Page 23 of Quiet
“You can talk to him?” His mother ventured once she’d calmed down.
“A little.”
“What’s he like?”
WhatwasIsa like? Kind, definitely. And brave. Even when surrounded by angry protesters, he’d still stood up for the rights of others. He was willing to be late in order to take care of an injured animal, and he worried more about Briar’s arm than the fact that he’d nearly been knocked unconscious by a wrench. “Worrisome,” he concluded. “Small, and very worrisome.”
“Is the boy you grabbed okay, Briar?” his aunt asked.
Briar grunted in annoyance. “Isa is probably taking care of him right now.” His hackles rose just thinking about it.
“His name is Isa?”
Briar nodded.
“That’s adorable.”
“Heis adorable,” he admitted begrudgingly.
“Eeeeeeeeeeee!”
Briar held his phone as far away from his ears as he could get it. “What’s wrong with you two?”
“It’s okay, love. This is totally normal for someone your age. In fact, we’ve been expecting it.” His mom grabbed her sister’s arm and shook it back and forth. Instead of protesting, Fiona took the offending hand and squeezed it in excitement.
“Expecting what?”
“For you to find somebody!”
“To do what with?” Briar felt like they were going in circles. “If you two could get to the point, that would be nice.”
“To date!” Both women shouted at the same time.
Date?
Briar didn’t date.
He got plenty of stares, but he’d never been sure the stares weren’t because people thought he was odd. And even if the stares weren’t because he was odd, he’d never been inspired to look back.
But he watched Isa. A lot. When he was around, he couldn’t take his eyes off him and when he wasn’t around—
“Are you going to ask him out?” Fiona interrupted Briar’s train of thought.
“What?”
He wasn’t talking to his family about this topic. He hung up.
His phone buzzed as soon as he hung up, but it wasn’t his parents. It was Alex.
Alex:You okay?
Briar:Yes
Alex:Are you sure? You didn’t look okay
Briar:Yes
Alex:Will isn’t hurt, if you were wondering
