Chapter 19
Kai and I leave Main Street and turn onto hilly Saber Street. As the incline of the hill increases, my wide steps are basically lunges. Okay, this is so not cute. Why would I accept his offer to walk me home when I’m gonna turn into a red, panting mess?
“How you doing, Jones?” Kai smirks. “You need a boost?”
“A boost?” I pant.
“Piggyback?” he jokes. “Cradle you in my arms?”
“Ah, no way. I got this.”
“It sure looks that way,” he snickers.
“Stop laughing at me,” I complain. “I need to conserve my energy.”
“We’re almost there,” Kai says, breaking into a jog beside me. “Why don’t you jog the rest of the way?”
“In a skirt and blazer? Are you crazy?”
“You’ll have them washed when you get home.”
“I’m not jogging.”
Kai runs backwards a few feet ahead of me. “Come on, it’ll be over before you know it.”
“Are you capable of letting anything go?”
He grins. “Not really. Now, come on, Tabitha. Knees up.”
“How can I run with this backpack?”
He reaches his arm out. “I’ll take it.”
“You’ll jog with two backpacks?”
“Sure. I’ll strap yours to my front. It’ll be like weight training. Come on, give it.”
“Seriously?”
He claps his fingers against his palm, not giving up.
I groan and hand over my backpack. “Fine. Here you go.”
Wearing both backpacks, Kai jogs beside my less than graceful form.
“You got it,” Kai coaches.
I could live without the running commentary, but the encouragement is super sweet.
He continues to cheer me on until we reach the top of the hill. My palms rest on my knees as I bend over panting.
“Told ya you had it,” Kai cheers.
I stand tall and fan my face. “The peppermint mocha may not be the best choice before a run.”
Kai winces, tilting his head at me. “Are you feeling okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m good. Just rethinking a few things.”
“Next time we’ll hydrate first.”
“There will be a next time?”
“I offered to be your running buddy, and I mean my promises.”
Like the promise to protect me. “Maybe next time we can find a flatter surface? And never let me run in this uniform again.”
He nods. “Deal.”
“Here, give me my bag.” I reach for my backpack, but he steps backward.
“No, I got it. Catch your breath.”
I fan the heat from my face. “Since when are you such a gentleman?”
Kai continues to walk backwards ahead of me. “I’m just being a good running buddy.”
“I’ve run with my backpack before,” I say, reaching for it again. “I’ve had to chase Camila’s car when she didn’t wait for me to catch up.”
Kai reefs the backpack away, retching. “Ugh. I am not letting you compare me to Camila.”
I step back, deflated by his disgust. “I’m not, I just…”
The air knocks out of me when the back of my shoe wobbles against unlevel ground. My stomach flips as I stumble backwards off the curb. With a yelp, I fall backward and my foot crunches against the cement curb.
“Tabby!” Kai calls out, and my backpack hits the ground.
Lunging forward, he grabs onto my forearm and hoists me up. In one solid movement, my chest smacks against his front, and his other arm anchors behind my back.
“You okay?” he whispers, holding me against him.
I pant against him, surprised I can feel his heartbeat racing against mine. “Yeah, thanks.”
I lower my heels onto the ground, and in an instant, I groan into a scream.
“Tabitha?” his voice rises with panic. “What is it?”
“My foot,” I whimper, clawing my fingers into his hoodie. “Oh my gosh, I thought I heard something crack.”
Kai keeps hold of me, shifting to view my feet. “Crack as in break?”
“I dunno.” I yelp, tears stinging my eyes. “Oh, crap!”
“Don’t panic,” he rushes. “I can call someone to take us to the emergency room.”
I press my lips into a thin line and breathe through the pain. “Not necessary. My home isn’t far away.”
“You still want to walk? Aren’t you in pain?”
“Believe me. You don’t want to take me to the emergency room.”
“What, do you have an aversion to doctors?”
I harrumph, turning toward the direction of my home. “You could say that.”
“Tabitha, I really don’t think you should walk.”
Holding onto one of his shoulders, I edge my way along the sidewalk. “Just pick up my bag.”
He scoops up my backpack and hoists it over his other shoulder. “If you’d just let me be a gentleman from the start, you wouldn’t be limping right now.”
“Oh, so now you are a gentleman?” I joke, wiping the tears from my eyes.
Kai pulls an arm around my back, helping me lean my weight against him. “It was a surprise to me, too. I was never expecting to want to do something nice for Tabitha Jones.”
