Some Kinda Geek

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          It wasn't smart to walk fast in this heat. The cold sweat trickling down Sunshine's neck made her grumble in annoyance but the gas station wouldn't be far now. Based on the sun's position this morning she would only get 30 minutes to talk to Mr. Sawyer instead of their usual hour. Guilt partly clouded the back of her mind, but once she told him why she was late today surely he would understand. Her sneakers crunched clumps of dry dirt beneath her as her hazel eyes squinted on the gas station ahead. The sun was unforgiving today with the air being grossly dry; a cold Coke would be great right about now. She jogged to the door when she stepped in the dirt lot and nodded to the man on the steps as she did everyday. He answered the same by staring into space.
          She hurriedly opened the door and breathed in the only slightly cooler air and pressed her back towards the door shutting her eyes. Her sweaty lids remained shut even when she heard a familiar chuckle from somewhere in the back.
          "Yer late. Heh, thought ya fergot 'bout this old man already."
          Sunshine smiled weakly and opened her eyes to look at the man leaning against the counter with one straight arm and the other hand on his hip, "I didn't forget about you, Mr. Sawyer."
          She pushed herself from the door and kept her gaze down as he watched her move towards the wooden table they sat at everyday.
          Drayton scoffed not only that she was still calling him Mr. Sawyer but at her pathetic, overheated state, "Well? What took ya so long? Yer usually on time, and now yer beet red from how fas' you were walkin'. What's s'matter?" he frowned.
          Sunshine furrowed her eyebrows and looked around before meeting his eyes squinted with curiosity, "Just some guy..."
          Drayton perked up at her statement and leaned forward with his arms crossed, "Ya ain't havin' troubles with a boyfriend, is ya?"
          "Heavens, no!" her cheeks flared at the word "boyfriend", "Just some guy that I wanted to help out on my walk."
          He chuckled at her reaction, "Y'know is dangerous to help jus' random folks ya meet," he said turning to grab the lunch he prepared for her.
          "Yeah, well this hitchhiker had a nasty cut on his hand and I just so happened to have bandages in my back pocket from when I trip sometimes, being the clutz I am," she giggled.
          Drayton heard the first part of her sentence and subconsciously drowned out the rest when he heard about the man. He had stopped and was staring at a certain spot on the floor, trying to lower his blood pressure with sheer willpower.
          I'm gonna beat that -
          "Mr. Sawyer?"
          He snapped out of his trance and hurriedly went to go get the lunch he made for them, "sorry, jus' got distracted."
          Sunshine frowned but shook the the thought away as she thought about the strange man she met on the road.
         
          It had been fairly early in the morning. The sun hadn't reached it's full potential in suffocating any living thing that walked through its rays yet. A few bumble bees buzzed around Sunshine's head making her giggle. The certain way they danced in the air told her that the two planned on mating soon. The bees flew ahead of her continuing their dance in front of a certain shape in the near distance. She focused her vision to behind the insects to see a man with a tan sack waving at the occasional cars that would pass. A hitchhiker.
          Her breath hitched as she did not want any trouble but continued walking forward. With the way he stopped occasionally to look for cars she could tell that she would have to pass him. Her brows furrowed as she saw red trickle down his arm from his hand and she hoped she was only seeing things. How was he not phased by a cut? No, it couldn't be a cut. He didn't seem hurt. Paint, maybe?
          As she walked closer the man noticed her as he scanned his eyes down the road again and did a double-take since he hadn't heard her walking at all before. She tried to avoid his face since it isn't polite to stare but she noticed how he squinted one eye and brought his hands together to fidget in front of him. The way he breathed unsteadily made him look like he wanted to say something but he didn't know what. Unable to avoid the urge, she looked over at him only to check his arm again. Not paint. Sure enough there was a big gash in the palm of his hand that he thought nothing of.
          Sunshine's feet faltered and she dragged the toe of her sneaker in the dirt to a halt, still eyeing the wound. The man's face contorted into excitement then confusion as he looked down at his hand to see what she was looking at. Slowly, she started forward and cleared her throat to speak.
          "Uh.. hi.."
          The man's breathing quickened again and a big smile plastered his face, "H-hey!" She noticed a large red birthmark covering one cheek.
          "A-are you hurt?" Sunshine asked cautiously and pointed, "the.. the blood?"
          The hitchhiker breathed deeply and stammered to get his words out, "It, it really do-don't hurt that much!" Why was he so excited?
          Sunshine shook her head, "Can I see?"
          He smiled once more and held out his hand like it was some achievement as she slowly took the back of his hand and rested it on her palm as her other hand held his arm still. His breathing mellowed and for some reason she could see the hairs on his arm rise. She giggled quietly and this didn't go unnoticed by the stranger who giggled back only more enthusiastically. She smiled up at him in somewhat disbelief but overall kindness and she looked down again at the cut.
          "I-I have bandages in my back pocket. I'd want to uhh.. help you? If that's okay with you..?" she blushed. She didn't know why she did. Then again she was always shy. The man perked up and started breathing heavily again.
          "Y-yeah, yeah! Okay!," he nodded excitedly. She giggled again causing him to do the same. So there she stood on the side of the road with a random hitchhiker. He watched her closely as she carefully wrapped his hand like it was the first time he'd been patched up in his life. She dabbed another bandage on her tongue and dabbed away the blood that dried on his arm. He looked up quite a bit to see her face and once she was finished he held up the bandaged hand and beamed. Why he was so happy was beyond her, but she got a big kick out of it. She walked backwards towards the way she was going when she was finished and turned to leave since the man was too busy staring at his bandaged hand in awe to say goodbye. A few paces away she turned around to see if he was there. Sure enough, he was yards behind her waving at cars. When he noticed her looking back at him he gave her his big smile again and waved ahead at her,"Th-Thanks!"
          
         

         

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