He wants to get us pizza? “Uh…”
“It’s not a hard question, Little Bird,” he muses, sucking in his bottom lip. Even in the dark, his eyes flash a bright color. “What is your favorite food to snack on? Chocolate? Chips? Sour? Swee—”
“Twizzlers,” I blurt. “I like Twizzlers.”
“Red not black right?”
My nose scrunches at the thought of eating black licorice. Dad loves the stuff. Every time he sees black jellybeans in the store, he gets a bag and snacks on them while watching reruns of crime shows at night.
“Definitely red.”
His hand goes to his chest. “A girl after my own heart. We’re going to be very good friends, Kinley Thomas.”
My lips part, because I never offered that information during our impromptu school tour the other day. “How do you know my name?”
“Simple,” he states, backing away. “I asked about you.”
Cringing is the best I can do. I can only imagine what people say. He’s a senior to my sophomore—two years older. I’m the quiet girl who doesn’t offer any answers in class unless I’m forced to talk. At lunch, I tend to sit by myself long enough to eat before going to the gym with a book to read. After school, I go right home instead of participating in any extracurriculars.
I’m not popular.
I don’t have many friends.
I’m just … boring.
“Until tomorrow, Little Bird.”
“Don’t call me that!” I yell after him.
I’m left with his laughter in the night.
The conversation I dreaded having with my parents about going to Corbin’s house today was anxiety wasted when Corbin showed up at noon and introduced himself to my mother. Dad was out helping Gavin do field work on the farm he’s worked on since he graduated, so it made the panic subside. Mom scolded me for not telling her about my plans before asking Corbin about his family’s move and what his parents do.
Thankfully, that was all she asked before sending me out the door. If Dad were home, there’d be threats of cleaning shotguns on the front porch while he waited for me to come home. Except we don’t own any guns, and our front porch is enclosed, so the fear factor isn’t really there like Dad wants.
The short drive to Corbin’s house is spent in silence because I don’t know what to say. His Jeep smells like the pizza from the gas station down the street, which makes my stomach growl embarrassingly loud. When he parks in the driveway of a pale yellow house, he gets out and grabs a pizza box and a bag full of junk food from the backseat.
I stand beside him, examining the green shrubs lining the sidewalk and the red mailbox next to them. There’s a little white fence in the corner where one of the side streets meets Main, and a cute little tree is planted behind it.
“Ready?” Corbin asks, drawing my attention back to him.
“Need help carrying anything?”
He shakes his head and nods toward the door. There are cement steps and black metal railings leading to it, with a brown welcome mat that has little paw print designs all over. I smile as I step over it and into the house, letting Corbin close the door behind us.
The floorplan isn’t as open as my house. To my left is staircase that probably leads to all the bedrooms. The hallway in front of us is narrow, but I can see a beige couch and an end table peeking out from around the corner. There’s a door on my right that’s probably a closet or a bathroom, and I’m sure the kitchen is near the living room. My eyes catch a few different circular patches of wall coloring that looks fresh, and I wonder if they’re also renovating.
Corbin heads toward the stairs though. “I could give you a tour if you want, but there’s not much to see. I’ll show you where the bathroom is up here in case you need to use it, but I have the TV in my room set up and ready for the movies.”
“Movie,” I correct.
He winks. “If you say so.”
I nibble my lip and watch him slowly ascend another step. “Won’t your parents think it’s rude that I don’t introduce myself?”
“They’re not home.”
My eyes widen. Mom probably thinks someone is here with us or she would have made a fuss. I know Dad wouldn’t be happy finding out that I was alone with a boy.
“Kinley?”
I snap out of it, my cheeks blossoming with heat. “Sorry. I just didn’t think we were going to be alone.”
His lips twitch like he wants to smile, but he refrains. “We can watch the movies in the living room if you want. I’m not planning on doing anything to make you uncomfortable.”
I know I’m being stupid. Or overcautious, at the very least. Most girls wouldn’t bat an eye at hanging out with Corbin alone in his room. In fact, I’m pretty sure they’d be jealous if they knew I was doing it. I see how most of them watch him and flirt. He’s barely been here a month and he’s everyone’s new favorite thing.
“No, it’s fine.” I give him a forced smile to back up my words, but I don’t know if it looks convincing. I follow him upstairs and glance at the door that Corbin mentions is the bathroom. At the end of a short hall is his room, where a yellow cat is sprawled across his blue comforter.
“This is Fred, right?”
The cat instantly jumps up and rubs against Corbin as he places the pizza and junk food down on the desk next to his bed. I can hear the rumbling purrs from where I stand by the door, smiling as Corbin picks up the cat and brings him over to me.
“Hi, pretty boy.” I get a squeaky meow in response, which makes me giggle. Corbin deposits the furry feline in my arms as he grabs the remote and some plates from his desk and sits on the edge of his mattress.
“You can come further in the room, you know. It’ll be hard to watch the movie from over there.” He gives me an amused smirk as I hesitantly walk over to where he sits and take the seat next to him. Fred climbs off me and nudges Corbin’s arm for attention.
Once the movie starts playing, he passes me a plate and then moves Fred to the floor. The cat stretches and watches us as Corbin opens the pizza box and takes out a slice for each of us.
He sits with his back against the wall, biting into his pizza while I stay planted where I am on the edge of the mattress. I pick at the cheese and watch the screen go through its usual copyright warning, trying to distract myself from the boy who is almost definitely staring at me right now.
“Kinley?”
“Hmm?”
“You going to get comfortable?”
“I am.”
He snickers and pauses the movie. “Look at me for a sec.”
I count to three, then look over my shoulder at his smiling face. His plate of pizza is perched on the leg stretched out straight in front of him, while his other is bent at the knee with his arm resting over it. “I don’t bite.”
Swallowing, I smile back. “I didn’t think you did.”
He eyes me. “Why are you sitting there like that then? Hell, you’re making me uncomfortable.”
Staring down at my food, I murmur out a soft apology. I’m not used to this. I’ve hung out with people before, but usually girls. Unless Gavin had his friends over, which was rare, my time around the opposite sex who isn’t related to me is limited.