I rushed through the hallways looking for Robert. I had called him several times on his cell phone, but he hadn’t answered. He wasn’t even in any of his classes.

Did he ditch? Impossible, Robert was such a pansy when it came to ditching. He was always too scared that his mother would find out. But there was no other alternative. He didn’t even go to first period, which rules out illness unless two seconds after we separated, he got sick. Robert ditched to read the book.

My hands tightened into fists. Damn, Robert knew I always wanted to ditch, why couldn’t he take me with him?

I walked out of school feeling dejected. I had spent the last twenty minutes of my afterschool time looking for Robert only to come to the conclusion that I was ditched. I circled the parking lot and found the “cool” parking spot empty. Rebecca had once warned me that if I was not in the car when she got in, she wasn’t going to wait around. I never had a reason to be late before, until now. Today was not my day. Everyone was leaving me.

Damn it Rebecca.

I peaked at the sidewalk next to the school and contemplated what had to be done. I had to walk five miles in the sun to get to my house. Normally I wouldn’t have a problem with walking, but today was hotter than usual. The fabric of my shirt was sticking to my skin as I wiped the sweat off of the back of my neck. I did not want to make that walk.

I took out my cell phone and called Rebecca’s number. She answered after the second ring. “Yes sister.” She said sweetly.

“Where the hell are you?” I yelled into the phone.

“Such anger sister. My friends asked me for a ride home, and you were taking forever, and when I called you the line was busy. So, I am taking them home first, I’ll come back for you after kay.” She giggled. I could hear her friends chattering in the background.

“How many are there?”

“Three of them, I am dropping off the first one now.”

“Fuck, that’s going to take forever.”

“Don’t get pissy, give me like twenty or thirty minutes, I’ll be there.”

“You better.” I grumbled. “Or I’ll tell mom you left me.”

“I did not!”

I hanged up on her. My backpack was starting to feel heavy on my shoulders. I walked to the curb and sat down. I reclined back and used my backpack as a pillow. The heat from the sun was making my face red. Most of the students had cleared out. The few that passed me by gave me weird looks. I smiled at them and they cringed.

“You like to creep people out, don’t you?”

I sat up startled. His mouth was curved in a condescending smile and his green eyes glowed with a certain mischief that was painfully attractive. “Oh, it’s just you.” I laid back down and put my hand in front of my face to block the sun. “Are you stalking me?”

He snorted. “I bet you’d like that.”

I smiled. “Maybe. Maybe not.”

Daston walked towards me and plopped down next to me. “Give me some of that backpack.” He pushed me gently so that there was room for him to put his head on my backpack.

“No, why?” I struggled against him, he still managed to put his head down. He smelled like fresh pine tree.

“That’s better. Damn it’s hot, why the hell are we here under the sun?”

“Yea, exactly, why are you here? I was just having the loveliest time here by myself.”

“No, you weren’t, but you are having a lovely time now though, right?”

“Ha! You wish.”

“Cocky much.” He bumped his head against mine. “I might wish a little though.”

“Really?” I smiled accidently.

“See.” He poked my cheek. “I knew you wanted that.”

I frowned quickly. Damn it. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. “This is nice.”

It really was. I closed my eyes too, even the sun was not bothering me anymore.

“Why are you out here?” He mumbled lazily. “You usually leave right away.”

“Rebecca is dropping off some friends, then she’s coming back for me.”

“Ugh, that sucks.” He turned towards me, his nose poking my cheek. “You think she can give me a ride?” His soft breath was warm against my skin.

“Ha! Are you kidding me? If you asked her, she’d probably drop down to her knees and call you daddy.”

He cringed. “That is not a visual I wanted.” He turned his head back up. “I live close to you guys, so she can drive straight home, I can walk the few blocks from there to my house.”

I turned towards him quickly. “Creepy, how the hell do you know where we live?”

“Cause I stalk you.” He said sarcastically and laughed.

I rolled my eyes at him. I was never going to get a good answer from him. “Why are you popping up everywhere today? I can’t take one step without you being there. Aren’t you..” I stopped myself.

“Aren’t I what.” He closed his eyes tightly. “Afraid you mean? Is that what you were going to say.” He opened his eyes and angled them towards me.

I stayed quiet. I did not know what to say. It seemed silly to tell him yes. I looked away.

“Look at me.” He said forcefully. I turned towards him. His mouth was set in a grim line and his eyes held nothing but the truth. “These people here, they are afraid of everything. They are afraid of who they make friends with, what they look like, what they wear. But most of all, they’re afraid of you”

“Why?” I said shocked. “Why are they afraid of me?”

“You know why?” He used his thumb to smooth out the pucker between my eyebrows. “Because you see things.” I absorbed what he just said. I see things. He was talking about my dreams I just knew it.

He covered the majority of his face with his hands, blocking out the sun. “Don’t think too much about it, we can talk about it later when we are alone.”

I found myself nodding along with him. I still did not trust him, but suddenly I wanted nothing more than to be alone with him. I needed to find out more of what he knew. “How about I pick you up tonight? We could get something to eat and we’ll talk about everything that is running through that head of yours.”

I looked at him suspiciously. “Why does it sound like you are asking me out on a date?”

He scoffed. “Man, you are really trying to turn this into something romantic.” He winked. “Can’t blame you though.”

