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“Nice pajamas. You look cute.”
“Here I was, hoping my horrifying appearance would turn your stomach and cause you to flee in fear.”
He grinned, which only infuriated me more.
Shelly placed a plate with a golden pancake in front of me. “Look. Your favorite.”
I pushed the pancake around with my fork, trying to ignore her obvious stare. My mood was not going to change just because Chase Brooks had brought us pancakes. My dislike for him outweighed my love of breakfast foods.
“She’s just nervous about today,” she stated.
“I am not.”
Chase shook his head. “Don’t worry. They won’t do much during the first week of physical therapy.”
“How would you know?”
He rubbed his left shoulder. “I tore my rotator cuff in high school. I had the same sling you have on, and had to go to physical therapy for weeks after that.”
“You tore it playing football.” I remembered him walking the halls with an entourage of girls, clamoring to cater to his every need.
“It took me out for the rest of the season. I missed every game. I was so bummed that year.”
I laughed.
Both Shelly and Chase looked at me wearing the same confused expressions.
“I was just thinking about how nice it would be if my problems were as minor as missing a few football games.”
“I’m sorry,” Chase started. “I didn’t mean it like–”
“It’s fine,” I waved my hand and stood. “I’m going to get dressed so we can get this over with.”
Part of me felt guilty as I made my way to Shelly’s bedroom to change. It was nice of Chase to offer to drive me to physical therapy; it was also nice of him to come with breakfast. Shelly would tell me that I should not treat him so rudely. She was easily the nicest person I knew – the kind that made others strive to be like her. She was a fierce friend, and her abundant optimism made it nearly impossible not to be in a good mood whenever she was around. Unfortunately, one side-effect of her positivity was occasional delusion. She lived in a world where everything was sunshine and rainbows, and all people could be trusted. I did not understand why Chase would volunteer to help me out of the pure goodness of his heart. I was unsure of his motives, and when I felt unsure about someone – my guard remained up.
I brushed my teeth and lost yet another battle with my hair. Curly hair was difficult enough to manage with two arms, let alone one. Workout attire was all I could muster. After what I had been through, the last thing on my mind was what I looked like. It was hard to find something that I cared about now. Nothing mattered anymore.
When I returned to the living room, Chase stood with his keys in hand.
“Thanks for breakfast,” Shelly said, prompting me with her eyes to do the same.
“Yeah, thanks. That was nice.” I offered him a half smile.
“Maybe next time you’ll eat a little more.” He half-smiled back.
I opened the front door and waved to Shelly on my way out. We walked down the stairs to find Chase’s black Plymouth Barracuda parked out front. I nodded my head in appreciation when we stopped at his car. “I forgot you drive a ‘Cuda.”
He raised his eyebrows. “You know what car this is?”
“What, because I’m a girl I can’t know about cars?”
He said nothing as he swung open the passenger door for me. He jogged around the front of the car as I positioned myself inside and struggled with my seatbelt.
“Would you like me to help you?” he asked in an amused tone.
“No.” Admittedly, I needed help putting my seatbelt on around the sling. I was in too much pain to maneuver around it, and blindly search for the interlocking buckle near my hip. He watched me for about thirty seconds more before he leaned across my lap to pull on the seatbelt and click it into place. His shirt smelled like fabric softener, as if it just came out of the dryer.
I watched him out of the corner of my eye as he backed out of the spot and began driving. I wondered if the kind of girls he dated knew what kind of classic they were riding in; I assumed not.
