Reasons To Stay

FOUR

Trying to get my sisters to forget the subject of Lance had been hard. Especially after Jenny and I arrived home after soccer the next day. In an attempt to scape from their adamant questioning, I decided to take a walk before lunch. And after lunch too.

That is the main reason why I found myself walking around town at seven in the afternoon. I had warned Mrs. Goode there might be chance I wouldn't be going home for dinner, so she knew not to wait for me. I guess that was one of the good things about not having real parent supervision, the not having to ask for permission. At the same time, though, it made me miss my aunt and her scrupulous questioning.

As I turned around a corner, The Lodge came into view. The Lodge was a large dock with many little wooden stores and restaurants the locals visited often and tourists seemed to love. Many of the little stores had amazing views of the river, which acquired a pink or orange color, depending on the day, during sundown and sunrise. When my parents were alive, we used to go there every Sunday afternoon to eat and see the sun set in the distance.

Unlike the days before, the air was chilly at that time in the afternoon. I walked across the wooden deck looking at the people around me, studying faces, movements, all those little traits that spoke loudly of who they were, their personalities, what they did for a living. For a second, I wished I had my iPad with me, but I pushed that thought away as soon as I saw Lance.

It was weird, the fact that we kept seeing each other constantly. I walked in his direction and was just about to yell his name when a tall boy named Mark I recognized from my chemistry class and Joanna York, the prettiest girl in school, walked up to him. Joanna even placed her arm around him while other friends of them joined the group. Then, they all headed inside The Silken Arrow, one of the best coffee shops in town.

A part of me wanted to walk in there, say hi and become friends with all of them. To fit in Lance's group of friends, who could have been mine if I had ever given them a chance.

But that was the part of me that always lost the battle, because of how weak it was. I had always loved my independence, the fact that I didn't need to rely on anyone. Trish would always say that I was being stupid because I didn't want to have friends. But the truth was that I had always liked it that way. At least until before I met Lance.

Knowing the part of me that wanted to walk towards them had already lost a battle that had never really begun, I turned and walked back home.

***

"So, did you have fun?" I asked little Jenny as soon as she ran towards me after the ending of her soccer practice.

She nodded as she drank from the bottle I had just handed to her.

"I noticed you partnered up with your crush today," I said with raised eyebrows.

She smiled and kept drinking, her blue eyes twinkling.

"Oh, come on! Tell me something!" I said as I tickled her.

She burst into giggles. "Never!"

"Never!" I yelled with the angriest tone I could master without laughing. "Oh, I'll make you tell me, then!" I said as I tickled her so much we both fell on the ground. Some of her friends were staring, but I kept making her giggle as I burst into laughter myself.

"What's your plan, huh? Killing her?" someone asked as they pushed Jenny away from my hands. That someone, of course, was Lance, who decided to shield Jenny with his own body.

"Maybe," I replied with a shrug as I eyed Jenny, who was smiling up at Lance. I was sure she was developing a crush on him too because of the way she looked at him like he was her prince in shining armor.