Where Do We Go From Here?

I woke up before my alarm went off, which wasn’t anything unusual since I was glad to even catch a few hours of sleep. I trudged into my bathroom and got ready at a slugs pace. I stared down the idea of wearing sweatpants and a hoodie to school, but decided against it. I pulled out my comfy jeans and my The Clash t-shirt before throwing on my black hoodie. Today I felt like shit and maybe it was because I was worrying over my sister, but I highly suspect it’s due to my stuffy head and growing headache. I walked downstairs to find my father drinking coffee and reading the newspaper.

“Morning.” He said; barely glancing up at me.

“Morning.” I reciprocated while pouring myself some cereal. “Heard anything from mom yet?” I asked.

My father folded his paper in half before placing it on his empty plate. “She told me that your sister is making some progress. Not much, since she’s denying her condition.” He offered.

“Sounds promising.” I nodded.

“You feeling okay, kiddo?” My father asked.

I guess he noticed the way my nose looked red and my eyes were dreary from a short slumber. “I’m fine.” I shrugged off.

My father got up to feel my head. “No you’re not.” He shook his head. “You’re temperature is feeling a little high there.”

“I can’t miss school.” I said almost immediately.

“Yes you can, and you will. I can’t have myself worrying about two daughters.” He said with great concern.

I sighed while fighting the urge to roll my eyes at him. “I’ll stay home, but better or not, I’m heading to school tomorrow.”

My father laughed. “Spoken like a true workaholic. You got yourself a deal, young lady.” He smiled.

After polishing off my cereal—which tasted bland since my nose felt stuffy as well—I headed back to my room to text Callie.

To Callie: Won’t be coming to school today.

From Callie: What? Why? :(

To Callie: Feeling sick and my dad is making me.

From Callie: Oh, okay. Hope you feel better soon! Just so you know, I’ll probably look like a complete loner in you absence.

To Callie: I’m sure you’ll survive. I’ll see you later though :)

From Callie: Okay! Bye V! Get some rest and feel better! :)

Her copious use of exclamation marks made my head throb. I sunk back into my bed after taking a spoonful of medicine, and fell asleep almost instantly. I woke up in a blurry haze to the sound of my phone buzzing on my night stand. I groaned with exhaustion from the medicine and cursed at myself from being moody because I hated being woken up. Fumbling with tired hands, I grabbed my phone and answered it.

“What?” I greeted in a groggy voice.

“Whoa, didn’t mean to upset you.” Tony’s voice said on the other line.

“But you did, so what do you want?” I asked while sitting up.

I heard him laugh before saying “I was just checking up on you. I didn’t see you around, so I was a little concerned.”

“I’m at home sick. As of right now, my white blood cells are doing a shit job at being white blood cells.” I replied.

The upside was that my headache wasn’t as prominent at before; however, I still felt like shit.

“That sucks. Listen, I have just decided to skip the rest of my classes want me to bring something over to you?” He asked.

“No, I’m fine.” I answered.

“I’m heading to your house either way, so you might as well tell me what you want.” I could hear the smile in his voice. It was then that I registered what he had said.

“Wait, what? How the hell do you know where I live?” I asked with an alarming voice.

“Callie told me.”

“What the hell? Why would she tell you?”

“Because I asked.”

I groaned. “Why do you want to know where I live?”

“So I can properly stalk you.” He laughed making me smile slightly.

“Well you’re doing a shit job if you couldn’t kick it old school and follow me home after school or something.” I pointed out.

“That would be utterly cliché.” He scoffed.

I laughed before reluctantly saying “Bring me some tomato soup and a grilled cheese.”

“Got it, nothing to drink?” He asked.

“Nah, I have water.” I said thoughtfully before hanging up on him.

I smiled to myself, even though my head felt like it was about to explode. I started to think that maybe Tony might, just might like me. The thought was addictive to have, considering that those few moments I’ve spent with Tony had made me smile and laugh. As cute as my imagination made this idea sound, I quickly tucked it away. I couldn’t fill my head with false hope, so I just ignored whatever flimsy scenario my brain could conjure up about the idea of me and Tony.

The doorbell sounded throughout the house after another ten minutes passed. I walked down the stairs, aware that if I were to let Tony in, it would just be me and him since my father left for work nearly two hours ago. I paced back and forth by the stairs, debating whether I should let him in or not. A part of me wanted to run back upstairs and hide in my bed, but the other part of me wanted the damn soup. Telling myself to not be stupid, I opened the door to find Tony standing there with a brown paper bag in one hand and a bundle of flowers in the other.

“For you.” He said with a slight bow of his head.

I smiled. “Flowers, really?”

“It was meant to come off as a romantic gesture.” He blushed.

Shit! That was cute. I thought while pushing away any forming feelings I had for Tony. Stop it, Verity! Don’t be an idiot.

“Romance isn’t my kind of thing.” I said while grabbing the bag with my soup.

“I wouldn’t have pegged you to be the unromantic type.” He said with sarcasm. “Aren’t you gonna invite me in?” He asked.

I rolled my eyes. “Fine, but don’t even think I’m sharing my soup with you.” I joked while allowing him entrance.

He smiled before entering my house. Tony studied the inside, looking up the stairs before down the hallway. It was a matter of time he saw the many picture frames the lined the walls and shelves. I cringed because in every picture I looked terrible, especially if I stood next to my sister. I led the way to the kitchen with Tony in tow. His silence made me nervous for some reason that I started fidgeting with the brown bag in my hand. I grabbed the flowers from his hand and hunted down a vase to put them in. With little luck—since I know that my mother probably kept vases in the storage room—I grabbed a large cup and filled it halfway with water.

“Your house is really nice.” He commented softly.

“Thanks.” I replied, finally reaching the kitchen. I grabbed myself a bowl and a small plate to put my grilled cheese on.

“You seem to look a little better.” Tony said while taking a seat at the counter.

I smiled. “Medicine nowadays works wonders.”

“So I’ve heard.” He laughed.

“So what are you doing?” I asked.

“Sitting down.” He answered sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes. “No, I meant why are you skipping school to bring me soup?” I clarified.

He shrugged. “I like spending time with you.”

I couldn’t stop myself from scoffing out a “Why?”

Tony averted his eyes. Once again I found myself surprised at how coy Tony was acting. Whenever I saw him around campus in previous years, he always seemed like a jerk. If he wasn’t hollering comments at girls or pissing off his teachers, Tony was hanging out with his friends, acting like a complete idiot.

“I, I just do.” He stammered out.

I let the topic drop because I didn’t want to know any of the specifics anyway. The way he said things made my stomach fill with butterflies and I hated that my over thinking brain tended to make mountains out of mole hills.

He likes you as a friend, Verity. Nothing more. I told myself as I dunked my grilled cheese into the tomato soup.

Notes

What is this cuteness?!

Might do another update since I'm in a generous mood, but I will be selfish and ask you guys to comment :)

Thanks for reading! I'm serious because just three days ago I uploaded the first chapter, and in that short amount of time you racked up a pretty impressive subscribing number count and view count. So thanks <3