Mute Girl

Ch. 14

"Once upon a time, there lived a girl in a tall tower. Her name was Rapunzel." Justin smiled to the crowd of children who sat criss-cross applesauce.

"Ooh ooh ooh!!! I know that story!" A little blond haired girl waved her hand in the air. All the kids turned to face her.

"Shhhhhh!" They put their index finger to their mouth. The little girl instantly piped down and hid her flushed face. She could feel the disgusting spit that flew onto her face like rain falling fast to the ground. Justin continued the reading of the story. I sat down in the back behind the kids with the moms, listening to Justin's eloquent voice. We were in the public library. Justin invited me to come with him this morning and I would've declined, but Jess and Hailey begged me to go. They think that we have a "love story" as they put it. I still didn't forgive him but I did want to see him read to some little kids. Reading brought me a new reality, a reality to where I could escape all of my problems. I wasn't in high school anymore, I could be at Hogwarts with Harry and his friends or I could be fighting the Elgen alongside Michael Vey. Hell, I could've been eating a hamburger with Tobias, listening to Christina rant on and on about how Candor is better than all the other factions. But I wasn't doing any of those things because let's face it, I was stuck in reality. I still hadn't decided whether to forgive him or not. I knew that I had to give him a chance to let him tell his side of the story.

--

"Are you gonna read to us again, Justy?" The same blonde girl who shouted during his reading came up to him afterwards.

"Of course Beth." Justin bent down and gave her a hug. "I promise I'll be back next Saturday." He stuck out his pinky.

"Pinky promise?" She said in a matter-o-fact tone. She also raised her eyebrow and put her pinky to his.

"Promise." They shook pinkies. It was adorable. Justin was definitely good with all kids, not just his siblings. He stood up and walked over to me.

"So do you do this every Saturday morning?" I signed with no intention of disbelief.

"Almost every Saturday. I do it for two Saturdays a month." He put his hands in his pockets. "I love reading to little kids." He smiled at me. I love that about him. His love for the youth. We were walking out the door of the library when a lady with the same blonde hair as the girl came up. She wore a white blouse and a black pencil skirt with a name tag. She must have been the librarian and her daughter must've been a regular at Justin's reading time. She also had the same large doe hazel eyes as her daughter. She didn't look old at all. There were no wrinkles on her face or any signs of aging. She almost looked our age except maybe a bit older.

"Thanks again for coming to read here. We don't get many teenage readers." She told him smiling.

"Don't thank me, I love doing it." He smiled back at her. She immediately blushed. Instinctively I reached for his hand and squeezed it tight. "Well, we better head off. See you guys next week." He grinned one more time and walked us out of there. We walked to the car in silence, still holding hands. We hurriedly hopped in because it was cold outside. He started the engine.

"So, what was that hand holding about?" He raised his signature eyebrow.

"Nothing, my hand was cold." I signed to him trying to contain my real reason.

"C'mon, you know I'd never get with an older woman like that." He smiled. "But I'm glad you held my hand to the car, really did warm it up, didn't it?" He smirked at me. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. What a dork.

--

Me- How are things at home?

Ben- Decent. I'm grounded for life basically even though she told me two weeks. Sucks. How about you?

Me- Eh, Justin's family is pretty cool.

Ben- I can't believe you finally got your phone back from forensics. You know I was worried sick for you.

Me- I know.

Ben- I have to ask, are you and Justin a thing now?

Me- I guess. I'm still kinda confused. He had an affair with my enemy but just saved my life.

Ben- You can't feel obliged to date him just because he saved your life. If you don't want to, then don't date him.

Me- I know, but there's a part of me that likes him I guess.

Ben- Yeah, whatever. I'll text you later. I'm not supposed to be on my phone so gtg.

Me- Bye.

I clicked off my phone. With a gigantic sigh, I fell onto the bed. Ben was right. I was only dating Justin because he saved my life. I'm gonna break up with him today, right now. I got up off the bed and marched myself over to the door.

"Knock knock," A familiar voice called out. He opened the door and took a step towards my body. Once again, we were inches away from each other.

"I just wanted to tell you lunch is ready." His breath smelled like mint. He must've just brushed his teeth. His body towered over mine. His blonde hair swept back with his blue eyes staring into my blue orbs. I couldn't resist. I grabbed his neck and pulled him down. We both kissed for a long time. The kiss was full of compassion and all the feelings I thought were because he had saved my life came back bigger than ever. I could break up with him tomorrow, today I could kiss him all day long.