But when I wake up a few hours later, I notice something that I didn’t when I was waving. There’s a strange car in Edward’s driveway. It looks vaguely familiar, like I may have seen it at some point in the past. Weird. Maybe something happened to Edward’s car?
I don’t have any text messages from him saying that he’s broken down, so I’m satisfied that he’s not on the side of the road. I’ll ask him about it later. In the meantime, I need to get downstairs before Mom thinks that she needs to come give me cold medicine.
Thankfully she doesn’t question more than asking how I’m feeling, and we move on to continuing our work in the living room. But the time afternoon rolls around, I’m looking out the windows from the corner of my eye. I haven’t had the chance to text Edward, but I want to see him. And I can take the trash out, and maybe make an excuse.
How is it that I’m craving him like this after such a short time? It feels crazy and amazing. I’ve always had a crush on him but this feels like way more than that. This feels big and all-encompassing, and so much more than what my mother would describe as being addicted to cock.
Though I’ll admit that’s a pretty big benefit.
I see his car pull past our house, and my heart starts pounding in my chest. Taking out the trash isn’t going to give me the kind of time that I want. Not that I need hours, but more than the thirty seconds the trash will take. “I’m going to get some coffee,” I say. “Do you want anything?”
Mom looks up from where she’s absorbed in a magazine article. “We have coffee here.”
“I know, but I haven’t been out of the house in a bit. And I just feel like going out for a while. And it can be nice to just have someone make you a cup of coffee sometimes.”
“That’s fair,” she smiles. “I’ll take a coffee, sure.”
“Perfect.”
Running up the stairs, I change quickly into something that says less hobo and more cute. The strange car is still in Edward’s driveway. I’ll ask him about it. I suppose that I could have texted him and told him I was coming, but I like surprises. Hopefully so does he.
I glance back at my house, paranoid for a second that my mom might see me out of the windows. But I find that I don’t care. This is my choice. I may not know the entirety of the reason my mom holds such a huge grudge against every person with a penis, but I don’t have that. And I’m not going to let her dictate my life in that way.
Some people might think that it’s disrespectful, since she’s said she doesn’t want me dating while at home. But I’m an adult. At some point she’ll have to respect that. I can only hope that I can get her on my side. I don’t want my mom to hate my boyfriend.
Is that what Edward is?
The warmth that fills me when I think about that word tells me that I want him to be. I hope he feels the same.
I ring the doorbell, and wait. I’m about to pounce forward and wrap Edward in a hug and a kiss when he opens the door, but I almost fall over trying to stop because the person that opens the door is definitely not Edward. There’s a passing similarity. The same blonde hair and eyes of a darker blue than Edward has.
I’m staring, and I have no idea what to say. Now that I’m looking at this person I think I remember that Edward had an older brother, but he was old enough that he was not around much. I never really knew him.
“Can I help you?” he asks.
I clear my throat. “Yeah, I’m here for Edward?”
He leans against the doorframe. Larger than his brother, he fills the space. Somehow the pose looks intimidating, and I don’t know if he means it to be. He smiles. “You’re Julia.”
“Um…yeah. Who’s asking?”
“Kevin Werlin. Edward’s older brother. I remember you. I know a lot about you.”
So he is the brother like I thought. Okay. “That’s…nice. I guess? I know almost nothing about you.”
Kevin pouts. “You mean you don’t remember me? I remember the way you and your friends used to sunbathe in the back yard.” He waggles his eyebrows. “You put on quite the show.”
A hand lands on his shoulder and hauls him backwards through the door, and Edward appears, face stormy. He steps through the door and I can tell that he wants to reach for me, but he doesn’t. There’s a strange energy going between the two of them, and between Kevin and me. I’m not sure what it is, but I don’t want him to know that Edward and I are together. Not until I can figure out what’s going on.