The Way You See Me

Chapter Eight

It was almost an hour later when I finally got up off my ass. I didn't feel like doing anything- not that I was allowed. 

Then again, I really didn't expect Nick to come home tonight. I doubt he actually had anything he had to do today- it was probably a house party he needed to get to or something of the sort.

As I recalled yesterday's events again, I wanted to kick myself for forgetting to stop by Kayla's house with the stuff she needed from the store. I told her I would, and she had probably been expecting me. Shit. 

I can't even text her and tell her how bad I feel for forgetting. I obviously wouldn't tell her the real reason- or reasons, I should say. No one knows about the way Nick was. Dom may think he does, but I know that he doesn't.

Well at least now I have a reason to leave home. I'm sure Nick wouldn't even know if I left. 

I open the back door and Max barges in. He's racing around the house, his nose sniffing as fast as it could. He rushes back to me, sniffing all over my clothes. I laugh a little. "He's gone, buddy. It's okay," I say, rubbing his face between my hands, but he was busy sniffing around.

I sigh and walk over towards the door. I check out the window, just to make sure there wouldn't be any other surprise visits; no one's cars except my neighbor's. Good.

I slip into my slides by the door and walk out, making sure Max stayed in. He wouldn't do anything while I was gone, he usually just lays by the door or on the couch until I returned. 

I walk out to my car, and as I pull on the handle, the door doesn't open. I frown. I always left my keys in my car, therefore it was always unlocked. Yeah, I know, not the safest idea, but I would misplace them if I did anything else. 

I try the door again, getting frustrated. It's still locked, of course. I hold a hand on my forehead and peek in the car, looking in the cupholder where my keys should be.

They're gone. Fucking great.

I knew no one would just steal my keys and not the car, I wasn't stupid. Nick took them so I wouldn't leave. Now I really was stuck here. 

Fuck that.

I storm back inside, grabbing Max's leash by the door and clipping it to his collar. "Come on boy, let's go for a little walk,"

Kayla's house was almost 10 miles away, I think. Yeah, it's far. I would've driven, but obviously that wasn't much of an option. 

Max and I set out for our walk. I end up stopping to pull my hair up into a ponytail, and we begin to jog. 

We pass tons of people; more people than I would have expected. Max is well behaved, but any stranger that gets too close gets growled at, so we stay on our far side of the sidewalk. 

About halfway there, I feel like I'm being watched, but after glancing around, I don't see anyone. It's only about 1:30 pm, I'd guess, so it's not dark and scary. I wasn't too worried about it, since I had Max, as well. 

About halfway there I slow to a good walking pace. Max already did his number one as well as two, so he has the little plastic baggy hanging from his leash. Ha, like I'd carry his poop around. 

I see a group of kids riding their bikes, coming towards us. They were still a bit of a way away from Max and me, but they were taking up the entire sidewalk. I wasn't going to walk in the road when they could easily ride in a line, so I stayed to my side, with Max close beside me. 

As they got closer, I started to get nervous. I glanced behind me; there was a pretty steady line of traffic that's been going by on my left, I don't know why I expected to look back and see the empty road where I could step out. To my right was fences of people's backyards, so I couldn't step anymore that way either. 

I didn't want to have these kids run me over, but I didn't want them out in the road either. Shit.

I bite my lip, they were almost here. "Hey! Get in a line or something, I'm using the sidewalk too!" I say loud enough for them to hear. They started laughing. 

Little fuckers.

As they got to us, I ended up stopping, because they didn't seem to get the point that I wasn't moving into the road. I scoff, and they continue. At the last possible second, the one that was inches away from slamming into me screeches to a rolling stop and swerves around me. I roll my eyes and flick them off.

Since when were kids so selfish, I mean jeez. 

Max and I continue the rest of the way without much hassle. By the time I reached Kayla's door, I was panting- so was Max. 

I hesitate a moment before I knock. When Kayla answers the door a few minutes later, her face breaks into a huge smile and she wraps her arms around me. "Leigha! God, I missed you, girl! Where have you been? Come in, please," She says happily as she welcomes Max and me inside her house.

I smile at her welcome and she shuts the door behind us. It had been a while since I had last seen her, but not so long that she needed to sound like a 90-year-old woman. I smirk. "How bored have you been? Stuck in the house all the time?" I ask, glancing at her as we walk to the kitchen. She makes us both a glass of water, and I let Max off his leash.

She groans a bit, sliding the one glass across the counter to me. "You have NO idea," She says, and adds a smile. 

I notice that she has a mark on the side of her neck and I let out an over-exaggerated gasp. "Do not tell me you have a hickey," I say, covering my mouth as I smile, walking around the island to look at it, though she quickly covers it with her hand. "Kayla!"

She giggles, giggles, and I laugh. "Where, when, who?" I ask, eager to hear more. Then I squint a bit at her. "Hold up. I thought you were at home sick, on your period, bored and feeling like shit?" 

She shrugs, "Well, yeah, I have been." She grabs my wrist and leads me to the living room where we sit on the couch. "Okay, so here's the story. I got into a really bad habit of ordering food off those apps, 'cus I didn't want to go out," She starts, and I nod along, leaning towards her a bit as I await the juicy details. "And I started to crave Panera...like, everyday. And then, this really cute guy started delivering it for me, so I of course ordered more." She says, smiling, and I urge her to go on. "So, one night, it's like 11pm, and he's knocking at my door, with my cheddar broccoli soup, and I'm like, "Well, dude, why don't you like, come in," and then he DID!"

I laugh and smack my face playfully. "You're lying," I tease her, and she shakes her head, raising her eyebrows.

"No, for real. Like, it was amazing." 

"It? As in, you fucked him??" I ask, laughing in surprise when she blushes and shakes her head. 

"No, no, no. You know me, come on. At least three dates and this one night was like, half a date." She says defensively. 

I did know her. I've known her for years, and it was true, she never did much with a guy unless he stuck around for at least three dates. Sometimes she wouldn't kiss them till the third, either. 

"Well, did he ask you out on another?" I ask, wanting to know more about mystery Panera boy.

She shrugs. "Kind of, but I don't know. I think he was as nervous as I was, in the moment." She pauses before she adds, "Maybe I'll just need more Panera to find out,"

I smirk and shake my head. "For sure. Unless he quit, because you scared him off," I say teasingly, and she fake-gasps. This causes us to both laugh.

It felt good, to be laughing again. Sure, Kayla had no idea what my life has really been like, but that's okay. Sometimes all your friends need to know is you, not your life.

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Hi :) I've been updating more recently, and it's nice haha. Don't forget to vote <3

I had an AP Gov exam today, it was legitimately stressful. 

Ha. Legitimate.