Breathless

Chapter 10: Helping

"What happened?" My heart dropped as I asked the question. Elise was seriously in trouble, I could tell as her voice shook. My best friend rarely cried.

She let out a shaky breath before saying anything. "Wyatt just came with me to make his ex girlfriend jealous. She works here. They left together."

My jaw nearly dropped. This was absolutely not okay. "Who even does that?"

Elise seemed like she was trying to laugh through the tears. "Him. Look, I just, I need a ride home, and Carson's not answering his damn phone."

What did she want me to do? I couldn't drive without a license. My sixteenth birthday was in a few weeks though. "I can get my parents to come and get you," I offered weakly as I played with the end of my polka dotted comforter.

"No. Your parents will tell mine, and if they found out Wyatt left me, I would never go out on another date. Just go to my house and get Carson to come and get me. It's the Cup of Sunshine coffee house downtown."

I sighed. Even in her time of need, Elise was still trying to set me up with her twin brother, even if she didn't intentionally think of it that way.

"I'll be there soon. Just hold on." With that, I shoved my phone into the pocket of the cardigan that I wore over the long dress I had on for church earlier that morning. It was my favorite dress, considering it wasn't too hot for the summer and covered nearly all of my scales. Also, blue is my second favorite color.

I ran down the wooden steps and found my parents sitting on the leather couch in the living room. They would notice that I was gone if I didn't tell them where I was going.

"Mom, Dad, so Elise and Carson invited me to go look around downtown a bit. There's a new coffee shop we want to look at. And Carson's driving." I bit my lip and hoped they would say yes.

My dad waved his hand as if to say 'Go ahead' before Mom could get a word in. I grinned and ran out the door before they could change their minds.

It was especially warm. I used to love that sort of weather before I had to bundle myself up all the time. The Goldes lived in a yellow house that was only three houses down from my own. I always thought that it was cute in a sense.

I ran up the three steps leading to the door and knocked. No one answered, so I rang the doorbell twice. This was an utter emergency.

There was a loud groan from somewhere inside and then the door opened. It was Carson. His black curls were tossled and he was only wearing his boxers and a muscle tank. Needless to say, it caught me a little off guard.

He must have noticed too, because his face turned red and he hid half of himself behind the door so all I could see was his torso and his face. "Hey, Terra," he said nervously.

"Hey, Carson," I tried to put all awkwardness aside. "We have to go get Elise."

His green eyes widened. "What?"

"I'll explain in the car, but we need to go get your sister."

He nodded and then held up one finger, meaning he needed to go put pants on. I had never met a guy that was as shy about that sort of thing as Carson. Then again, I hadn't talked to many guys since the event three years ago. I hadn't really talked to anyone.

"You can come in, if you want," he offered.

I shook my head. We needed to get going and that would just waste time. He shrugged and then closed the door. I took a seat on one of the three steps on their doorstep. It seemed like it had only taken Carson three seconds to get ready, because he was out the door as soon as I sat down. It must be easy being a boy.