RANDOM QUESTION:

Pulling Away (Paranoid Xav Makes Stupid Decisions).

He's pulling away.

Its been a week since the group had gone to the tracks and Xavier was pulling away from me. It's not like we didn't speak, we did. But it always seemed to be very strained from his side. His equations with the others didn't change as drastically as it did with me but everyone had noticed a change in his attitude too.

"He looks like someone who has the habit of shouldering everyone's burden," Jen said to me as she tried searching for an outfit for me. "You getting hurt last week has definitely taken a toll on him, Ver. I just hope you are able to fix everything on this date of yours."

"Are you sure that he's the guy you have been talking to on your site though?" Jerko asked me as he copied my math notes.
Today was the day mystery guy and I had set for our 'date' that we were about to go on. The fact that he was the one who reminded me of it gave me some hope though. A silver lining that maybe he wants to take a step ahead too.

"Pretty sure," I said. "I traced the IP address of the guy back to him too. Its my website so it wasn't much hassle. It traced back to Xavier's house."

"Kelsi told me that he's been busy fixing the Garrick situation the past week," Jerko said with clenched teeth. "To be honest, I would've loved watching him beat Garrick to pulp but Xav's idea works too."

"Just speak to him properly today, Ver," Jen said as she removed a maroon sweater, black leggings, boots and a scarf for me because of the cold. "He's our friend. A part of our group. I don't like to see him so burdened and detached."

"Neither do I Jen," I said with a sigh as I gathered my clothes in my hand and stepped inside the washroom to change.
Fifteen more minutes and I was all changed as I got down to take my car keys.

"Where are you two going for your date, honey?" mom asked me.

"To that new restaurant two streets down!"

"Okay, well tell him we say Hi and invite him for our barbeque party that's coming up," dad reminded me.

"Yupidy yup yup! Bye, guys!"

"Bye Ver!" All of them yelled.

I took the Ford out and put the key in the ignition. Within ten minutes, I had reached the restaurant.
"Hello ma'am, do you have a booking with us?" A lady at the reception asked me.

"Uh.....I think so? It's mostly under the name Anderson."

"Please give me a moment," she said with a smile.

I took that time to take in the restaurant. It was a nice cozy place with dim lights and wooden furniture. The staff looked hospital and even though I was standing outside, I could smell the freshly cooked delicious food.

"Yes, we do have a booking under the name Xavier Anderson for two people. Are you miss Silverstone?"

I sighed in relief and internally high fived myself that I had correctly guessed that it was Xav who I was talking to all this while. I only wished I would have found out sooner.

"Yes, that's me."

"This way ma'am," she said as she led me to a table at the back of the restaurant. A small yellow light was suspended on top and the table was right next to the window. He hadn't come in yet so I decided to look outside the window for a while. The bustling streets of Minnesota had a calming effect on me. I was used to the noise. It had a weirdly calming effect on me.

I had come today with a goal in my mind. To be upfront with Xavier about many things. Garrick. Him distancing himself. The site. And lastly, I wanted to tell him how I felt about him. It was better that way, with everything out in the open. Maybe if he realised the way I felt about him, he would understand why am I not just going to abandon him. None of us are.