Page 4 of Carter

He threw the bottle back on the ground and motioned for us to go. What could I do except follow? I’d been longing for time alone with him. Now that he noticed me, I couldn’t mess it up.

Please, Leah, don’t mess it up!

*

He took me home. We said nothing the entire way, but the butterflies inside of me ran rampant with each step I was alongside him. He walked close to me, closer than you would a friend. I opened my mouth several times throughout that walk. I just couldn’t force any words out.

When we got to our trailers, I saw a random car out front of mine and I knew it meant the trailer was occupied. I’d have to be waiting outside again for who knows how long. It didn’t bother me, though. This part of my life was normal for me. I didn’t really know any better.

Turning to Carter, I told him timidly, “Thanks for walking me back.”

I could hardly look into his eyes for more than a few seconds; they were dizzying to look into, and when he stared at me, he did it like I was the only thing he was focused on. The constant heat in my cheeks wouldn’t go away. I was completely wound up in him.

“No problem,” he said to me, smiling wistfully as his eyes danced about my face.

Cue the most painfully awkward moment ever. Was he going to give me a “see you later but I really mean never” wave? Or was this an opportunity for me to strike up a conversation to keep him here? I didn’t know. Christ, I was inexperienced. I was pretty much a loner with zero social skills. Being at school nowadays was difficult. Everybody knew about my aunt. Rumours had spread like wildfire, and I was often excluded from activities during recess. I spent more time ignoring people’s wicked insults and learning to keep my face as impassive as possible. Which is why my jumping Graeme was out of necessity. I had nobody to depend on but myself to get out of bad situations.

I had no friends except Rome, an introverted boy that would one day grow to be quite the opposite. Rome was reserved likeme and not popular enough to hang with the crowd Carter was prevalently part of. It was during Art class that we hit it off, and it came only after being partnered up for a project due to being the only ones left at the end.

Rome was exceptional with his hands. He was good with instruments, had been the school band drummer throughout grade school, and he could draw anything and everything. Just give him a pencil—it didn’t have to be a good pencil either—and watch the fireworks explode.

We sought each other out during recesses and lunch. We sort of just fit together naturally, two unwanted souls among a sea of judgmental assholes. I didn’t mind it at all. Rome was very soft on the eyes anyways. His dark hair and green eyes would one day slay the ladies, but until then… we were loners, together.

So yeah, there you go. That was most of my experience right now. Fending off bullies by being a passive little wimp and hanging around a kid that was just as socially outcast as me.

It was no wonder I was clinging on to this bad boy. Carter was a guy that would never have blinked in my direction had he not witnessed me maul a bully over like a freaking bulldog. He could have anyone he wanted. Hell, I was there to witness it from time to time. There were many nights I’d seen him leave the house during the evenings, and sometimes there were girls there waiting for him out front of his home. Other times there weren’t, but he’d always come back after midnight, slipping into his bedroom window while I watched through the crack of my poor excuse of a curtain.

He’d be out enjoying himself, and I was inside my prison, shut inside my room, acting like a complete stalker Fatal Attraction style.

“So…” I started, clearing my throat as I searched around us for something to talk about. I didn’t want him to go.

Oh, God, please never go.

“I’ll be at the creek,” he suddenly said, a cocky smile forming at his lips. “And since you follow me around like a crazy person and all, I expect you’ll be there.”

I froze, my eyes widening as I stared up at him in horror. What…

Did he—

Oh no.

Oh, hell no.

He knew I watched him? How long had he known?

Christ, Leah.My brain droned on.You’re not as stealthy as you think.

“Don’t be embarrassed,” he said casually. “I’ve always known you were there. I just didn’t say anything. Didn’t want you to feel weird.”

“I still feel weird,” I whispered, clasping my hands together nervously.

He chuckled before he flashed me those heart stopping eyes and replied, “But it’d have been weirder if I’d caught you in the act, right? I’ll spare you that trauma. I’m ready to have my only audience in sight for once anyways.”

I felt a pleasurable chill run down my spine. He disarmed me. I wanted him so much and I didn’t even understand what that even meant, or why I even felt this way to begin with.

Coming a little closer to me, he leaned down and whispered, “I’ll see you in ten minutes, Leah.”

“Yeah,” I softly muttered as he walked off in the direction of his home and disappeared inside it.

---