When the Phone Rings (6)

After a few minutes, we finally caught sight of my house, and I caught myself almost sighing out loud in relief.

Adrian had stopped tons of times to ask me where to go, refusing to let me lead even after I offered to just go ahead of him to show the way.

He absolutely refused to let go of my hand after the talk we had.

After a while, my self-consciousness and confusion started to fade as I realized he wasn't going to do anything more than that. His hands covering mine weren't tight, and he allowed me enough space to let go if I wanted to.

What scared me the most was that I didn't want to let go, and I held onto him without a sound.

So, I willingly let him lead us along even though it took more time. It seemed to me that he wanted to waste some time, and I couldn't bring myself to not think the same way no matter how hard I tried.

We slowly walked through my front lawn after he insisted on walking me to the door.

"Just to be safe," he said in response which only made me furrow my brows.

By the time we reached the doorway, I finally let go of his warm hand and turned to face him, cheeks reddening for some unknown reason which only made me more flustered than I already was.

"Thanks for walking me home," was all I could muster under my breath, but he seemed to take it as a positive enough response as he nodded.

"It was no problem." He didn't hesitate in answering, his piercing blue eyes trained intently on me.

We stared at each other for a very long minute before I caught myself and hurriedly muttered a goodbye. I was already ready to yank open the door and throw myself in when he placed a warm hand on my shoulder to stop me.

"Wait."

His hand gently tugged on my shoulder until I was spun around to face him.

My face flamed red when he leaned in, my heart thumping in my chest like some wild creature who had way too much sugar. His lips hovered over my cheek, so close that I could feel his warm breath sending shivers down the back of my neck and into my spine.

I froze. I completely and utterly froze in utter embarrassment as thoughts of him doing that echoed throughout the emptiness of my mind.

Wha-?

I instantly took a step back and brought a hand to my cheek before he could do anything more.

He just-

Realizing I was beyond frazzled at that point, he let out a sigh and stepped back, letting go of me almost hesitantly.

"Be safe." He mumbled before sparing me one last glance as he left, leaving me standing there with my mouth slightly hanging open.

"Raine?" A voice called out, snapping me from my daze.

My aunt stood next to me, her face a picture of confusion and concern mixed together. It seemed like she had been trying to get my attention for a while now.

I bit my lower lip, rushing inside and shutting the door behind me almost too desperately.

"What were you doing outside?" She asked, clearly worried as she locked the door with a small silver key.

It was something she's done since I came to live here as a safety precaution, one that I heavily agreed with.

"Nothing. I just needed some air." I lied through my lips as I stumbled up the stairs, almost tripping halfway, catching the rail just before I could face plant onto the steps that seemed to be against me today.

"Oh. Alright." She looked unconvinced but she decided to drop it and left me to head to her office, probably to continue working.

I exhaled deeply and crawled up the rest of the steps and trudged into my room, feeling like the world just suddenly pulled itself from under me.

Resting my back against the door, my hand automatically shot up to touch my cheek.

It still felt warm... too warm. Warm enough to eat up my insides and leave me melting onto the floor.

But...

Why did he do it?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A knocking on my door made my eyes peel away from the numbers in my math book to the door. I placed my pen down, awaiting the call that was to come.

"Raine, dinner's ready."

"Ok." I slid off my bed as I pulled my hair into a messy bun, and I went out the door, carefully going down the stairs to prevent any accidents.

I poked my head into the dining room to see the table ready, my aunt already wolfing down on some kind of salad, and I plopped onto a chair, placing a tiny piece of chicken onto my plate.

Aunt Lucy shot me a look but I ignored it, simply settling for the tiny piece of chicken, my stomach not feeling like it could take any more than that.

I excused myself from the table after eating my dinner and tossed my plate into the sink before I went up to do finish my homework.

I kicked my legs back and forth which were up in the air as I laid on my stomach, chewing on the end of my pen as I stared at the numbers and letters jumbled up in front of me.

I was in the middle of solving a mathematical problem (which was supposed to be helping me learn to become a better and smarter person but was actually killing my brain) when my cellphone rang on my bedside table.

My eyebrows knitted together in confusion as I stared at the tiny object.

Who would call me?

The only person in my contacts and who knew my number was my aunt. Proof that I was pretty much a loner.

I crawled across my bed and reached for my phone which continued its loud ringing, blasting a random song that I chose to set as my ring tone.

I looked at the screen.

Unknown number.

Despite my mind sending me warning signs, I couldn't help but let curiosity take over for once as I pressed the answer button very slowly. I imagined it was as if I was detonating a bomb or something even more potentially dangerous.

