Curious Georgia |✔

•16 - Curiously Confident•

A/N:

I hope you guys like surprises.

  I did, in fact, see him around. He nods at me when I pass him by in the hallway. We still sit together at lunch. He still comes to the tree, though he's completely silent the entire time. But at least he acknowledges my existence. But that, for me, is still not enough.

  Danny invited me out with his friends, which I refused immediately. I'm not much of a people person, especially when those people have a lower IQ than a pebble. I'm staying in alone tonight.

  A small part of me wanted to call Adam over. Not the brightest idea, but it was just a thought. He was still at the tree when I arrived though, already sitting on our branch.

  "What are you doing here?" he asks. "I thought you, Danny, and friends were hanging out today."

  Ha, and friends? How thoughtful. "No, too many people for my taste." I start to climb the tree. He scoots over. "I'm just gonna go home and overeat while watching reruns of Glee."

  Adam doesn't respond. He just nods.

  "What about you? Any plans for this weekend?" What kind of mainstream question is that? Any plans for this weekend? Wow. This friendship's tension.

  "Same as you: too much popcorn and a Netflix overload," he mutters.

  I nod in response too. And then silence, not the comfortable silence where the both of us are content. The awkward one. The atmosphere is so tense, and it's killing me on the inside. There is too much I want to ask and plenty of things to say.

  "I'm sorry," I say. What else do I say? "This is my fault."

  "It is, honestly." Well, he's got me there. "But what can you do? You like who you like, I guess."

  I shrug. "I guess." The silence ensues, just long enough for me to notice my butt fell asleep, and my legs were next. "I'll see you later, Adam." And I climb down the tree, thankfully without snapping a bone.

  I kept hoping he would stop me before he lost sight of me, tell me something reassuring. I left the woods without him saying a word. Ouch.

  *~*~*~*

  Alone or not, I wasn't just going to sit in like I had been dumped. That's for later hours of the night when it's far too dangerous to go on a run to the café. That and the fact that I found a gift card hidden in the depths of the junk drawer in my kitchen.

  As I get closer to the café, I gradually get more and more terrified of walking through the front door. What do I say to Chuck if he just do happens to be working the register?

  But then again, I wasn't the one who forgot they were on a date and hung out with the best friend instead of the actual date. What exactly did I have to be scared of?

  I push through the door to the café, head up high, nose turned up. Chuck is at the register, plastering a nervous smile on his face. And because I know it'll make him squirm, I keep my expression blank and stoic.

  "The usual?" he asks quietly. I nod, and he rushes around to make my frappacino, knocking over items and frantically picking them back up.

  Cliché, I know.

  I hand him my gift card and give him a thanks, trying to make a decently quick exit.

  "Hey, Georgie Porgie!" he calls. I'm already a foot out of the door, but I stop anyway. Was he really trying to apologize now? "Call me."

  Hmph. I guess not. At least he surprised me.

  "Not really likely, Chuck Taylors. See you around," I say back, confidently on my way back home.

  I'm not sure what it is about that café, but so far I'm always leaving with my ego boosted. Maybe caffeine isn't just for energy.

  I even listen to Andy Bey without a care in the world, humming the song completely out of tune.

  The sun is setting as I pass by the forest, and instead of just climbing up my usual tree, I walk through the rest of the woods.

  I mean, why the heck not? The dark doesn't scare me right now. I have too much adrenaline and confidence to whither at the sound of a ruffling leaf. What exactly do I have to be scared of?

  "They're writing songs of love, but not for me! A lucky stars above, but not for me. Would love to lead the way..." I sing. I sound terrible. I have not one musical bone in my body. The most I can do is struggle to play Mary Had a Little Lamb on the piano.

  As it gets later into the night, when the sun has finally set and the air gets cooler, I calm down a bit. I finish off my frappacino, and the small wind that's blowing soothes me. There's a slight smile on my face, and I start to walk home. Or skip. Or both. Whichever came first, I was still a little over confident with myself, small victory or not.

  The thought of ice cream, popcorn, and Netflix helped my descent from my egotistic cloud-9. The thought of Adam did the same thing, but before I got sad I put him out of my mind. He's a Sunday problem.

  There's a car in the driveway when I get to the house, not one that I recognize. Andy Bey is lightly booming from inside.

  This is my house, right? My mother doesn't listen to Andy Bey, and that car is definitely not hers. Every horror movie addict would say turn around. Every movie actress walks in anyway to be met by a deranged killer.

  My confidence explodes in my chest and escapes right out of my front door. I may have not been met by a murderer, but I might as well have.

  "Well don't just stand there, G. Come on and give your pops a hug."