Read My Lips

Read My Lips: Chapter 13

Chapter 13

At the park, I allowed Austin to run around by himself for a while. I sat down on a bench at the edge of the park where I’d be able to relax for a while and think.

About five minutes into my relaxation on an old park bench a set of hands wrapped themselves around my eyes automatically making me jump in my spot. The set of hands left my eyes before the owner moved around to stand in front of me.

Standing in front of me was no one other than Zach Danvers. A smile automatically lit up my face as he looked down at me.

“Hello there.” He grinned leaning down to plant a kiss on my lips before taking a seat on the bench beside me.

“Hi.” I smiled, snuggling up to his side. It was nearing winter which meant that the weather was starting to get colder (wait, when’s it ever warm in England?) than usual. So I was taking advantage of having Zach by my side and using him as my heat source.

Suddenly, my head was tilted up so I could see Zach’s face. “Nice and warm, eh?” He joked, a teasing smile on his face.

“I sure am.” I joked back. I brought my hand up to his face to tweak his nose before settling back into his side, a light giggle erupting from my lips at his shocked reaction.

He squeezed me into his side before we settled into what I could only guess was silence. I was sure that the other children in the park were screaming, but since I couldn’t hear, I guess it didn’t really matter. Whatever peaceful state we were both in before was destroyed as Austin came running over to me.

“Maisie! Maisie! Guess what-” He stopped short as his little head snapped towards Zach. Austin turned his attention back to me; a look of confusion was spread across his face. “Who’s that?”

I pulled away from the comfort of Zach’s side to look at Austin. “That my friend, Zach,” I smiled, pulling Austin onto my knee. “Say hi.”

“Hi!” Austin chirped. He held his hand up to Zach who looked at him in confusion.

“Hi, buddy,” Zach then gestured down to his hand. “What?”

Austin heavily sighed before he reached out to grab Zach’s wrist. He then proceeded to pull Zach’s hand up to his own to give him a ‘high five’. “It was for a high five, silly.”

Zach stared at Austin in shock before he burst out laughing. “I’ll remember that for next time, buddy.”

“Why are you calling me buddy?” Austin asked; a frown fitted onto his little face. “My name’s Austin.”

Zach shook his head at Austin, a grin slowly spread its way onto his face. “It’s a nickname. And because I’ve just decided that you are my new friend!”

“Oh, ok! You can be my new friend too!” Austin chirped. He pulled himself off my knee and shuffled over to Zach so he could sit on his knee.

A look of shock made its way onto Zach’s face. All I could do was burst out laughing at his reaction. Had he never been in contact with little kids before?

“I’ve never been around kids before so don’t laugh.” Zach said answering my question. He genuinely looked terrified having a small child on his lap. It really was hilarious.

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The project that Zach and I had been working on was all completed and presented. It was now towards the end of the week. Thankfully, we had gotten a grade A on it so that was an achievement. Also, I’m not really sure how we managed that. It honestly shocked me that Zach even did the assessment.