Afflicted

A truck pulled up beside us suddenly, causing a wave of puddle water to surge towards me and the crazed man.

"You need a lift Katy?" Lincoln asked as he leant across the passenger seat and the window slid down.

I jumped in without any need for further prompting. The man yelled out and kicked water back towards the truck as Lincoln pulled away.

"Friend of yours?" Lincoln asked with a smirk as we started back towards our houses.

"Yeah he's one of the cheerleaders," I joked.

Lincoln laughed and took a turn. He drove with only one arm on the steering wheel and looked like he was more at home in his truck than he was at his mom's.

I swept my bedraggled hair out of my face and pulled down the sun visor to use the mirror. There wasn't much I could do without makeup but I tried to wipe the water from my cheeks and arrange my hair so that it wasn't a total drowned rat look.

"You were headed home right?" he asked.

"No, I was actually headed anywhere but home," I replied sheepishly. "I'm kinda in the middle of a fight with my folks."

"Oh." Lincoln drummed his fingers on the steering wheel for a few seconds. "That would explain the lack of coat then?"

"Yeah, it was a bit of a hasty exit." I looked out of my window feeling embarrassed. The rain still poured down in torrents, making it hard to see much beyond the glass.

"You heading to the Quarterback’s then?" he asked.

"Umm..." I hadn't even thought of going to Ryan's. There was an unanswered text from him on my cellphone that had been suggesting we meet up today. "I guess so." I was kind of hoping that Lincoln might suggest we do something else.

"What's his address then?" Linc ran his free hand through his short hair and I couldn't help but stare a little. He was the same boy I'd always known in so many ways and yet he looked so different as well. He'd never been able to grow a beard when I knew him but dark stubble lined his jaw now. His face had changed too, the soft lines had hardened and his jaw was a lot stronger. Even his eyes looked different now though I couldn't quite place why. It was something about the look in them, maybe just not having to live in fear of his dad had fixed that.

"Katy?" Linc took his eyes from the road to look at me for a moment and I realised he was still waiting for directions to Ryan's.

"Oh umm, he's on Maple," I said quickly, trying to ignore the look of amusement in Lincoln's eyes.

"Done staring then?" he asked.

I felt my cheeks redden and fought against it. "You just look different is all," I spluttered. "It's hard to get used to. You look weird now."

"Not as weird as you do. I left a little girl who loved climbing trees and had a slightly scary obsession with stickers-"

"I was not obsessed," I objected.

Lincoln laughed and I rolled my eyes.

"Anyway, I've come back and you're all grown up. You don't need me to protect you any m

ore." He smiled as he turned onto Maple and I pointed out Ryan's house.

"Hey, if you still feel like protecting me from Reese then you're more than welcome. You won't believe the kind of liberties he's taken since you left," I said.

"You two are still fighting like cat and dog then? It's nice to know some things will always be the same." He pulled the truck up outside the house and killed the electric engine with a button on the dash.

"One more year until I go to college and can get away from him for good." I leant back against the head rest with a smile. College couldn't come soon enough.

"You know he only winds you up like that because he worships you. He just wants to get your attention," Lincoln said.

I scoffed at that. "No. I think he just gets pleasure out of tormenting me. Do you know he joined the football team? So now he hangs out with my friends and tells them all sorts of embarrassing stories about me."

"Sounds like the sort of thing that would get your attention. Plus he gets to hang out with you all the time," Lincoln pointed out.

"Yeah right. You don't know how good you've got it. I'd give anything to be an only child."