Caged

13

The rest of the week passed by quickly, and now it was Friday and school had just ended. Elijah had texted me to tell me that Uncle Landon was going to pick me up and drop me home today, so I was waiting outside of the school.

I hadn't really spoken to my brother since Monday, and I'd managed to distract myself from the conversations I had with him and Mia.

As much as I believed myself and my own mind, it was proving difficult to not think about what they said.

I'd seen him with my own eyes; talked to him myself, but how could I not doubt myself when everyone claimed I was the only one who had?

It didn't make sense, and it wasn't a good feeling. It was confusing and scary, and I didn't know what to think anymore.

I decided I'd worry about that another time, I didn't need it right now. My head was still healing and I was starting to get headaches from all my overthinking.

I didn't even have the chance to bring it up to Mia again at any point this week because she never allowed a moment of silence between us. Whenever it did happen to go quiet between us, at any point throughout the day, she'd quickly jump into a new topic of conversation.

Lately, it seemed like everyone was starting to act strange around me.

I gasped in surprise and snapped out of my thoughts when an arm wrapped around my waist from behind, and I was yanked back against a hard chest. I twisted my head over my shoulder to see Sebastian.

"Izzy," he acknowledged quietly against the side my head, smiling, and I twisted around so I was facing him. His arm slipped away and he took a step back. I hadn't seen him around this week as much as I would have liked.

"Hey," I laughed. "Shouldn't you be in practice right now?"

He grabbed my hand, and pulled us towards the bench near the entrance of the school. I took a seat next to him.

"I got time," he replied simply, holding my gaze. "You waiting for a ride?"

I nodded, leaning back, and I scanned the parking lot to see if my ride was here, but I didn't see Uncle Landon's car anywhere.

"Want me to drop you off?" He asked, and I glanced over at him.

"You have practice," I reminded him, raising my eyebrows.

"You're more important," he winked, teasing, and I shook my head.

"That's stupid," I said flatly, rolling my eyes. I looked away so he didn't see the effect his words had on me, and he chuckled like he knew what I was doing. "But I'm fine. My uncle should be here any minute."

"You can always call and tell him you have a ride," he suggested, grinning. "That way, you and I can spend some time together."

I had to fight back the smile that threatened to take over my face because I did not want him to think he should say things like that. We were friends. We were taking it slow. I was not getting sucked back in to whatever we used to have.

"Next time," I promised, and he sighed dramatically, but let it go.

It was silent between us as we watched the cars pulling out of the parking lot, but it was a comfortable silence. I felt safe; happy with whatever this was between us. Even if it was just the start, but there were still questions plaguing my mind.

"Can I ask you a question?" I asked, breaking the silence between us. Sebastian looked up from his phone, and he nodded, putting it away.

"Did I do something wrong?"