Matthews answered, "Two spoons of sugar and a dash of
milk, I'm hoping that's right" he said and laid a plate full of food in
front of me.
I took a sip and sighed into the goodness of the drink,
"Perfect! Wow, look at all this food. It looks delicious,
thank you for cooking all this." He nodded welcome and we ate in a
comfortable silence. After eating and cleaning up we headed out back to
the porch.
"So where did you come from?" Matthews asked as he
sat down on the bench swing.
Ugh, personal questions so early. This cannot be
happening. A guy at my house, bringing me food, cooking for me, and
asking me personal questions, there is something seriously wrong with the
world; it must be coming to an end.
"Well, I come from all over actually. I love to
travel and I don't call one place home. Have you lived here all your
life?" I asked him in hopes of steering the conversation away from me.
"Yeah, I have actually. I've only traveled to a
few other states. What you do sounds awesome though, always at a new
place, seeing new things. Where all have you been, have you ever been out
of the states?" he turned the questions back on me. Matthews also
turned his body towards mine which made his knee touch mine and even through
the fabric I could feel that weird pull and the heat…I wonder if he could feel
it too.
"Well I've seen all fifty states, England, France,
Italy, Ireland, and Spain. I think Ireland was my favorite, all the green and
the old castles, made it feel like I was in a fairy tale. But then this
is nice too, the small town, quiet all around, lets me enjoy the natural
pleasures of life. What about you, what's your story?" I really
wanted to get away from my trips which always involved running, hiding, and
killing.
"Hmm, my life story. Well my parents also grew up
here, John and Linda Matthews. I am an only child, almost 21, and my
parents died when I was 16. So I have been on my own since then.
That's my story." Matthews talked with sadness but like he was okay with
all that had happened.
His parents had died when he was 16, I knew how he felt and
I was anything but sad and okay, I was downright angry.
"I'm sorry about your parents. I know how you
feel; my mom was murdered in a home robbery when I was 2 days shy of my
sixteenth. I had no one to go to so I have traveled the world seeing
everything I thought she would want to see one day." That was the best
that I could do without showing my true feelings. I sensed his aura
change I could feel that he felt uneasiness and maybe shock flooding him; he
was confused like he could not believe something.
"What about your dad, if you don't mind me
asking? Couldn't he have taken you in?" Matthews asked concerned
about my story.
"Well my dad has never been around; he didn't know my
mom was pregnant when they separated. My mom had no living family so I
was either going to a home or traveling and I chose traveling. I didn't
want to stay cooped up with people who felt sorry for a girl whose mom was
murdered in front of her. You know what; can we not talk about this anymore?"
I got up from the swing and walked to the edge of the porch.
"Katilyn, I'm very sorry about that, it must have been
awful. I know what you mean though, I was in the car with my parents and
someone pulled me from the car just before it exploded into flames killing both
of my parents, otherwise I would have been in there with them. I saw them
burn in front of me so I know how that feels. Look, what about your ride,
you said you needed to go to the dealer in town today, how about you get ready
and I will take you there." Matthews got up and headed over to me, I
figured he wanted to console me or something, I couldn't let that happen.
I turned back to him quickly, "That sounds great, let
me go freshen up and I will meet you downstairs in a few minutes." I
brushed past him and bolted up the stairs. I had to do something about
this connection I was feeling