Lainey

After we chatted with the fortune teller Owen toke Maize home and we went home. When we got to his house, he made dinner, and after I watched him work on an essay that was due after spring break. An essay I will definitely have to do once I get out of the hospital.

Yay.

Now it is the next day and I have been dragged into coming to work with Owen. He told me this morning he had to work and, I had two choices, I could go with Owen and watch him work on cars all day.

Hot.

Wait no, it's not hot. Owen working on cars is not Hot.

Or I could stay at his home by myself all day.

So, I figured it would be more fun to stick with him, hopefully, there will be other guys there working on cars.

Owen works at Caleb's dad's machinic shop. He told me this morning, (after a lot of prying) that he has been working there since he was fourteen.

A few years ago I would have swooned at the thought, but now I just feel guilty for thinking the worst about him.

Owen pulls into a parking space and smiles, "I figured you would be bored, but now I think you will have plenty to watch."

He flexes his arm as he grabs his phone out of the cup holder and I scoff, "You are so full of yourself."

Owen laughs as he locks his car, "Do not act like you were not checking me out this morning."

I shove his shoulder, "I was not."

I wasn't checking him out, I was just watching him because I had never seen him in a wife-better tank, and I had never seen him wear a baseball hat backward.

He hums as he walks into the auto shop, and I roll my eyes. When Owen walks in he is greeted by a couple of people, one person I recognize as Caleb's father.

Owen gets to work on an older car in the back of the shop while the rest of the guys work on newer cars. I take a seat on a pile of tires in the corner.

"So how come you get to work on this old beauty?" I ask, as I watch Owen open the hood.

He smirks, "The owner happens to prefer me to work on his car."

I roll my eyes and pull out one of Owens's books I stole off his shelf this morning.

~~~~

Owens works on the same car the entire day only stopping to eat and drink water. I swear he had to have checked everything in that car twice, but he never found a problem.

While he worked, I read a book and when I got tired of reading, I asked him questions about what he was doing. Unliked, I hoped, he never got annoyed, every guy I know would have told me to shut up after the second question. But he never did, he answered each one with a smile.

Once he finished for the day the car still would not start.

Afterwords, we go to Walmart. Owen covered in grease and sweat.

As we are walking down the cleaner aile Owen sighs, "Why do you keep looking at me?"

I trip over my own feet at the bluntness of his question. "What do you mean?"

Owen stops and stares at me, "You keep looking at me with this weird look."

Have I?

I shake my head to clear my thoughts, "Sorry, it's just odd to see you in work clothes."

Owen starts moving again and I can almost swear he's fighting a smile.

"So, what do you do to make money?" Owen asks.

I practically sigh with relief from his change of topic.

~~~~

Owen

Ever since I left work, I have noticed Lainey glancing at me. It's not her usual glare or sneer, it's almost like she can't seem to understand me and she's trying to figure me out.

Or maybe it's just me.

Either way, her looks are doing weird things to me. Every time I caught her looking, I get an odd tingling in my stomach.

"Uh, it's a little complicated, "Lainey says hesitantly."

I glance over my shoulder to give her a teasing smile, "Try me."

"I sort of work part-time," Lainey says.

"Where?" I ask.

"For myself."

I bite back a sigh; I don't think Lainey had ever been this vague towards me. "Lainey, just tell me."

"I don't work." She says quietly like she is ashamed or embarrassed. "My parents wouldn't let me get a job, I wanted to, but they said I didn't need one."

Why did she seem so scared to tell me that?

I stop in front of her, "You say like that is a bad thing."

She shrugs, "It makes me seem like a spoiled brat."

I almost laugh, I would have if she didn't seem so serious, "No, it doesn't."

She crosses her arms, "Yes, it does, it makes me seem like I never worked for anything in my life."

I cross my arms, copying her stance. "Well, have you," I ask, not to tease her, but because I am genuinely curious what her response is.

"Just because I don't have a job doesn't mean my parents handed me money. If I wanted money, I can find a way to come up with it."

A smile graces her lips as she continues, "So I started washing the dogs in my neighborhood. Then it turned into trimming nails and haircuts."

This time I do laugh, "I never pegged you for someone to wash dogs."

Lainey huffs, but with a smile, "I enjoy it."

I start walking again with Lainey close beside me, "Do you have a college picked?"

"Sort of," Lainey sighs. "I don't want to go but my parents are making me."

I laugh, "How horrible."

She glares at me as she continues, "I wanted to start working after I graduate but they had other plans."

"If everything goes to plan, I will be attending a college about an hour away getting my degree in business."

"That's a good plan," I say as we round a turn.

"I guess," Lainey says softly.

It's a better plan than mine.

"What are you planning to do?" Lainey asks.

I almost trip over the cart, no one has asked me that question besides my guidance counselor and my mother. "Probably just work."

Hopefully, she won't ask any more questions.

"You're not going to college?"

I held back a groan; I do not want to have this conversation. But as much as I wanted to avoid her question something in me convinced me to tell her.

"No, I can't leave my family."

Lainey is silent as she thinks over my question. "So, you didn't get any offers for scholarships?"

So, she thinks I'm lying, and that I just can't afford college.

She isn't wrong, I could never go without scholarships.

"I did," I say quietly.

The only people who know are my mom and Sadie.

I got a lot of offers. I got more than anyone else on the team.

"Then why aren't you going?" Lainey asks, confusion laced in her voice.

I sigh as I run a hand through my hair, "I can't just leave my family and move an hour away." I glance at her face to find compassion. Not sympathy or pity.

"We are barely making it now, there is no way they can make it with me an hour away." Not working, I mentally add.

From the way Lainey is looking at me, I can tell she read the words I didn't say.

She sighs, "It's a shame, you're a talented football player."

I shrug and continue shopping. I never loved football. I just stared it to have something to do since I enjoyed watching it so much. In my freshman year, I never knew I would be as good at it as I am now.

Now I play it because it takes my mind off my family life, I never wanted to go professional.

My dream was never football it was something else.

I want to tell Lainey that, something deep in me wants to share these thoughts with her. It wants me to share things I have never told anyone before.

But I'm not ready.

The look Lainey gives me says she understands; I shared more than I ever have.

Maybe one day I will.

Just not today.

A little bit of a deeper chapter lol.

As always, comment your thoughts.