Run

Chapter Seventeen

I pull my jacket over my bare arms and over the little straps holding up my shirt. The last thing I want is Alex seeing my bra strap under it, he already saw my underwear I'm drawing the line.

"You look nice," he smiles at me, tilting his head to the side as he looks me up and down, "The purple is a good color on you."

I pull my hair down to try and put it into a better ponytail, "Thanks, I think this is actually the first time I've worn it."

"It looks nice. You should leave your hair down," his remark stops me dead in my tracks, and I'm standing there holding my hair up, "I never knew it was so wavy, it frames your face well. You look so relaxed with it down."

I've never had it down, at work it has to be up so it doesn't get in my way, and it's easier to do before school than brushing and maintaining it the whole day. I hesitate to drop my hair, but when it hits the back of my neck I feel the waves form. Normally my hair is up and appears very straight, but I'm like my mom and have natural light waves in my hair. My hair naturally falls to the side, almost covering my left eye.

"Now if you dressed like this around school and let your hair down, literally, I can guarantee that boys will approach you. It's ok to let go a little bit, you look incredible no matter what you do but you look so relaxed and at peace like this. It looks natural," he steps in front of me, holding my shoulders and giving me a squeeze.

I don't know how to feel about what he said. I know he meant it as friendly advice and a compliment but in reality it sounded a little insulting. I have a tough life, "letting go" isn't very easy. I'm not going to pretend things are great or make life even remotely harder just to make me approachable to guys and look relaxed and pretty. But he did say I look incredible.

"You're really bossy," I stare at him, a little dazed at his good looks and his backhanded compliment, "Do you know that?"

He shrugs, "I prefer assertive. Are you ready?"

I nod as I slip on my boots. He opens the door for me and together we walk out. He places his hand firmly on my lower back and keeps me close.

I feel like a dog on a leash.

I shimmy my way out of his grip, much to his dismay. When he tries to put his hand back I slap it.

"What the hell? What's your deal?"

We're not even out of the motel parking lot but I quickly turn to face him, making him freeze.

"Alex, I get your trying to protect me, but I am so suffocated right now I'm going mad. You need to back off just a little. I can walk five blocks and back without your hands somewhere on me, thank you."

Before he can respond I've turned and started walking again. He stands there stunned for a minute before he catches up to me. I feel him start to reach for me, but he stops himself.

I watch him out of the corner of my eye, he shoves his hands into his pockets and fidgets as he tries to keep his distance from me.

"So is there anything interesting around here?" I glance back at him.

"I don't really know, when I was getting food someone mentioned a zoo but I mean every city has a zoo," he shrugs it off, he's probably been to a zoo.

"I've never been to a zoo," I pull my lips into a tight line as he looks at me in surprise, "Couldn't ever afford it, also haven't seen a movie in theaters since I was like four. Stuff like that is easy to shrug off until you hear someone hasn't experienced it."

He cringes slightly, "Sorry, I didn't even think about that. Hey maybe when we can go home I'll take you to the zoo."

Deep inside of me, I feel butterflies. There's something in me saying "Like a date?" while something else in me wants to laugh at the thought.