"Kodi, Kodi...wake up." his voice whispers quietly near my ear.
I wake to Dane gently brushing his hand on my cheek, leaning over me, still lying next to me in the bed. I’ve forgotten where I am for a moment, then piece it all together, looking up to his soft face.
"You need to get back before your parents start looking for you."
I slowly sit up, wiping my eyes. Checking the clock, I'm pretty sure we only got about 2 hours of sleep. Funny thing was, I slept better than I had in awhile.
"Come here." he says, holding out his hand to help me up.
Last night was eventful to say the least but Dane was right, I need to get up. It’s Saturday and I have to get ready to volunteer at the hospital all day. Changing back into my clothes in the bathroom, I sneak a peek at myself in the mirror. The swelling has gone down some thanks to the ice from Dane. I fix my mess of hair as best I can and exit the bathroom, meeting his eyes in the living room. We gaze at each other for a moment, almost communicating without words, yet both not sure exactly what we were communicating.
As I follow him to the door, I feel a nervous energy radiating off of him, possibly questioning himself at the moment, very unlike the arrogant smartass I knew him to be as of late.
"Thank you, for looking out for me last night." I say, pausing at the door, turning to him.
"I'll never not look out for you, even if your choices are, well...questionable." he raises his eyebrows, then grins.
We linger at the door in silence for a second. I want to reach out and touch him, but my reservations hold me back. Before I can do anything, he lifts his hand to my face, brushing the rest of my ratted bedhead down, and tucks the hair gently behind my ear. Eyes on fire, looking deep through me, I can sense the internal struggle he's having. My pulse is racing as I swallow nervously.
"Bye Kodi." he says, ever so softly, gently dropping his hand, before I can overthink things.
"Bye Dane." I reply, a slight pull at the corner of my lip, capturing his eyes.
I turn and walk out of the door and down the stairs of the garage flat. With a smile still plastered on my face, I hop off the flight of stairs, only to turn and meet Mrs. Dillon at the bottom with eyes wide open, staring at me. I freeze in place, eyes wide back at her.
Oh my God, this looks really bad.
"Uh, Mrs. Dillon, hi...I was just, um..." I stutter out, super uncomfortable, not knowing how to explain getting caught leaving Dane's room in the early hours of the morning.
"Dakota, darling, call me Pam. I was just getting off work." she smiles kindly with a hint of excitement at seeing me in this predicament.
"Oh, nice, I'm about to go to work, actually, or volunteer...I mean..." I reply, stumbling over my words, not knowing what else to say right now.
"That's right, Dane mentioned you volunteer at the hospital."
"He did?" I ask, surprised he was talking to his mom about me.
"Yeah, I just think that's so great, using your free time to help others who need it."
"Thanks, I only want to find a way to help people, whatever way I can."
"Very sweet of you, dear." she smiles, then continues, "So, have you had a chance to meet the new neighbor yet?"
"New neighbor? No, I guess I didn't know anyone had moved in recently." I reply, shaking my head.
YOU ARE READING
A Sliver of Infinite
Teen Fiction"There's only one thing that's keeping me here, only one thing that's keeping me sane. The galaxy to my stars, the constellation that guides me home, the gravity that holds me down. It's her. It's always been her. But even she can't save me from my...
