FALL (DIMENSION Series #1)

CHAPTER 21

While I was driving, I glanced at Derek sideways. I was struggling to believe that it was all really happening. That he was in my car. That we were having a conversation and driving around with no apparent destination in mind.

      "Where should I drive to?" I asked.

      He shrugged.

      "Do you have a favorite place?" he asked.

      I bit my lower lip.

      "The hiking trail is one of my favorite places," I said. "But I don't feel like going there now." I knew there would come a time when I'd feel like seeking out that familiar—steep and narrow—trail, but that time hadn't yet arrived.

      "The river?" Derek asked.

      "Good idea," I said, conjuring up a mental image of the river. It was a small river, but it still made that river-sound and its banks were lush with trees and shrubs. It was a great spot.

      We were driving through the Bluffside downtown. It had some stores, a few restaurants and fast food places. A diner with a real jukebox from a previous time. It wasn't a metropolis, but it was quaint and peaceful. And of course there was the backdrop of the Rocky mountains.

      "So," he said. "You had an unexpected day on the trail on Saturday."

      I nodded over at him. Now it was my turn to be relieved that we were in my car and that I was driving. I was unable to make eye contact with him. I didn't know what my eyes might reveal about that shocking day. And I didn't know what he might read into my expression.

      "You didn't text me," I said. The sentence was always on my mind, right below the surface, but that didn't mean I expected it to come out now. I had strange tendencies when it came to talking. Especially to this ultra-good-looking boy. Sometimes I forgot to speak altogether and other times I blurted out things I had no intention of saying.

      I talked about texting because I wasn't ready to talk about my fall.

      "I didn't text you?" he mumbled and looked confused.

      "Yeah," I replied. "You never texted me about seeing my dad." I sighed. "You never texted about anything."

      "Sorry," he said and smiled. That irresistible smile that made me forgive him instantly. That made me forget why I was mad in the first place.

      "I get it," he said and chuckled. "You wanted me to text you."

      "That's usually what happens when you save someone's number in your phone," I replied and half-rolled my eyes at him. "That's kind of the expected thing."

     I was driving slowly now on a quiet road. I had slowed the car so I could talk to him more and look at him from time to time.

      It still seemed like a dream. Derek Nash in my car. Next to me in his jean jacket. With the wide open spaces of Colorado right outside the windows.

      "What makes you think I'm into doing expected things?" he said and smiled at me. "I may not even be normal at all," he continued, and a shadow passed over his eyes, turning them dark.

      I bit down on my lower lip and felt heat in my cheeks. I flushed when I remembered all the times I thought he might be autistic. In the background, Joni Mitchell was still singing softly.