Love on the Radio

Chapter 34 - In between

A/N: This is a shorter chapter, and I'm currently working on the next one, which, hopefully, I'm also able to post in the near future. Possibly today. 

Chapter 34 – In between

The next day I spent with Joe and Jenna; George and Lilly had decided to go on a picnic with her family. There was no mention of Howard. Then again, nobody said he wasn’t going. They had planned the trip a week back. The picnic was supposed to be near a lake, with meat sizzling on the grill and a lot of salad in the bowls, as Lilly said. She also told me how she wanted to dye her hair, but only jut slightly. It had been a while for her to change her style. So far, she had been walking around with her blond shoulder-length waves.

Her style-changing thought got me wondering if I should do something different with my hair. My fringe had grown out, and my hair was the same dull brown it had always been. I felt like I needed a change, but at the same time I was afraid to commit to the change. Maybe later.

Joe, Jenna and I walked in the park and even went to the mall, where Joe started rolling his eyes and cringing, so no shopping. We bought ice-cream cones and sat on the bench.

I know it is not polite to make fun of people, but we did. And before anyone can get judgy, I have to say that we didn’t mean the things we said. We spoke playfully. Life is too serious anyways.

I felt like everything was on tracks again.

No secret admirer who hid behind the radio and songs.

No weird feelings between Joe and I.

No more feeling lonely, because this wolf had found its pack again.

No more radio show, where my private life was constantly under investigation (which was partly my fault).

And the feeling of freedom; I was glad to have that.

I still needed to spoke to Evan, and possibly Howard. But since school was almost over, I wanted to prepare for summer.

So I went running. It was the only logical thing to do. Except, I hated running.

But I did go, and I kept pushing myself to go further, thinking: “You can stop anytime. But not right now.”

But then my shoelaces kind of gave up and I tried to turn around the corner, and my foot got stuck behind the only rock that was on the ground, and then I stepped on the shoelaces and tripped.

These things only happen to me...says every teenagers on Earth, possibly elsewhere if there were any teenagers on other planets.

And I fall face first, but thankfully my hands touch the ground first.

“Fuck!” I screamed, my forehead inches from the ground. The asphalt looked scary from down there.

“First and last time I go running anytime soon,” I mumbled and tied the shoelaces, then pushed myself up, wiping my hands against my pants. I looked up and see Howard staring at me, his phone in his hands, his hair chopped short, and his all-black clothes replaced with a red T-shirt and denim jeans. Okay, his sneakers were still black, but that doesn’t count.

He didn’t say a word. And I was too taken aback to do it myself, which made everything even more awkward.

“Um,” I started. “Hi.” See, it’s not that hard to speak. Especially when you have one word to say and that word consists of two letters. It’s not that difficult, right?

“Hi,” he responded with the same word and I kind of panicked thinking what to say next.

“I was just running, but I tripped,” I continued, and this time I couldn’t stop the words from flowing. “But I guess I better go. They are probably waiting...my parents...or not, who knows eh?” I should shut up and go. But that didn’t shut me up. “It was nice to see you, though. Yeah, I better go. OK, sorry. Bye.” I started running, ran right past him and more. I passed the first the tree, the second, the third...he didn’t follow me.