I shook my head at him. I heard the familiar engine of the Toyota pull up next to me. The car window rolled down. “Why are you laying on the sidewalk like some creeper?” Rebecca’s voice called out. “Does Robert need a ride home too?” She said annoyed. I sat up startled. Robert? I looked down at Daston, he had his face covered with his hands, his brown hair was dark enough that it looked black like Robert’s and they were similar in height. She probably only took a quick glance. Man was she going to be surprised.

I stood up and grinned into the window. Rebecca inched back. “Why the hell do you have to do it so creepy?”

Daston stood up next to me. “I thought she was going to say daddy not Robert.”

Rebecca’s eyes widened. “Daston.” She sputtered. The look of shock was comical.

“May I have a ride?” He asked sweetly, giving her a crooked smile.

“Sure.” She said eagerly. “Do you want to sit up front?”

I frowned. How could she give up my seat so easily? Daston glanced down at the passenger seat, then looked at me. “You want to sit on my lap?” He said quietly so only I could hear.

I punched his arm hard. “Brianna!” Rebecca yelled. “How could you do that?”

“Yea Briana. How could you do that?” He imitated Rebecca’s voice almost exactly. I burst out laughing. Rebecca looked at Daston and I could tell by her face she was debating whether or not she should be mad at him. The latter won.

“Come on in Daston.” She tapped the passenger seat. He stared at it, then glanced at Rebecca.

He opened the car door, I walked around him so I could open the door to the backseat, but he blocked me with his foot and made an exaggerated gesture with his hands signaling me to go inside. I raised an eyebrow at him.

“What?” He shrugged. “I’ve got manners. I open doors when in the presence of a lady.”

I rolled my eyes at him and slid onto the passenger seat. Rebecca gave me an annoyed look. I shrugged at her, not my fault, he was the one who told me to take it. Daston closed the door then opened the back door for himself and buckled himself in. His fresh scent overpowered our girly scent, and it filled the entire car. It was mouthwatering. I peaked at Rebecca, she was stealing glances at Daston from the mirror. Daston stayed quiet and stony in the back seat.

“Where too Daston?” Rebecca asked.

“Just drive to your house, I can walk from there.” He said seriously.

“It’s no problem, I can drop you off at your place.” She said eagerly. I knew she was dying to find out where he lived.

“No, it’s better this way. Otherwise, Briana might stalk me.”

I choked on my spit. “Why the hell would I stalk you?” I yelled out.

He gave me a cocky look. “You know why, you are just dying to see me naked. Can’t have you lurking under my bedroom window.”

My mouth popped open. Rebecca looked at me weirdly. “You actually confessed that to him? Talking to me about your fantasy is one thing, but you do not confess them to..”

“Shut up!” I yelled at Rebecca. Curse her big mouth, I should have never told her about the naughty things I thought about.

Daston had a self-satisfied look on his face. “I knew you had dirty fantasies about me.”

“No, I don’t.” I shot Rebecca a glare. She gave me a guilty look, realizing too late that she fell for Daston’s trap.

She shook her head quickly and looked at Daston through the mirror. “What the hell is going on? Why does it sound like you are flirting with Brianna?”

Daston stayed quiet as we pulled up into our street and Rebecca drove the car into the driveway. “It looks like we are here. Guess I’ll leave you two then.” Daston said quickly.

Rebecca locked the doors and put the child safety lock on. “Not until you answer my question.” She said harshly. It was scary as hell.

He put his hands up. “Look guys, I am not up for a threesome.”

“Good, because you weren’t getting any.” I told him. I turned to Rebecca. “This is actually kind of scary though.” I told her quietly.

“Fine.” She said childishly and unlocked the doors. Daston got up quickly and nodded at both of us. He ended my nod with a wink and walked away. I forgot to ask him if we were still going to go eat later on. Maybe after that scary as hell show Rebecca did, he thought better of it.

I got out of the car and turned to Rebecca. She was starting to walk towards the house. “What was that all about?” I asked. “It was like our roles reversed and suddenly you were the creepy one.” I laughed.

“Don’t laugh.” She said angrily. “I can’t believe I did that. I just embarrassed myself in front of Daston.”

“Dude who cares. Daston sure as hell doesn’t. He is just as weird, actually more so.”

“I care.” She said frustrated. “I have been waiting so long to talk to him, and when I do I act like some creeper.” Her nostrils flared. “Why are you two all buddy buddy all of a sudden?”

“Honestly, I don’t even know. But don’t worry, I think Daston secretly liked that you locked the doors. It is more his style.” I grinned at her. “He even made a sexual suggestion at you, he would have never done that prior to.”

“What?” She turned towards me suddenly. “What do you mean he would not have done that prior? Did he say something? Besides, I would not consider him saying he would deny a threesome as progress.”

“He might have mentioned you in passing, I don’t quite remember.”

“What were you guys talking about in the sidewalk, and in the cafeteria?”

“He just wants to be my friend. I think he is just a natural pervert, but he means to be strictly platonic with me.”

She nodded. “Yea, he is very flirty and quite a little pervert. I would have never guessed that.” She smiled. “Interesting. Whenever you talk to him, let me know and invite me over ok.” She looked at me intensely. “I would have never guessed it, but you are my inside man now sister.” She turned away from me and walked into the house. I dragged along after her. I did not particularly feel in a cheery mood.