I smile despite the need to limp. “And what made you want to be nice to me?”
“Something cracked before your foot did.” His hand is between my blazer and blouse, and I can’t help feeling every digit pressed against me. “Turns out the icy demeanor on the outside melted, and something much nicer was on the inside.”
My hand scrunches at the soft material of his hoodie as I keep making my way forward. “You think I’m nice?”
“Crazier things have happened.” He looks down at me with concern. “Are you sure you can walk?”
“I think I overreacted with the scream,” I admit. “With every step, I’m putting more weight on it.”
“Are you sure that’s a good thing?”
“If you can put weight on an injury, it means it’s not broken. Everybody knows that.”
“I’ve broken and nearly broken enough bones to know that rule. But this walk still feels unnecessary when we both have cell phones.”
I’m in no rush to get home. Dad’s on night shift, and if I dawdle on my way home, there’s a good chance I’ll miss him leaving for work. Knowing him, he’ll want to take me with him and run X-rays and other annoying tests. At most, it’s a sprain. He’s taught me that much.
“My street is coming up. Can you please just walk with me?”
Kai sighs in defeat. “Okay, but do you really want to be a hero?”
I look up at him. “What do you mean?”
Kai hugs me closer to him and then leans down. With the arm, which is looped in the straps of my backpack, he scoops up my legs and hoists me into his arms.
I giggle in half-embarrassment. “Kai, you’re crazy! Put me down.”
He winks at me. “This is being a hero.”
“You can’t hold me while also carrying our bags.”
“Watch me.”
“Stop protesting. What if you overbalance and we both topple over?”
“No faith in me, Jones?”
“You have too much faith in yourself, Nelson.”
His cocky smile slides to the left like it’s trying to meet the scar under his eye. “No such thing.”
It’s a quiet meander into Bellview Crescent. I tell Kai my house is coming up, but he’s determined to carry me to my driveway. Thankfully, the yellow bevel siding and white-framed windows of my home come into view.
Kai gently lowers me, setting my feet on the ground. Not gonna lie, my foot is pulsating right now. I’m so lucky he’s so strong.
Kai nods at the house. “Your house isn’t the Dracula’s lair I once imagined it to be.”
The comment makes me hesitate. “You still don’t think of me as…”
“No,” he blurts. “No, I was just making a joke. Man, a bad joke.”
“It’s cool. I’m just a little jumpy. I’m still worried this will all blow up in my face.”
“Well, I don’t just carry anyone home.”
Nervous and embarrassed giggles pour out of me as his arm still anchors behind my back. “You seriously didn’t have to do that.”
“But I did. And as long as we stay good to our truce, I don’t see how things between us will blow up.”
“I’m not going after your friend again, I promise.”
He smiles. “I know.”
Just when I’m about to take back possession of my backpack, the garage door lifts open and Dad’s SUV backs out.
It stops beside us, where the driveway meets the curb, and the driver’s window lowers, revealing my dad’s frown. “Tabitha, what are you doing?”
“Uh, hi, Dad,” I say, knocking Kai’s hands from my waist.
Kai gulps. “This is your dad?”
Dad glares at Kai. “Good afternoon, Kai.”
My chin drops, and I pivot between Dad and Kai. “You two know each other?”
Unimpressed, Dad is still locked on Kai. “Just what are you doing with my daughter?”
Kai winces. “Walking her home.”
“We’re lab partners,” I’m quick to ask. “We just had a study session.”
“And is being in his arms part of your studying?” Dad asks me, and I want to crawl into a dark hole and never come out. “And why are you all red-faced?”
“Dad, it’s nothing.” I squirm. “We ran. It was silly.”
His brow furrows, and he leans further into the open window. “You ran into his arms?”
“Dr. Jones, she was hurt,” Kai says, and I wish he’d shut up. “I was just trying to help.”
At that, Dad’s car door bursts open, and he leaps onto the sidewalk. Telling him I’m hurt is the worst thing Kai could’ve done.
“You’re hurt?” Dad rushes, scanning me for signs of injury. “What happened?”
“It was nothing,” I insist. If I could back away, I would, but it’d give it away.
“Tabitha?” he presses.
I groan and gesture at my foot. “It’s nothing. I slipped off the curb. It was nobody’s fault.”
Dad flashes a disturbed look at Kai. “You were trying to get away from him?”
“Dad!” I complain.
“Why do you have my daughter’s bag?”
