarely saw in regards to me. That means I had messed up big time.

We ordered what the two of us always did, a half pepperoni, half vegetarian supreme deep dish pizza- when Fahari and Ryan tagged along we ordered one of each- and sat in silence. I watched her, trying to figure out what she was feeling. It was hard to tell. After a few moments of awkwardness she pulled out a pad of paper and started drawing.

I couldn't tell what it was for several moments. When I did, I didn't think anything of it at first. It was a dove, trapped in a cruel steel cage. Upon closer inspection, I saw the bars of the cage were made of words. But again, I didn't think anything of it.

Come on. Just say it. I thought to myself. It's not hard. I love you, Hazel.

Hazel's head snapped up and looked at me. "What did you say?"

Shit, did I say that last part out loud?

~

[A/N]
This is absolute shit I apologize