"I lived with people who made me feel worthless, and told me my parents were better off dead. Just when I had made up my mind that all people were uncaring, and merciless, I met Carol, and for the first time in four years, I felt loved again." - Jena Marshal~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I went back to the deck and sat down. Erik’s eyes flickered over to me, and his smile vanished. I met his gaze head on, my heart rate began to quicken as I frantically looked away. “Can I talk to you for a second?” I stammered, not letting my gaze meet his. Silently, he moved over to the steps and sat down next to me. I slid over a bit, not wanting to be too close to him. I wasn’t sure why, it just felt awkward sitting so close to someone I never expected to even say hi to, let alone be starting a conversation with.
“It‘s about your car,” I started quietly.
He looked towards his car, which sat parked on the side of the road.
“I’m really sorry! I…”
“I know it was you Jena, but I’m not mad,” he sighed lightly. “I just couldn’t understand why you didn’t tell me. Instead you got your friend Jeffrey to cover for you.”
I shook my head back and forth violently. “I didn’t tell him to. He did it because he thought he was protecting me,” I blurted out unthinkingly.
Erik looked confused. “Protecting you? From what?”
“It’s not so much ‘what’, as ‘who’,” I muttered. I hoped he wouldn’t be offended by that.
"Me?” he sounded startled.
“No,” I shook my head. “apparently everyone thinks Robert is Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” I laughed, then stopped. Was I really talking this openly with the guy that completely fascinated me to a point when I couldn’t even put a sentence together right?
Erik chuckled intensely, amused by my assessment of his brother. “People tend to jump to conclusions with us.”
“I’ve noticed,” I looked at him. Bad idea. His deep brown eyes shot over to me, catching me in his stare. I quickly looked away before he could see my cheeks flushing deep red.
He looked ahead.
Suddenly the front door swung open and Courtney emerged. Erik jumped up and moved a few feet away, standing still, his eyes on Courtney. I looked at him, perplexed. Was he ashamed to be seen talking to me?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*