Kai rolls his eyes, setting my backpack on the cement sidewalk.
Dad turns his attention to me. “Show me your foot. Can you put weight on it?”
“I can. Kai carried me as a joke. I was already walking on it.”
Dad kneels down and examines my ankle and applies pressure around my shoe. “You should get inside and put some ice on it before it swells.”
I wince as he prods around my foot. “That was my plan.”
Dad gets up, watching the discomfort on my face. “Stop pretending it doesn’t hurt. You’re doing a bad job of it.”
“I can walk,” I insist.
“Tabitha, do you know how many times this boy has been in my ER? He’s a menace.”
Kai recoils. “Menace?”
“Yes,” Dad continues, sizing him up, “as in, a danger to yourself and others.”
“We were studying,” Kai says, his tone somewhere between joking and annoyed. “It wasn’t like we were out hang-gliding.”
“Not the point,” Dad says, unamused. “You, Kai, are consistent in hurting yourself with your wild stunts. My daughter spends an afternoon with you and gains a limp.”
“I can walk,” I blurt, stamping my foot out of habit. “Ah, dang it!”
The pain zaps from the ball of my foot up to my knee.
Dad lifts my backpack up and hands it to me. “Tabitha, say goodbye to Kai and get inside.”
“Dad, I…”
“Now, Tabby.”
I shrug and then wave at Kai. “See you at school tomorrow.”
“Sure thing,” Kai replies, backing away from my dad.
“Can I give you a ride home, Kai?” Dad offers.
“I’m cool.” Kai continues walking backwards. “It isn’t far.”
Dad moves toward his car. “Suit yourself, but stick to the sidewalks. I don’t want to see you during my shifts because you started running on the road.”
“A little faith, Dr. Jones,” Kai says, jogging backwards. “Just a little faith, please?”
“Turn around and face where you’re going,” Dad calls out to him. “No one’s impressed.”
I cup a hand over my mouth, giggling as I enter the house.
That boy has too much energy.
Inside the house, I find Drew spying through the front window. He peels himself away, asking in a mocking tone, “Did Daddy’s little angel get busted with the bad boy?”
“Ugh, shut it, Drew.”
“Hey, I’m just looking out for you. Just like Dad is when he’s scaring away your little boyfriend.”
I drag my foot along the floor runner. “Kai is not my boyfriend.”
“No, of course not,” Drew says, slinking across the living room. “You just really enjoy studying chemistry.”
I grab a pillow from a nearby armchair and toss it at his head. “Maybe I do.”
Cradling the pillow, Drew sends me a wink as I slink toward the hallway. I creep along the floorboards, avoiding any attention from Mom, but I fail.
“Tabby,” she calls out.
I turn as she enters the hallway. “Yeah?”
“How was your study session?”
I inhale bravely and exhale with a smile. “Really good, actually.”
Mom’s face brightens. “Really?”
I lower my backpack to the floor and unzip it, finding my chemistry notes. I step toward Mom, showing her what Kai and I worked on. “Check this out. We’re actually ahead for tomorrow’s class.”
“Really?” Mom asks, surprised. “This is all legit?”
“Ask Drew. He’ll vouch for it all being correct.”
Mom takes my notes and backtracks into the living room. “Drew, is Tabby’s work correct?”
With a grunt, Drew takes my notes, scans them, then lets out a slow whistle. “Nice one, Tab. This looks great.”
I squeal. “Really?”
He nods, reclined on the couch. “You’ve done good work.”
Mom takes the notes back. “Wow, Tabby, I’m really proud of you.”
My hands clasp over the space above my heart. “You are?”
She smiles, handing me back the notes. “Yes, darling. Good work.”
I sigh as if a mountain of stress has cascaded off my shoulders. “Thank you, Mom.”
She winks, leaving for the kitchen. “Maybe I won’t need to email your teacher after all.”
I wave my notes as if they’re cheerleader pom-poms.
Mom didn’t tear me down.
This really is a miracle.
I limp my way out of the living room, and Drew sits up. “What’s with your foot?”
“Nothing,” I call back, forcing more weight onto it.
In the kitchen, I grab ice from the fridge and wrap a clean dish cloth around it.
“Got a headache?” Mom asks.
“I tripped on the way home,” I reply. “Dad wants me to put ice on it.”
“Oh, you saw your father on your way home?”
I back out of the room, the pain in my foot dissipating.
Thank goodness.
“Yeah, he checked out my foot. Nothing to it.”