The Bad Boy's Snowflake

Chapter 19: You Fell Down the Stairs?

At 11:20 I leave my fourth hour class and head to the front office to meet Tommy. When I get there at 11:16, he is already there waiting for me. At the sight of him, my stomach flutters, but I push the feeling down and try to ignore it.

"You ready?" he asks once I get to him. All I do is nod. He gives me a funny look, but doesn't say anything as we start our journey to the doctor's office. We get in the car and get about halfway to the office before we talk about anything but directions.

"Turn right at the next light," I tell him. He does. "Left at the next light, and then make the first right."

We turn left. "Catherine, are you all right?"

I gulp. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

He glances sideways at me, but I stare out the window. "You just seem a little off ever since I made you call the doctor. Are you nervous about the appointment?"

I breathe a sigh of relief. Thank goodness he thinks this is just about the appointment. "Yeah. I mean, what if she tells me I can't play soccer anymore? My life would basically be over. I wouldn't even know what to do or who I am."

He pulls into a parking spot. I start to get out, but he puts a hand on my arm and stops me. I turn back and see his beautiful green eyes staring into my dull green ones. "You are a great person who sacrifices most of her life to take care of her brother because her shitty excuses of parents aren't ever around to do their job. You are a kind and smart girl who can figure out what to do with your life if, on the off-chance, you can't play soccer anymore."

He lets go of my arm and I pull away immediately. I can feel my heart pounding against my chest as his words echo in my ear. I shut the car door, and he does as well.

"Ready?" he asks with an easy smile. He is completely unfazed by what he just said, and totally oblivious to how it affected me.

I try to put on the same easy smile, "Ready."

We walk toward the building together. Tommy pulls open the door and holds it for me as a crutch in. I turn to the right and head toward the front desk. The same lad I talked to on the phone greets me there.

"Good morning. How may I help you?" She grins.

I fight the urge to grimace. "I called early to schedule an appointment with Dr. Sanger. My name is Catherine Spire."

The lady looks down at her calendar-list thingy. "Ah, yes, I have you right here. Please take a seat and wait for your name to be called."

This time I fight the urge to roll my eyes. I've been coming here since I was a baby. Of course I know how it works. I turn around, though, and find that today is a good day to come to the doctor. Almost all the seats are taken. The only two open seats are in the corner next to this really cute guy. I shrug and head over there. There are worse things that could happen.

Tommy and I get over to the seats, and Tommy helps me sit down next to the really cute guy before sitting next to me. The guy next to me looks up at me. He has sparkling blue eyes and sandy blonde hair. Freckles dot his nose.

"Hey, I'm Peter," he says.

"Catherine," I reply with a smile.

"What a pretty name," Peter smiles.

I can feel myself starting to blush. "Thanks."

He shifts in his seat so that he's facing me a little bit better. "So what are you here for?"

I frown. Way to make the topic awful. "My ankle. How about you?"

"My ear," he frowns as well. "I hear this weird buzzing all the time. It makes it really hard to hear when my coach is yelling at me, though it isn't that often." He smiles.