A Gripping Touch

Chapter Fifteen: "I could be his Spring fling."

Alyssa

As I lay in the bed way past dawn the following Saturday morning, my mind evaluated the past few months spent in this new town. Whilst I had so many unanswered questions, and with the death of my father still pulling against me like an anchor to a ship, my new friends and whatever Colton was to me had stopped me feeling like I was sinking.

Ben and Ava were brilliant company, and without their upbeat moods and organised days out of a weekend, I didn't think that I could have settled in quite as smoothly. But I couldn't deny that there were obvious difficulties in our friendship.

I hadn't told them about the kiss.

They disliked Colton enough as just my friend, let alone with the potential of him becoming anything more.

The kiss.

What did it mean?

Part of me didn't want to jump to conclusions and build my hopes up on a pipe dream that could have a mainline burst at any moment. But the other, less paranoid part of me just wanting to lap up this new stream of happiness and see where it could go.

There was so much more that I wanted to know about him, but there was also so much of me that I didn't want him to see; the damaged, untouchable parts of myself that even Freud couldn't find a solution for.

'Alyssa, do you want some eggs?' Mom called from down the stairs. I replied with a yes, scrambled, and quickly got myself washed and dressed for brunch.

Since I wouldn't be going out before the school show tonight, I decided on a pair of grey slacks and a loose green t-shirt with a college logo on the front. The air was crisp outside, but not cool enough to bring goosebumps to my bare arms.

'These are delicious, thank you.' I said, as I crunched down into a piece of brown toast and scrambled egg, ladled with butter and black pepper.

'Someone's happy this morning.' Doug murmured, sipping suspiciously on his coffee. Mom had brewed a pot, so the whole kitchen smelt of Kenyan coffee beans.

'Someone has been happy every morning since a certain date.' Mom raised an eyebrow.

Doug held the mug of coffee in his hands, rolling it between his palms. 'Care to elaborate?'

I shook my head; I wasn't keen on the idea of sharing the details of my love life, or should I say potential love life, with my mom and her partner. It was awkward.

'Alyssa went on a date with one of the Winton's boys.' Mom smiled and began to clean up the dishes, but she failed to hide the sigh in her tone.

Doug shrugged, nonchalantly. 'Don't pass judgement so soon, love. Despite the rumours about their boys, I've never seen them do anything worse than what the other kids do around here. Give her a break, eh?' He frowned at my mom and offered me a squeeze on the elbow.

Once I had excused myself from the table and was securely hidden under a thick blanket in the living room, with a sad excuse for a soap opera playing on the television, confusion swept in.

If I were to even consider going on any future dates with Colton, I would have to unlock whatever disliking my mom had towards him and his family. I knew that the Winton's had a reputation as troublemakers, but I couldn't understand why exactly. Sure, Colton, Frazer and even Kenny at times were not the most approachable of boys, and could come across as quite intimidating, but I had never seen them cause any physical harm.

Rather, it was the girls they associated themselves with that seemed to cause more damage.

At that, I winced, my fingers reaching to the healed bruise from Mischa on my face. What was I thinking, going on a date with Colton when it was his baggage that had gotten me hurt?