A Few Hours Later

I was pacing in my room when I heard her car pull up outside. I rushed to the window, and watched her get out. She was in black pants, a grey shirt, boots, and a black coat. Even though everything she wore was simple looking, it clearly was a higher end brand. The same stuff her family wore. They really were the most well off family that lived in this town. She seemed to hesitate some before approaching the house, but when she did I made my way downstairs to meet her at the door. After the door bell rung I opened it eagerly.

“Hi,” I said looking at her.

“Good evening. I’m a little early, sorry about that.”

“It’s fine. Do you-“

“Actually, I was wondering if you had eaten dinner already?” she asked stopping me.

“No not really,” I admitted.

“Can I take you to eat then?” she asked.

“I guess so.”

“Are you alone?” she wondered seeing the how the house was mostly dark behind me.

“Uh yeah. My mom is working the night shift tonight.”

“Then all the more reason to go out. If you would like.”

“That sounds fine. I just have to-“

“I’ll wait out here while you get your coat,” she said calmly.

“Be right back,” I said before closing the door.

Why does she want to go out so badly? I am hungry though. I grabbed my coat that was on the kitchen table, and then I was out on my front steps with her locking up the house.

“You look good,” I mentioned as we walked to the car. “I mean since you were sick today,” I added.

“Uh, thanks. You look nice tonight as well,” she said as we stopped near the passenger side of the car.

“If you hadn’t of told me, I never would’ve known you were sick. Do you have a fever?” I asked reaching my hand towards her forehead.

“No, I’m fine,” she said moving back.

“Sorry,” I said putting my hand down.

“We should get going,” she said opening the car door.

I got in, and picked up the book that was on the seat. She got in on the other side.

“What is this?” I asked.

“A gift. It’s my copy of Macbeth. I’ve read it a thousand times. I thought that you might enjoy it. It does have some annotations that I wrote in it. I hope those won’t be distracting to you.”

“It won’t. Thank you so much. You didn’t have to give me this. It seems like it means a lot to you,” I said flipping through the pages, as the car started.

“I have so many books that I don’t know where to store them all. Really it’s no trouble. I probably  almost have it memorized.”

“Well thank you again,” I said holding it close to me.

“I wanted to ask how your arm was.”

“My arm? Oh the bruise? I only had that for a few days. It wasn’t a big deal.”

“It is a big deal. I hurt you. And I haven’t gotten a chance to apologize for that yet. I didn’t realize that I had grabbed you so forcefully. Not until you showed it to me.”

“But you saved me. It’s hardly anything compared to what could have happened. You don’t need to apologize to me. It’s not necessary,” I insisted reaching over to touch her shoulder briefly.

“It’s necessary to me. I don’t want to hurt you, in any way. And I already have multiple times,” she sighed.

I couldn’t change her mind, no matter what I said to try and convince her. She could be so hard on herself. I shouldn’t make her feel guilty about stuff anymore. It looks like she beats herself up enough already. The rest of the drive was uneventful. She took me to a family owned Italian restaurant in town. The waitress sat us at a table in the back. There weren’t many other people there because it was a little late for dinner. But before I sat down she pulled out my chair for me.

“You can be so polite when you want to be,” I said chuckling, and sitting down.

“My parents taught me to be respectful. I try to represent myself in a way that will make them proud. I’m sorry that I haven’t always treated you with the respect you deserve,” she said sitting down, and taking off her coat.

“Can I be honest with you?”

“I would prefer that you are.”

“You really aren’t like most people our age. Not that it’s a bad thing. I feel different too. I don’t connect with the other students very well. But I feel like I can talk to you,” I admitted.

“You feel more comfortable around me than our classmates? That’s a first for me,” she said with a smile.

“It’s true. I’ve always kind of felt like an old soul. I’m not into the latest iPhone, or the current music.”

“Are you ready to order?” the waitress asked reappearing.

“I’ll just have the spaghetti. Thank you,” I said handing her the menu.

“Nothing for me,” A.J. said to her.

“Ok,” she said leaving.

“You aren’t going to eat something?” I asked surprised.

“No, since I’ve been sick today. I just don’t want to chance it.”