The Lonely Read Online Free Page A

impressed.
    Sebastian
smiles uncomfortably, "Hey man. We're gonna eat here. You wanna
come?"
    Stuart
ignores him, "This is a bad idea."
    "I'll
call him. Now go away." I turn and pull Sebastian to the door. I almost
grab the handle but my hand freezes looking at it. Thankfully, Sebastian grabs
it quickly, "Let me. Is everything okay?"
    I
look back at Stuart and nod. "He's really over protective."
    "Who
are you going to call?"
    "My…uhm…family."
I laugh inside my mind. I've never said the word uhm so many times in my life.
    Stuart
doesn't get in the car. He watches. He always watches. It's creepy.
    He
isn’t creepy, but his job is.
    My
phone vibrates the minute we get inside. I ignore it.
    The
restaurant smells great and I can see the sparkle and shine in every corner.
The servers are clean, with their hair pulled back and greased to their heads.
Everything is white linen and immaculate. I almost sigh relief, but then I
notice how everyone else is dressed. We look like slobs. I look down at my
chipped toenail polish and ugly blue sandals and grimace.
    He
must have seen the look in my eyes because he leans in and whispers,
"Yeah, I forgot how fancy this place was. You okay here?"
    I
nod, "I'm starving. I don’t care. I feel like an idiot but whatever."
    "Me
too." We are still holding hands. It's weird for me to hold hands with
anyone. After my panic attack it's nice. More than nice. He's like a hero. I
feel rescued. The right way. Like he is a prince and not a dictator. My knight
in shining armor. He cured the lonely.
     
     
     

Chapter Three
     
     
     
    "We
ate and talked and ate some more. He eats a ton like me, so that’s good. I
didn’t look like a pig." I'm nattering. It’s a first.
    Shell
rolls her eyes, as she applies my toenail polish, "I don’t know how you
eat that much and don't get fat."
    "Sprints.
But yeah, we ate and talked. He is so sweet. He never tried to kiss me or tried
to touch me, except the hand and that was after he did the sani. I super liked
him." I'm gushing.
    She
scowls up at me, "One date and you're in love? I told you to have dinner.
You girls are all the same. You hold out and the first boy you let in you love
him. You need to test drive this shit and date a few others. This is too
fast." Her tone is edgy. It hurts a little.
    "It
was just dinner." I'm getting angry.
    "Are
you going out with him again?"
    I
feel my face tightening, "No. I don’t know. He doesn’t have my number.
You're the one who made me go. Why are you being a whore about me liking him?
You know how big of a deal this is to me? He saw the lonely and he
stayed."
    Seeing
the look on my face, she lightens hers. "Sorry. Oh my god, I am being a
bitch. Sorry dude. I'm so happy for you. This is a huge step. I'm just so
annoyed with your Uncle Daddy Dude. He called like a hundred times when we were
out. He was pissed Stuart was on his own time. It was like eight at night. Like
come on. You know?"
    I
nod, "Sorry." I'm still mad.
    She
laughs and blows her dark hair out of her tanned face, "No. It's not your
fault. I should have known better than to fall for your Uncle Daddy's
driver."
      I laugh too. "He isn’t my Uncle
Daddy."
    She
makes air quotation marks, "Your benefactor."
    It
makes me feel weird when we talk about him. I don’t like it either. I wish I
had a mom and a dad and a normal life. I wish my clothes and hair smelled like
food and not bleach and anxiety. She hurts me and she doesn’t know it. It's not
her hurting me though. It's me reacting. So I keep my face pleasant. Until I
feel it start. The room wobbles a bit and the polish bottles almost duplicate
in numbers. They surround me. Each one has been touched. I swallow, looking at
them all.
    "I
see you." She says, but doesn’t look at me.
    "No,
you don’t." I whisper.
    "Just
do it." She says it like it's nothing.
    I
reach over and grab the wipes and the polish remover and all the little polish
bottles she's touched. I feel sick wiping her off of everything