Page 8 of Fight or Flight
When we're past the line of people still mulling around, Aidan drops his arm to get his phone out to turn on the flashlight.
“My brother wouldn’t let me borrow his truck, so we’ll have to walk, if that’s okay with you.” He says with a clenched jaw, and I hope he's not angry that he will have to spend some more time with me.
“I love walking,” I gush enthusiastically and step at his side.
“All right, let’s go then,” he replies and grabs my hand, presumably so I don’t trip on anything, but I swear I already hear church bells resonating in my messed-up head.
By the way, I sigh, you could think he’s just proposed to me. I was never good at keeping away from people that I felt drawn to. I just hope this one will not turn out to be a disaster.
“You don’t get along well with your brother?” I hear myself asking when we step on the path that is a known shortcut to the country road leading toward Bell Ridge.
“Most times, we manage not to tear each other’s heads off, but lately, things have been... tense. We had a disagreement of sorts, and ever since, Saint acts like the world’s biggest asshole. Still, he’s all I’ve got, so...” He drops my hand to move a branch to the side so that I can step ahead of him.
I almost snort at the fact that his brother’s name is Saint, but somehow manage to school my features. “You don’t look like brothers,” I observe instead.
“We have different fathers. What about you, do you have siblings?”
I know I shouldn’t feel so giddy about the fact that he seems genuinely interested, but the constant attention and validation seeker in me rears its ugly head immediately.
“Oh, no. At least, not that I know of. I would love to, though. Mom and I used to live in an isolated house amid the woods with my grandpa. I’m from a small village in Alaska. So, growing up, I always dreamt about having more people around me to play or talk to, you know? Mostly, I talked to the animals and plants... Shit, that’s probably super weird.”
He chuckles into the surrounding darkness before helping me step over a fallen log. “I don’t think it’s weird. We all need company. Someone to talk to. People aren’t exactly made to be solitary creatures.”
“And who do you talk to, Aidan?” I can’t help but ask, detecting the underlying sadness in his voice.
He’s quiet for a while, and I wonder if I didn’t step over some invisible boundary.
But then he says, “Also myself, I guess. Which makes me sound like such a loser.”
“So you’re saying that I’m a loser because I used to speak to myself?” I tease, not really offended.
He makes big eyes at me, the light from the flashlight making them glow. “No. No. Of course not. This is not what I meant. Just that... Ah, shit. I’m not making a very good impression, am I?”
“Are you trying to make one?” I smile, my heart starting to beat wildly. Oh my God, maybe he does like me.
Aidan laughs nervously. “Yeah, maybe. How am I doing?”
“I would say pretty well. You stopped Marcus from... whatever he was going to do to me, and now you’re walking me home, even though it’s a bit of a long trip. You could’ve just stayed and enjoyed the rest of your night or maybe found better company. But I’ll let the loser comment slide if you’ll admit that the fact that you’re lonely doesn’t make you a loser.”
“Okay. Deal,” he chuckles lightly. “So, Alaska, huh? When did you move to Bell Ridge?”
We make it to the road, illuminated by the moonlight, and Aidan hides his phone and again takes my hand, even though it’s not necessary anymore. The feel of his warm palm against my colder one makes me smile happily before I remember I was asked a question.
I lift my head to find him watching me with interest. “I moved here a few years back. I had to come here to live with my dad. Which is kind of a bummer.”
“You don’t like it here?”
“I love it, actually. Bell Ridge is way more interesting. There are people all around to observe, and I was able to find my best friend here. And sometimes even school is fun. Of course, now everything is like shit, and I feel murderous at times because the good times were taken away. But I still have hope that it will all be resolved soon.”
Aidan hums in his throat, looking grim for a second before he snaps out of it. “I moved here about a year ago, and interesting isn’t exactly the word I would use to describe this place.”
“You sound just like Jenny. Or probably like most of the teenage population that lives here. Everyone seems to be just waiting to get out of here...”
“You don’t?”
“Not at this particular moment, no,” I smile at him coyly, to which he smirks, and we continue on our way for a few minutes in comfortable silence.
“You said your brother is all you’ve got. What about your parents, if you don’t mind me asking?”