Ordinary

* CHAPTER 7 *

I laid motionless in my bed staring at the ceiling. I wasn't sad or hurt, I was more frustrated and embarrassed-- confused even. I honestly thought that maybe for once a guy could actually like me. I must've read the signs all wrong. What really pissed me off was how defenseless he made me feel. The first time he helped me, I have to admit it was truly needed. But last night was beyond unnecessary. I had that situation under control and he had to go and make it a big scene. We'd only met a few days ago so why did he care so goddamn much about me. 

Thinking back on it, I felt like a fool. Knowing Jessica, she probably did throw herself onto him. Maybe I just walked in at the wrong time. Maybe he did deserve a chance to explain himself. I rolled over and grabbed my phone off the nightstand. My main screen flashed the time, 12:32 pm, and missed calls from Meg and Noah. I unlocked my phone and the notifications vanished, replaced with the texts from me to Casper the previous night. I clicked to the side menu and pressed his number. The phone began to ring.

My heart started pounding. Shit. I didn't have anything planned to say. Should I apologize? Should I wait for him to apologize? 

"Hey, this is Casper." Panick.

"Sorry I'm not available to answer the phone but just leave me a message and I'll call right back." I was so relieved that I forget to end the call. The phone probably recorded 5 seconds before I could reach the red end call button.

It took a second to catch my breath. I put my almost dead phone on the charger and decided that it was in my best interest to eat something.

I pushed Casper out of my mind for the moment and pushed myself up off my bed. The sun shone brightly through the window of my bedroom. The previous night I came home and went straight to bed. My mouth carried a lingering taste of stale alcohol, my hair was a mess, and my jeans felt like a death-trap. I slipped into a more comfortable outfit, brushed my teeth, and pulled my hair back, out of my face. I slowly moved to the kitchen to grab food.

I opened the fridge. Empty. I checked all the cabinets and came up with nothing.

If I wanted food I would have to go buy it myself.

I grabbed my bag off the hook by the front and flung it over my shoulder. I then slowly made my way out to my car.

The engine hesitated before starting, but once it did, I put the car in reverse and headed on my way. To where?- I wasn't exactly sure. I had 20 dollars in my bag and I taste for anything. There was all the basic fast food chains and then the incredibly fancy restaurants. Somewhere in between sat Elle's Dinner. Now, Elle's wasn't your classic hangout dinner for the all the high schoolers like you see in the movies. No, it's demographic usually consisted of road trippers just stopping in for a bite and old people who come in regularly around lunch time. I found myself going there often. The food was good and the owner, Bill, was so incredibly nice. The drive wasn't that long, maybe ten minutes at most. But the scenery was beautiful. Just acres of lush evergreens and babbling stream.

Amongst all of this beauty, a glint of red had caught my eye in the rearview mirror. I peered up to see a red pickup truck driving just a little too close for my comfort. It felt like the more I looked back at it the closer and closer it inched toward my bumper. There was a glare on the windshield so I couldn't make out a driver.

I sped up, feeling more uncomfortable with each passing second. I went faster and faster but every time I increased my speed they just matched it staying within 3 feet of my bumper. 

The turn I had to take was coming up so I flicked on my turn signal. I figured this person was just an asshole who was in a rush, but when their turn signal started blinking my heart rate slowly sped up.

I turned onto the road and the truck followed.

The next turn was the road that Elle's was on. I didn't turn on my turn signal, hoping this time maybe I could trick the driver into going straight. Still, they followed. Sheer panic was beginning to set in. I felt like this was the start of every horror movie I'd seen. I kept my car in the general speed limit and just tried my best remain calm.

Elle's Diner was coming up on the right. My brain panicked not knowing if I should pull into the parking lot or keep driving, but my hands were already turning the wheel. I pulled in and watched the red pickup continue straight. 

A wave of relief crashed over me. Perhaps it was simply a coincidence and that person had just been heading in the same general direction as me. I parked my car but was still unable to shake off the few remaining nerves. I opened the door, pushed myself out of the car, flung my bag over my shoulder, and shut and locked the door behind me. The very small parking lot of Elle's was half full as always. I walked the short distance to the door and peered back over my shoulder. I had seen the pickup continue on, but I just wanted to make sure they hadn't looped back around. Something in me felt very uneasy. I pushed the open still glancing over my shoulder. I was paranoid and perhaps a little too frantic to get inside that I hadn't noticed there was a person walking out until I slammed right into them.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry", I said as I turned around. "Casper!?" Yes, it was him. My heart rate that had finally calmed down started thundering again.

"Josie." He smiled and then furrowed his brow, remembering everything that had transpired. "Listen, I-- I'm so sorry about last night, but I promise nothing happened between me and that girl. She introduced herself and then the next thing I know she was throwing herself on top of me. I would never do anything to hurt you. I really do like you Josie, and maybe that's why I've been so protective. I never meant to be overbearing, I just can't let you get hurt." His words came out in a flurry like he hadn't stopped thinking about last night all day. I, on the other hand, had forgotten about it the moment I started getting tailed on the road. 

I heard his word but my brain took a second to comprehend them. He had made several important points. The first being that the thing with him and Jessica was a complete misunderstanding, the second being that he's sorry for making me feel like I can't defend myself, and the third, and most important in my personal opinion, is that he really likes me and cares about me.

 I guess I took to long to answer because Casper tried desperately to fill the space. "If you never want to talk to me again that's fine too, I totally understand. What happened last night was---"

"No." I cut him off. "I owe you an apology too. I freaked out." The truth flowed out of me involuntarily. "I've just had a lot of shitty things going on in my life lately and you were something good, and when I saw you with Jessica it pissed me off. With that and what Will did and everything in my life, I got incredibly stressed and I took it all out on you and you did not deserve that."

"Well." He shrugged. "I mean I kind of deserved it."

I grinned slightly. "Maybe just a little." With all our feelings out on the table, there was nothing to do but to just let them sit for a moment.

A hand fell on my shoulder, and It wasn't Casper's. "Excuse me."

I jumped. I had forgotten we were blocking the doorway. I shifted to the side to let a scruffy looking man enter the diner.

Once he passed I turned back to Casper. I cocked an eyebrow and said, "You know I've been coming to this diner for 5 years and I've never once seen anyone I know. So what are you doing here?" 

He smiled and chuckled a little. "My uncle actually owns this place?"

My eyes widened. "Bill is your uncle?"

"Yup", he nodded. "Now, I'll have to ask you the same question. What are you doing here?"

"Oh, well I'm just getting lunch."

"Well then." He chuckled again. "I don't really know what answer I was expecting, but that sounds about right." He looked down and is feet coyly and looked back up with a smile. "Mind if I join?"

I hesitated. Something in my brain was telling me this was wrong. But my mouth spoke before I could stop it, "No, not at all."