10 Chapter 10

As I stood there, it reminded me of that night. The knocking on the window, the feeling of suspicion. The more I thought about it, the more scared I felt of it happening again. And that it was my fault for sneaking out. I brought myself the nightmare. I suddenly felt cold, but I heard music playing. I looked behind me, and Landon was playing the music on his phone. "This is your favorite song," he said. I quickly paid attention to the melody, and I smiled. It is. We jammed and danced. Before I knew it I completely forgot about the nightmare. After we got tired of jamming and dancing like a bunch of idiots, Landon gave me a mini tour of the house and his family's past. "I think my mother once said that my great grandmother hid a box of money before she died somewhere in this property" Landon said as we looked at the chimney. "You really think so?". He laughed, "No, not really". "Well, it's not like we're gonna need it anyways" I replied. Then we entered the kitchen, and it reminded me of how hungry I was. "I'm hungry," I said. "Same here" Landon said, "We need to buy some groceries". Landon quickly looked at my neck, "Let's change your bandages first". I nodded. I walked back to the living room and sat on the couch as I waited for Landon. He came back with a bag. "Got everything" he said and squatted down and bent his knees. He reached his arms out and placed his hands behind my neck to remove the neck brace. I was feeling sick again, the way my heart is racing faster than normal. I think it might be the side effects of the painkillers. He removed the neck brace and placed it on the couch and began removing the bandages around my neck. It took awhile since it was wrapped and he had to unwrap it, I mean obviously. Then once the bandage (which had blood stains) was off he stared at my injury like the way I felt when I scraped my knees when I was young. I couldn't see anything or how it looked, and I felt left out. I reached for my phone, "Take a picture". "What?" he said. I repeated, "I want to see it, so take a picture". "Oh-Ok" he said and took my phone and took the picture. "Are you sure you want to-" I snatched my phone from his grasp. I took a look at the photo and there it was. The longest wound I've ever seen. "Gross," I commented. "It's not that bad," he said. "Really?". "Yes, really" he said, "I'm just sad that it happened". I didn't say anything. "I gotta clean the area, so it might sting a little,". I nodded. He applied disinfectant with a cotton swab and dabbed my injury. It stinged as he said and I made the "Slz" sound. "Sorry" he said. "It's ok". He began putting a new bandage around my neck. And I waited patiently until he was done. I looked at his face as he was focused and he looked calm. Like how a butterfly looks when it comes to a stop. I wonder, do butterflies feel their calmness? Suddenly Landon came really close to me, and my face felt hot suddenly. I panicked, "What are you doing!?".  "I'm just strapping the last parts of the bandage" he said, "Why? Did it hurt!?". I felt embarrassed, "N-no…" I replied. He finished up and put the neck brace back on. "Let's go," Landon said. I nodded. I got up and I realized how the neck brace makes it hard to see my neck and down. Thank goodness I have Landon. We walked out of the house, locked it up, more walking, up until we got to a bus stop again. And we waited by the bench. "Can't we just call a cab?" I said, feeling impatient. "It's more expensive" he said, "Well we have to live like normal people now". "I guess so. Who knew it would be like this?". "Be like what?" He asked. "Hard". He laughed, "Trust me, this isn't the hard part". "It isn't!? Then what is?". "Pfft..I guess you'll just have to wait" he said, trying not to laugh. I stood there in confusement. Then I felt his hand hold my hand...It felt warm. "The bus is almost here" he mentioned. I suddenly get that feeling again in my chest. "I don't feel so good," I said. "What is it? What do you feel?". I used my other hand and placed it right on my heart, "My heart feels heavy". He gave me a confused yet surprised look on his face. "What is it?" I said. He shaked his head, "Must be because you didn't eat well today" he said, "If it gets any worse, I'll call 9-1-1". I laughed, "Okay".  