Blindside

Butterflies

Cleo

I don't think I have been this tense in a while. After apologizing and giving Osiris my peace offering, I thought that I would feel better, but instead I felt even more on edge. The worst of it all; everything went better than I thought it would, so the fact that I'm feeling this way now was irritating the f**k out of me. 

As soon as the bell rang from first period, I couldn't get out of the fast enough and made a dash for my next class. Now, I'm sitting here watching the clock for lunch. I swear I wasn't paying any attention, the teacher droning on about some other stupid Shakespeare play. Blah blah blah, it's all just noise to me. You know the sound in Charlie Brown? The one the teacher makes and you just have no clue what's happening? That's this English class. Now don't get me wrong, it has nothing to do with the topic, and everything to do with the monotone voice of Mr. Duggar. I have no clue how I'm going to survive the rest of the term having to listen to him.

Further tuning him out, my mind goes back to my conversation last night with Izzy. 

~~~

"Sooooooo, what is the deal with Osiris? The guy has a major attitude problem, not to mention the fact that I got torn into because of him" I asked her. 

Judging by the look on Izzy's face, something told me that was a loaded question. Taking a quick side glance in Cairo's direction, checking to see if he was listening, she turned back to me a took a deep breath.

"Hey, I think I left a pair of shorts here the last time I was over, let's go check" She said loudly and grabbed my hand, pulling me up the stairs to my room. As soon as the door closed behind us, she turned to face me.

"What the hell was that?" I questioned.

"Well I just didn't find it necessary to say anything with Cairo in the room" She explained. "Anyway, when it comes to Osiris, you have to give him some breathing room" She added.

Confused, I asked "Okaay, and what exactly does that mean?"

Taking a deep breath, Izzy looked back at me with what seemed like sadness in her eyes "Look, it's not my story to tell, and I don't even know the full details. All I can tell you is that some f****d up s**t happened to Osiris when he and Griffin were just kids. Ever since, Osiris hasn't quite been the same. I mean, he's always been quiet, but compared to before, he's just... different. So now we just give him a bit more slack when he has an outburst, he always comes around and apologizes when it's due."

Despite not having the details, I felt a pang in my heart. I hated when s**t things happened to kids, no kid ever deserves anything bad to happen to them.

"Oh. Well s**t. What was he like before?" I replied

“Happier” She said matter of factly. 

Fuck, that hit me hard.

Frowning, I replied “Well f**k. I don’t want to be starting out on the wrong foot. This may be a case of being the bigger person in this situation.”

This caused Izzy to laugh “Oh Cleo, we both know that’s not necessary. You two don’t know each other, so naturally based off what happened and your personalities, this was bound to happen”

“What the f**k should I do then?” I ask, mildly frustrated.

Stifling another laugh, Izzy replied “Honestly? Cleo, just talk to him. Just because he can be broody and doesn’t say a lot doesn’t mean that he’s unreasonable. If anything, he’s probably stewing over how to handle this from his end as we speak. The last thing Osiris wants is to have to hear anything from Corbin about this, so just talk to him and clear your s**t up”

Nodding my head, I said “Okay, you’re right. I’ll just talk to him and try not to let it happen again”

After our talk, we shot the s**t for a couple hours, only being interrupted with the arrival or Cairo’s nacho platter. Later, Corbin came by to take Izzy home. Once she was gone, I set out to the kitchen, itching to bake something. When I get stressed, I gravitate to the kitchen to bake, I found it helped me clear my head. The downside was that I was then left with all sorts of treats depending on how carried away I got, with no idea how to get rid of it all. I could only share so much. 

Looking through the cupboards, I found the necessary ingredients for my favourite cookies and got to baking.

I hope he likes them

~~~

"$10.65 dear"

Paying for my food, I made my way to my friends and sat at the table.

"Yo, what the f**k are you eating man? Smells good!" Griffin yelled down to Osiris.

"Don't worry about it, mind your f*****g business" Osiris grunted in reply, mouth full of what I could only guess was one of the cookies I made him.

"f**k off man, you have to share with me, it's practically twin code" Griffin whined.

The only response he got in return was an eye roll and the middle finger from Osiris. 

"Whatever, I hope you choke" Griffin huffed.

Looking down the table, I made eye contact with Osiris. When our eyes connected, I couldn't help the quick intake of breath. What the hell? What is wrong with me? Then he winked at me. He f*****g WINKED at me, causing my stomach to drop, then turned back to his food. 

Bring in the blush. f**k my life. I swear something was wrong with me today, and WHY were my hands so f*****g sweaty? My whole body felt off and my stomach felt like there were literal butterflies fluttering around in there.

Taking a deep breath, I turned back to my food and tried to shake off what ever the hell that just was.

Thankfully the rest of lunch went by without further incident. Everyone talked about the usual stuff, including party plans that were already in the works for the end of the week, and by the sounds of it, seems like the football crew was hosting. Before any formal plans could be hashed out, the bell rang and we all parted ways to get to class.