the girl on the bench

Chapter 7

"So, what do you play?" I ask her. She's finished cleaning my wound now and is riffling through the tub looking for something else. "Mostly drums, guitar... my voice" she says scoffing at the last part of her sentence. She finds a large Bandaid and measures it up against my knee for size. "Would you sing for me? It might help me feel better" I ask. She scrunches her face. I realise that she doesn't want to answer me. I decide to drop the conversation so as to not embarrass her further. After a moment she says "I'm on Spotify" she says as she puts the Bandaid on my knee and puts the supplies back into the cupboard. "What do I search?" I ask. She washes her hands in the sink and I can see her better in the light. She's blushing. "Ah... G Flip. Do you feel OK?" She asks me. "G Flip" I repeat as I stand up "Thank you". She nods and leads me into the lounge room. "Now that your walk is ruined, do you want to watch a movie or something or do you want me to take you home?" She asks me. I consider my options. I feel a bit awkward with our most recent conversation so maybe heading home is the best for me, to give her some space. "Ah, it's OK, I can walk back to mine. You're already home and I'm not that far. Plus, you've done so much for me already" she shakes her head, digs into a jar by the front door and pulls out a set of keys. "I'm taking you" she says and holds the door open for me. She looks annoyed. This is the part where we never see each other again. At least I'll get my bench back to myself. I head towards the door and can't help myself saying, "You know you're bossy, right?" She scoffs "Yeah, I've been told that before" She quickly snaps back. Fuck, this ride will be fun. 

She locks up the house and leads me to a beat up Ford Fairmont. Once we get in, I take a look around the interior of the car. "It's a classic" I say. She whips her head around to look at me. "She's a beauty" she says smiling now. "My dad used to have one of these cars. It looked exactly like this" I say smiling back at her.

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The ride to mine was short lived but she blasted some music I hadn't heard before and we both silently enjoy the music. She parks in front of my garage in the driveway of my place and stops the car. "Wait there" she says to me as she gets out and opens my side of the car. She gives me her hand and I take it and step out of the car while wincing. "Sorry, the door jams on that side. At least it makes me look chivalrous" we both laugh. "Are you sure you're OK? I can take you to the doctor if you need" she says to me. "I'm fine" I say and she furrows her brows. It must be the word 'fine' "... good. I'm good" I say correcting myself immediately so she doesn't worry. She lets go of my hand which I didn't realise I was still holding. She walks me to my front door. "Hey, sorry about before. In the bathroom" she says looking at the ground shoving her hands in her pockets. "I just get awkward when talking about my music. I'm proud of it and all but I don't want to seem like I'm bragging" she says and I laugh. "I didn't think you were bragging. I still wanna hear you sing, even if it is through Spotify" I say. She looks up at me and smiles. "Don't judge me for it, they're mostly love songs... About an ex" she says. "Oh I love a good love song" I say making light of the situation. She scrunches her face up and smirks. "Thanks for today and cleaning me up. You're a life saver" I say touching her arm and deciding to leave it there. It felt right. She looks at my hand and smiles. I look from her eyes to her mouth and smile back at her. She looks at my mouth as well and takes a step towards me closing the gap between us. She puts a hand on my waist and I lean my head in towards hers. Our faces are centimetres apart now. Suddenly, the garage door opens and bursts our bubble. "Who the fuck is that?" Alex says loudly. G takes a step back causing our hands to drop and we both turn towards Alex. "Oh! Hi Soph. Hi Sophie's friend" she says loudly. She looks at G's car. G immediately understands that she's blocking Alex in. "Sorry!" G calls out "I'm leaving now" she continues. She turns to me "I'll see you tomorrow?" She asks me. "Take care of your knee, OK?" She says and I nod in response. Her eyes flicker to my lips and she bites her own before heading towards her car. I lean against the door frame and watch her leave, waving at her as she passes my house. Fucking hell Alex!