Love Misunderstood

Chapter4

“Wake up,” someone sing song whispers in my ear. I am in such a peaceful sleep that I don’t open my eyes, and I turn over and bury my head in the pillow.

“Lalaaaaa wake up,” the voice starts to get louder.

I groan and reply in a sleepy voice.

“No”

Then I hear a big inhale of breath. “WAKE UP!”

I jolt and fall out of bed and fall on my front, but not before knocking my water off my bedside table and it falling on my head. I hear shrieks of laughter above me.

I love my dear brother, I really do, but sometimes I wouldn’t hesitate to tackle him to the ground. He runs out of my room to mum downstairs, and ten minutes later I hear the door slam, meaning they have left.

I look at the time, and I have about fifteen minutes before the bus comes. I get ready, and just as I am about to leave, I catch my eye on something I bought yesterday. Thank God I remembered it.

I grab the CDs, leave the house, lock the door, and head to the bus stop. I wait there for a few minutes, and when the bus comes, it isn’t as full as usual.

I head to the building once I get off the bus. I enter the hallway in hope of running into Caden again, but I don’t see anyone with brown hair and a leather jacket.

I just brush it off and head to my first class of the day.

Just as the bell rings for lunch, I get up, rush out of the room, and head straight to the hall to meet Clara. I see her and start to walk in. She is wearing a dress with colourful flowers on it, and she is wearing a light blue cardigan over the top.

I sit opposite her as usual, and I look over to the tree and see someone walking up to it and sitting down, just like clockwork. This is the perfect time to get to know more about him.

I grab the CDs and tell Clara I will be right back. She doesn’t think much of it and just drinks from her water bottle.

I start walking out onto the field towards him. He hears someone coming closer, and he instantly looks up with his guard up. Once he notices it’s me, his eyes soften just the slightest, and it sort of warms me inside that he is comfortable with me.

“Hey, can I sit?" I motion to the space next to him on the left.

He says nothing but nods. I proceeded to sit down and release a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding.

There is tension between us, but it’s not awkward. We are both silent for a few minutes until I break it.

I hold the CDs out into his eyeline, and he stares at them, waiting for me to explain.

“I got you some music that I think you will like, they helped me through the bad. I was thinking it might make you feel better, or when you think you are about to have an attack, just play these and focus on the lyrics” I smiled at the end, waiting to see his reaction.

He just stares at them, and then his gaze flicks to mine.

“Why?”

“What do you mean why’?”

“I mean, why did you do this? I don’t need you to pity me,” he says, avoiding my confused expression. His smooth, deep voice clearly angry with me but not understanding my point.

“Who says I pity you? I want to get to know you and help you.”

“Why me?” he asks more confidently.

I don’t really know how to sugarcoat it, so I just say what I am thinking.

“You interest me.”

"Goes both ways" he returns.

He looks at me, then at the CDs, then back at me; it’s like a video on loop and he continues.

“I know for a fact that you never talk to people like me, and it was an achievement that you even responded to me a few days ago. I never talk to people first.”

He stalls a bit before talking again. “You are the kind of girl to have people come up to you in the hallway, but when they see me coming, they move as far away from me as possible.”

"Do you notice me with everyone?”

“No, I never pay attention to them.” He gazes right into my eyes, never wavering.

My heart melts when he says the next sentence.

“I only notice you.”

After I give Caden the CDs not waiting for an answer, and I go back into the building for the rest of the day. It’s Wednesday, and that means I have half a day. I have to collect Brody at three thirty, and I have two hours before I have to be there, so I decided to head to a coffee shop in the meantime.

I’ve been in this shop for about twenty minutes, and I notice in the corner a jukebox. I leave my table and stalk over to it. I look at the song selections, and I see lots of eighties songs, and it puts a smile on my face.

I put on the song Invisible Touch by Genesis and left it on a slightly higher volume than it was before. I go over to my table again and pull out my book from my bag. It’s about enemies becoming lovers, my favourite trope.

I am so caught up in reading that I don’t realise it is almost half past, and I need to collect Brody.

I rush to my bag, put the book away, and head out of the store. I run to his school, making sure not to be too late. If he doesn’t see someone, he starts to get scared. I rush past the other children and almost fall on my face when I see a football coming my way.

I see his fireman backpack, and I call his name out. I see him turn around, and I see a smile on his little face. I run to him, and we meet in the middle with a big hug.

We get home without any problems.

“Want to watch a movie?”

His face lights up, and he yells the word “cars!”

We are both sitting on the sofa cuddling up. Mum is still at work, but I don’t mind since Brody and I haven’t spent quality time watching a movie in a while.

Halfway through the movie, my phone dings, and I lift it to my face and turn down the brightness so Brody doesn’t get annoyed. He is still focused on the movie.

I checked what the notification was, and I noticed it was i********: messages. I click on it, and Caden’s name comes up on my screen, and I am surprised.

The message reads:

Hi, I listened to the songs you gave me, and I appreciate what you did for me; they have helped me a lot. I hope you don’t mind, but I have attached some songs I think you would like.

I stare at the songs listed. Some of them I have heard of, some I don’t recognize. I save them to my playlist, I intend to listen to them later, maybe before I go to bed.

Hey, I am glad they helped you. I will let you know what I think of the songs later.

I send the message and shut my phone off, and I look down and see Brody asleep like an angel. I turn the TV off and I try to carry him up the stairs. I missed it when he was four; either that or I am not as strong as I thought.

I put him in his bed, tucked him in, kissed his forehead, and left his room. As I was walking to my room to call it a night, I heard the door open from downstairs.

I decided to meet mum and see how work was for her today.

As I hear the fridge open, I figure she is making dinner, and I walk up to the doorway. I look in the c***k by the door, showing me the room, and I see her sitting at the counter with her eyes slowly shutting and looking so exhausted, leaning on the counter to stay upright.

I feel so bad as she has to work long hours for us to have a good life. I think I need to get a job to help her out and maybe she could spend some time with Brody.

I decide to leave her be. I know if I walk in, she will give me a smile and say "Everything is fine" when its clearly not. I do that every day; I guess it runs in the family.

I start to ascend the stairs, hoping not to make noise. I decide to put a note on her pillow before I go to bed. I write it, walk back to my room, and fall asleep, ready for another day but worrying most of the night about her. I think it’s best to leave her with her thoughts. I will talk to her tomorrow when she has more energy.

Mum ,

We really do appreciate what you do for us. Brody and I love you more than anything. x