Dirty Faces - Book 2

Chapter 10: Hard to Say

Chapter 10: Hard to Say

Leslie stepped off the school bus and looked around for her brother. Her parents insisted they make the relatively short walk home together; she wasn't sure exactly which of them was supposed to be looking out for the other. J.D. usually waited for her over around the dirt patch, but this afternoon, he wasn't there. The only one of his friends still there was Ginny.

Leslie shook her head; he must have gotten detention. She hurried across the street in front of the bus, wrapping her icy hands in her red scarf as she went, and caught up with a couple of her girl friends. They were discussing what they were going to wear on their dates that night, but quickly changed the subject when Leslie joined them.

“We were thinking of going to the diner for a cup of hot chocolate, Leslie,” said Marcy Stewart. “Do you wanna come?”

“Yes,” Leslie replied. “I'll just need to tell my mama where I'm going. You don't have to wait up on me.”

The other girls' jaws tightened, and Leslie felt a hand lightly touch her shoulder. She turned around to find Kody Paserella looking rather unsure of himself. She couldn't tell if her heart skipped a beat or just thumped harder than usual, but she definitely felt the heat in her cheeks rising, not from embarrassment or excitement, but anger. She arched a brow and asked, “Can I help you?”

He shoved both hands in his pockets. “I don't really need any help, no.” The other girls exchanged side-long glances.

“Well, what is it?” Leslie snapped.

He hesitated. “I just...thought...maybe...I might walk you home. If you wouldn't mind.” Leslie turned back around and caught a glimpse of Ginny, Jack, and Adam as they headed down the main road out of town. She looked at her friends, neither of whom offered any advice.

“I'm going to the diner with Marcy and Carol. Thanks, but I don't need a walk home.”

“You just said you were going to tell your mother where you were going, first. I would assume your mother is at home.”

She pursed her lips and glared at him a moment, then turned back to her friends. They shrugged. Leslie turned back to him and with her eyes on the ground, sighed. “Alright. But straight home. No detours.”

A smile played at one corner of his lips. “I would never.”

“I'll catch up with you girls shortly,” Leslie said to the other girls. They nodded and turned to walk off, speaking to each other in hushed voices. She looked up at Kody and said in her snippiest tone, “Well, let's get going. It's cold.”

“Yes, ma'am.”

They didn't say anything initially, just walked. He turned up the collar of his coat to shield his neck from the biting wind, then stuffed his hands back in his pockets and resumed jingling the loose change and whatever else lie within. “How have you been?” he asked dispassionately.

“I suppose you would know the answer to that question had you written me while you were away. Or perhaps spoken to me since you've been back.”

He bit his lip, accepting the blow. “Yes.”

She kept her eyes straight ahead because she didn't want to be ugly to anyone, but it made her angry every time she looked at him. Her mind raced, wondering what it was he could possibly want from her when it was so apparent that it wasn't her that he wanted at all.

“You know,” she said thoughtfully, “there for a while, I really thought I deserved an explanation. I certainly wanted one. But now, not so much. It doesn't really matter.”