When Our Worlds Collide (Our Worlds #1)(19)
Watching movies the entire night is the only thing on my agenda besides taking a break for dinner and snacks. I jump on one foot to make it to the kitchen to grab something to drink from the refrigerator. This time I escape falling on my face. Maybe I’m getting the hang of being immobile.
“Mom, do we have any coke?” I yell to her from the kitchen where she is sitting on the couch with my father having a serious conversation that I have clearly interrupted.
“Look in the bottom drawer. I just put a few in there yesterday, so unless you drank them all there should still be some,” she yells back to me before turning her attention back to their conversation. Debating on sticking close by to eaves drop or getting out of dodge, I decide heading back to my room is clearly the better option. Anything that they argue about usually entails me and I’m not in the mood to hear how I am complicating their lives these days.
I grab Pretty Woman from the pile of movies I intend on watching tonight and pop it into the player. Readjusting my body to get comfortable is becoming quite the task. It takes me through the opening credits to get situated. I have three pillows propped under my leg, two pillows behind my back and an extra one on my right side to lean against for support. I look ridiculous being swallowed up by all the pillows around me.
The movie is just getting to the good part where Richard Gere picks up Julia Robert’s character on the strip when I hear our doorbell ring. I look over at my alarm clock to see that it is almost nine. There is a knock on my door shortly after.
“Come in,” I push pause refusing to miss any part of the movie.
My door swings open and my mom stands in the doorway. “You have someone here to see you, honey,” she speaks softly. The look on her face is one of amusement and maybe annoyance. I can’t really tell.
“Who is it?” I didn’t expect anyone to stop by. Maybe it is Violet, but if it was, my mom wouldn’t have that look on her face that she has right now. Violet hasn’t rung our door bell in almost three years, so odds are it isn’t her.
“He said his name is Graham. He has something to ask you about a homework assignment. It’s kind of late, Ken,” she says in warning. She moves to the side and ushers him into my room with a raised eyebrow. He steps into my room and thanks my mother for allowing him to come in and assures her that it shouldn’t take too long. This would be a good time for me to protest, but I am in shock at seeing him standing in my bedroom. He takes up too much space making me feel uneasy and on edge.
My mother steps out and shuts the door behind her, but not before checking Graham out. Oh yeah, she definitely allows her eyes to linger on him for a little bit too long. Even grown woman are struck stupid by his gorgeous face and obvious toned body that is badly hidden under his tight t-shirt and form hugging jeans. I may not have any experience with guys, but I can appreciate a good looking one when I see one.
“Umm…Hey,” Graham fidgets near my dresser that is just right inside my room. The movie is still paused. He looks at the screen then back at me. “Pretty Woman, huh?”
“Did you come here to talk to me about my movie choice or are you stalling?” I ask with an edge to my voice. “I know that you don’t have any homework you want to ask me about, so let’s just get to the point, Graham. That way you can quit wasting my time and yours.”
Something about Graham brings out the worst side of me. I never speak to anyone like I speak to him. I watch him as he looks down at his feet refusing to look up at me. His tennis shoes sure are holding his attention. A long hot breath of air releases from between his lips.
“I’ve been replaying that night in my head since it happened and nothing that I say can change anything that has happened. Not that I expected it to, but I thought that I could come up with something. Just something that would at least ease the pain that I caused you and nothing seemed to fit right,” he explains uncomfortably looking directly at me now. Guys like Graham weren’t used to apologizing. I tried to interrupt him but he continues on. “What I did, what I did to you, isn’t forgivable. I made a bad decision and you got hurt in the process and I’m sorry. I know that apologizing isn’t enough, but it’s all that I have to give you.”
Graham walks around this town like he is invisible. It feels strange watching him like this, standing in front of me lost and flustered. It sort of makes me feel a sense of power as if I hold something over someone as powerful as Graham. I only see him from afar playing baseball or walking through the halls of the high school with everyone else walking in his shadow. He stands in front of me and I get a glimpse of that person that I am looking for. He is the person who caught my eye right before I started dancing on the stage at the talent show and he is the person that mouthed “Thanks” after I gave him a simple answer in Government class as if it was this huge gesture. There is sincerity to Graham that he clearly doesn’t allow many to see.
I sit watching him for longer than is necessary taking him in knowing that moments with Graham are going to be limited for me. “I don’t expect anything from you if that’s what you think. I didn’t do it for me. I did it for you,” I explain as honestly as I know how. I look away from him as soon as the words leave my mouth. This is why I wanted to avoid this conversation all together. I don’t know where to begin to explain any of this without sounding like some 7th grader with a school girl crush.