The bus stopped, and he stretched his arm out indicating for me to go in first. I stepped inside and smiled at the bus driver who looked cranky as heck. I looked around to find any seats available and saw a lot of unfamiliar faces. I didn't want to stand there for another minute with everyone's eyes staring at me. Soon Landon found two empty seats and guided me through the way. I sat near the window, so that I could see the world pass by me. I felt uneasy, as if I still felt the eyes staring right through me. I clasped my hands together on my lap and fidgeted with my fingers. Landon asked me if I was ok and I nodded. The bus began to move and throughout the ride, I felt slowly and slowly calmer. I guess it must be because Landon is right next to me… the bus was quiet mostly, except for two female elders casually speaking to one another about how the new generation is worse than the last one. I kinda felt attacked, and perhaps Landon too. I took out my cell-phone and went on the playstore to download any apps that seem fun to use. I came across an app that can take pictures of your faces with a filter on it, like funny ones and cute ones. I clicked download and waited for it to complete. Once it was done, I opened it and explored and took some selfies with Landon. "What kind of app is that?" he laughed. "No idea, it just looks fun" I replied. I downloaded all the pictures and opened them in my gallery. "They're not that bad" I mentioned. He looked at them and agreed. "Send them to me" he asked and I did. Before I knew it Landon got up when the bus stopped and said, "This is our stop". I got up in a rush. "Take it easy" he said and helped me slow down. As we headed out I heard someone say, "What a nice boyfriend" in an old lady voice and then another said, "Didn't you say this generation was done for?" and in response she said, "I guess not everyone Sasha". I wanted to smile but I was afraid Landon might notice it. Wait- What!? Smile? About what!? Landon is just a good friend to me after all. We arrived at a place with many small stores across and behind me. "Where are we?" I asked. "We're now in the main neighborhood," he said. I suddenly felt his hand reach for my hand and he held it. Ba-bump, Ba-bump. Gosh, I must be getting really sick. "Come on, don't let go. I don't want to lose you" he said.  I nodded and said ok. We entered a store, and I saw so many products of food. What caught my eye right away were all the pastries but-- Did  Landon just smile? I became confused, but I didn't want to question his expression. "So what are we gonna buy--or eat?" I mentioned as he led me through the many ailes. "Well, what do you want to eat?". I stood there in thought. "I have no idea, but I'm feeling pasta?". "Okay, I'll make you some really good and healthy noodle soup. How's that?" and he smiled. I stared. "You okay? Do I have something in my face?" he asked. I looked away immediately, "No, sorry, I kinda spaced out thinking about..noodles". "Space cadet," he said and laughed. And he continued to take me through the aisles. I've always known Landon was handsome, but at the moment he smiled…It just felt...different. How odd. He grabbed a basket and we began our journey to find all the necessary ingredients. I suddenly asked Landon when he learned to cook while we were at the dairy aisle. "There was a time where I worked with the chefs at your house, and I learned a few things there". "Ohh".  After paying we had a total of 5 bags to carry. "I'll carry everything, don't worry about it," Landon said. The day got dark real quick, and I stuck to Landon like glue. On our way back home, I asked Landon when his parents would come home. He shrugged and said it would be soon. After that we talked about what we wanted to do this summer, about school, and everything else. We had such a fun conversation that we didn't even notice how much  time went by and before we knew it, we arrived home. At that moment I wondered how my parents were… I hope they're alive and well. Is it odd that I miss them already? Landon scurried to the kitchen and got started with the cooking, and I stood there feeling useless. "Can I help?" I asked. Landon nodded his head no, "What could you possibly help me with?". "I don't know, you tell me". He sighed, "Tell you what, get better and then once you do, you can help me with everything, ok?". "Okay" I said. I left the kitchen and walked into my bedroom. I layed down on the bed and took my phone out. I began to wonder about these strange feelings I get, and how they only appear when I'm around Landon. I typed in the search web Why does my heart race when I'm around a guy? I couldn't be prepared for what I was about to read….