I brought it up to my ears, hesitantly.

"Hello?" I squeaked out, playing with the bottom of my shirt.

"Are you alright?" A voice rushed into the phone, speaking too fast for me to recognize the owner of the voice.

"Umm... Who is this?"

"Adrian."

Adrian...

ADRIAN?!

And that bomb I was detonating exploded. My world was now in tiny pieces, scattered onto the ground. Yes… that was it.

My mouth went dry and I could feel my eyes growing wider an owl finding its wings suddenly fell off.

"Adrian?" I croaked into the phone, feeling rather confused.

Why was he calling me? More importantly, how did he even get my number?

"Are you alright?" He repeated his question again and I could almost see the frown on his face as the words drifted to my ears.

"Uh...Yeah but..."

"You gave me your number earlier. During history." He cut me off, knowing what I wanted to ask him before I could even say it.

"Oh... I did?" I blinked my eyes, trying to remember what happened during that class.

Wait... I did. I could recall faintly how he had passed me a note asking for it and me stupidly writing my number down through the sleepy haze I was in. I was just wanting to end any sort of conversation as quickly as possible when it came to him. I've become terrified that I would say something embarrassing or share too much in his presence, something that seemed to be happening with him more than I cared to admit.

"You did. Did you eat properly?" He asked, sounding very worried but maybe it was just my hearing playing tricks on me.

I mean, why in the world would he be worrying about me in the dark of the night, worried enough to even call just to ask if I was actually eating right?

"Yeah." I lied for the second time in the past 5 hours but Adrian didn't seem to pick up on it over the phone, something I was at least grateful for. I didn't want to be badgered about it or even have him fuming over the phone about it.

"Good."

An awkward silence left me silently poking at the sheets of my bed and I heard Adrian constantly move around, almost like he was walking, heading somewhere.

"Raine..." He broke the silence, immediately gaining my attention.

"Do you like me?"

My face flushed a bright red color at the question, and I let out a spluttered cough in response.

"Wh-what?" I exhaled in confusion.

"I mean... as a friend?" He explained after hearing my choking from the other end of the line.

Oh...

"Ummm..." Was he even considered my friend?

"We are friends now... aren't we?"

My heart went on overdrive at those words, and I frantically tried to look for some answer that would tell him no without making him mad but my mouth betrayed me.

"Yes," I answered, almost slapping myself in the face at my stupidity.

I was scared of the guy! He looked like some killing machine and here I was saying that yes, this scary and somewhat creepy guy (no matter how hot he actually is) was my friend.

But I couldn't help but think that he sounded less intimidating on the phone and it was actually... easier to talk to him.

Was it because he wasn't here? Or because no one would be able to see him talk like this right now as he talked to me?

Was he just keeping up that bad boy image in public? Or maybe it was me finally being able to relax since no one else would have to see me sputtering words in response to this hulking man.

He sighed in....relief?

"And yes... I like you.... as a friend." I spluttered into the phone, seeing no other choice but to at least try to make him pleased with my answers.

I hoped he wouldn't catch my fib over the phone, but he seemed to be taking whatever he could get at that moment.

"I see." He murmured to himself.

It was silent for a while but Adrian seemed like he was thinking, being silent and I could tell he had stopped walking due to the fact that I couldn't hear shuffling anymore.

"Raine, I have to go. I'll pick you up for school tomorrow."

"But-"

"No buts," he interrupted, voice hard and I quickly shut my mouth.

"If I find you walking to school, I'm hauling you up my shoulder and I'll carry you to school that way," he slightly growled the last part out, and I cowered at the tone of his voice.

And there's scary Adrian again.

"Ok... Umm... Bye."

"Wait. Raine..."

I waited patiently for him to say something but instead, he just sighed.

"It's nothing. Bye."

I blinked at the phone, pulling it away from me until it was at arm's length away from me.

My throat closed up on me.

This was bad...

At this rate, he'd be hanging around me for a very long time and I didn't want that.

I never wanted friends.

But something in me just wanted to say yes to him and accept him with open arms.

I shouldn't be like this but even my heart with its so many walls, was already liking his attention and he was slowly....very slowly.....changing me.

I could never deny that.

In all honesty, I have never talked that much with a person before, avoiding any opportunity for a conversation to start.

But what was I doing? What was he doing to me?

With that thought, I glanced out the window to be greeted by the full moon.

I had to find a way to get rid of him.

If not, I don't know what in the world might happen to me.