AllFreeNovel
Share Us
1
Cool as a Cucumber
Ihad barely walked through the door and I could already hear them whispering. I don’t know why I was surprised; I knew they would be. It was so cliché: troubled girl walks through crowded cafeteria while everyone stops what they are doing to stare, leaning in and covering their mouths to mutter something to their friends. Part of me wondered what they were saying; the other part of me knew I was better off not knowing. Instantly, I had flashbacks to walking through the halls in sixth grade, right after everyone heard the news that my mother had up and left. That I could handle – this was worse. Focusing straight ahead, I tried to act natural, as if today was just like any other day; as if the past three weeks were just one awful nightmare that I would soon wake up from.
“Just breathe. Cool as a cucumber, remember?” The arm of my best friend linked with mine. Her words of encouragement only confirmed that I did not look natural at all.
“I do not feel very cucumber-like. This was a bad idea.”
“Here. Sit.” Shelly stopped next to an empty table and pulled out a chair for me. “What do you want – pizza or Chinese?”
“You are not going to leave me here alone with these vultures while you bring me a tray of food, like I’m some helpless cripple. I’m coming with you.”
“How are you going to carry a tray of food with that?” She pointed to the sling cradling my left arm.
“Can we not, with the pointing?!”
“Yes, because it was my pointing that called attention to the big contraption wrapped around your arm.”
I sighed as we made our way to the pizza counter. “Remind me why I let you talk me into coming here for lunch?”
“Because you needed to get out of the house... and because you were beginning to smell a bit ripe.”
“The doctor told me I had to wait a few days before showering!”
“Two days. The doctor told you to wait two days. Not five.”
I rolled my eyes and opened the refrigerator while Shelly ordered our slices. I tried to balance both of our soda bottles in one hand. It was difficult doing everything with one arm. It was even more difficult for me to ask for help.
“I’m serious,” she continued, tucking her red hair behind her ear. “I don’t think Febreeze is going to save that poor recliner you’ve been laid up in. We probably have to burn it.”
I felt my cheeks push up as I tried to conceal a smile.
“There it is! There’s the smile I was waiting for.” She poked her finger into the dimple in my left cheek.
As I attempted to swat her hand away from my face, one of the soda bottles sprung loose from my grip and rolled across the floor. The cashier shot us a disapproving look. I quickly followed after the runaway bottle, and knelt down to catch it before it went any further. When I reached my hand out, a large-sized white sneaker stopped the bottle in its tracks. My eyes traveled upward – perfectly-fitting jeans, a white t-shirt that was tight in all the right places, broad shoulders – until they were looking into a pair of familiar eyes staring back at me. I quickly tried to stand when I saw who it was, but he bent down to help me up, and both of our heads knocked together. We recoiled, rubbing our heads in unison.
“You should be more careful crawling around on the floor with that arm,” he said with a smirk.
“You should be more careful with that head.”
“Are you okay?”
Ignoring his outstretched hand, I stood and brushed my pants off. “I’m good. I’ve been through worse.”
His eyes tensed. “I know.”
I immediately regretted my choice of words. I felt the tightening in my chest and averted my attention to the soda bottle still under his shoe. “Well, thanks for stopping that.”
“No problem,” he said as he picked it up. “Just don’t try to open it any time soon, unless you’re planning on wearing it.”
“Don’t worry. That one’s hers.” I pointed my thumb in Shelly’s direction.
His smirk turned into a grin, revealing his set of impeccably straight teeth. “Here. You can carry things better like this.” He stepped closer to me, and wedged the soda bottle into the crook of my elbow. The sling cradled it along with my arm and kept it from falling.
“Thanks.” I quickly backed up and turned to make my way back to Shelly. I had only walked a few steps away when I heard his voice call from behind me.
“Merritt?”
