Spirited Away To You

Chapter-16: The Only Exception

THE GOLDEN RETRIEVER looked up with its puppy eyes, head craned as he stared at me. As if he recognized me from before, he ran towards me with his tail wagging uncontrollably.

"Hey, hey! Aww, you are such a good boy," I spoke in a baby voice to the puppy who wouldn't stop licking me as I kneeled down to pet it.

"He sure is."

I bobbed my head up to see William approaching us. His hair was wet, a few droplets of water still lingering; evident he had taken a shower. A long sleeved sweat shirt along with matching trousers hugged his figure. He looked too comfy.

"You always dress like that?" I asked chinning at his attire of the day.

"Well, I thought of not dressing up ever again but, since someone can see me, I had to."

Heat crept up my cheeks as I imagined him naked, but I quickly pushed away the dirty thoughts as soon as it invaded my perverted mind. William just let out a hearty laugh at my horrified expression.

"So, where are you headed?" He asked as I picked up Aristotle who was now busy sniffing me.

"To see the practice," I responded. Biting my lip I asked, "You wanna join me?"

"I was gonna ask if I could tag along anyways."

We made our way through the sidewalk filled with acacia trees that opened up to the stadium sized football field full of coaches and athletes. The bleachers had no life except a few girlfriends and janitors.

"Big day coming. First game of the year, would be a shame if they lose it," William said as we squinted in the blazing sun.

"Yeah, true."

I saw Mikayla sitting on the bleachers, sipping her smoothie as she cheered on Elijah. I glanced sideways at William to find him staring at the cheerleaders rehearsing on the other end.

"You like cheerleading?" I jokingly teased him.

"Pfft, no," he looked away abruptly, "Britney can seriously injure herself doing those stunts."

I almost stopped in my tracks. How did he know her name? I tried to recall if I had called out on Britney the other day I helped her. Maybe I did. Anyhow, I couldn't help but wonder if William knew her.

"Here!" I perked up at the call and looked up to find Mikayla waving at us, well, at me. It was still strange to think that no one else could see William.

"Aww, whose puppy is that?" She gushed as Aristotle ran to her, wailing his tail.

"Umm, I don't know. Just found him on my way here," I spoke stealing a look from William.

"I should totally take him with me, poor baby," Mikayla said.

"No!" Both me and William cried out. I flailed my arms to pick Aristotle from the ground.

Mikayla looked at me, taken back by my sudden disagreement.

"I mean, he might be the watchman or someone else's, they might try to find him later," I reasoned caressing the pup while William sighed beside me.

"Oh, yeah, stupid of me not to think that," Mikayla let out an awkward laugh eyeing me with a questioning look. I just placed Aristotle in her arms, masking an innocent look.

We sat down watching the game. In the span of only five minutes, I had lost interest as William complained loudly every time anyone slipped up or made a mistake. He seemed to know a lot about football which was great, but his constant comments didn't let me enjoy the game properly. I tried shushing him a couple of times which Mikayla took as talking to the dog. She even moved a seat away. Just great.

When the practice ended, Jaxon and Elijah came up to us as we made our way out. 

''Why are you so jittery Abb-''

''I will call you later. Gotta get home quickly,'' I spoke quickly taking Aristotle from her hold and made a beeline towards the exit before she could question my weird antics. William was already waiting outside with an agitated face. 

I was about to yell at him for ruining my time but Jaxon caught up to me beforehand, ''Glad you were there.''

"You were great out there," I said turning to face him. William approached us slyly, eyeing him.

"No, he wasn't, he even gave the opponent the chance to pin him down," William ranted by my ear while I gave him a stern look to shut up.

"Thanks...it wasn't really my best but I hope the coach sees my efforts."

"He will," I said, patting him on his buffed shoulders for reassurance.

"Sure," William still chided, huffing out.

We parted there but not before introducing Aristotle to Jaxon. Jaxon started sneezing almost instantaneously to which I found out he was allergic to dogs. He sprinted away before I could apologize. William just smirked at nothing.

"Not knew your boyfriend was allergic to dogs?"

I threw a baffled look before clarifying, "Jaxon's not my boyfriend...he's also a new kid."

William's eyebrows lifted in realization as he nodded a bit to himself, "That's why I have never quite seen him around before."

I was still sulking as we walked by the side lanes. Mikayla must have developed doubts about me and Jaxon may already have puffy eyes or itchiness.

"You hungry?" William asked as a main crossroad came across. I was about to deny but my stomach drove out a mighty rumble of its own.

''Looks like it. Come on, I know a great place.'' I remained silent but my cheeks were burning red from embarrassment. 

''You're not gonna ask what we are goin' to eat?'' William asked looking at me. Apparently, he didn't find amusement in my embarrassment so I was relieved.

"You can eat?" I asked as it hit me.

"Duh, and FYI I can also drink, feel, think and do most things. What I can't do is touch people or take a shit."

We both burst out laughing as soon as he said that. I had to bite down my tongue so people wouldn't take me as a maniac.

"You can touch me," I stated as we crossed the road to the Mexican truck parked on the other side.

"You are the only exception."

As he said that, my stomach did a somersault while my cheeks burned for a whole different reason. But I knew I was not special and he might be just a wandering spirit who I happen to see.

I could just hope I was wrong and he was anything but a spirit.