Dawn Evans

∞

I was outside of the diner with no way home. I  didn't want to catch the bus. Instantly, I took out my phone to dial Royal's number for the second time today.

"Royal, I'm sorry. Am I waking you?" I asked him.

"Dawn, you just called me damn near fifth-teen minutes ago. What could you possibly want?" He was tired, but he still had to pick me up and drop me off at home because he was the only option I had.

"I need a favor," I said. He didn't respond, so I kept going, "I need you to come pick me up."

"Where you at?" He asked quickly as I heard shuffling through the phone, which meant he was getting ready.

I thought he would be hesitant, but I almost forgot Royal was very protective of Clover and me. He would do anything for us if it meant we weren't in harm's way.

I mean, Clover? I understand, but me? I can protect myself and he knew that.

"I'll send you the address," I told him.

"Mhm." He responded.

"Royal wait!" I said before he could get the chance to end the call.

"Wassup?" He asked.

"Hurry up," I told him before hanging up.

I turned around to walk back into the diner while I waited for Royal before I saw Antonio standing in front of me.

"Shit, Dawn." He said. His eyes were red and he began massaging his temples angrily before wiping his face with one of his hands. "I forgot I gotta take you home."

"It's fine. I'm waiting for my ride." I told him.

"I'll wait with you."

"I'm okay, I can take care of myself," I responded.

"I didn't say anything about taking care of you." He said bluntly. "I said I'll wait. Now, get back inside." His face was filled with rage and his eyes stared at me blankly before he turned his back towards me and walked back into the diner.

I rolled my eyes and followed him in the restaurant before I sat at the booth we were sitting at before, while he stood over me looking down at the floor.

"Antonio?" I said as I looked up at him.

He didn't respond instead he dug his eyes deeper into the floor.

I continued, "Are you okay?" I knew he wasn't okay, but I wanted him to open up to me.

"Yup." He lied, angrily turning his head to looking down at me.

Since he wouldn't tell me anything, I took this as an opportunity to ask about something a little off-topic, "So.. you speak another language?" I was still shocked.

"My dad is Italian and my mom is black." He said dryly, explaining his physical features as his head dropped back down to the ground.

He didn't look Italian at all, but he looked defeated. I couldn't stand to look at him like this, "Talk to me." I said as a joke, mimicking his earlier remarks.

He shook his head and chuckled angrily at the irony of my words.

"Antonio, talk to me. Please?" I asked again. This time I was serious, I wanted him to say something. I wanted him to tell me what was bothering him. I know that we just met, but it feels like I've known him forever.

He sat down next to me in the booth and stared into my eyes. He looked like he was two seconds away from punching the shit out of me, "My dad-" he stopped himself covering the top half of his face with the hand farthest from me as the other hand laid out flat on the table.

I didn't rush him. I wanted him to open up to me, but only if he was ready.

"My sister died a couple of years ago." He began. I didn't respond because I didn't know what to say. Death had no effect on me. I encountered it on a daily basis and most of the time I was causing it.

"Her name was Gia." He held his head back up and looked at me again before looking past me and out of the window, ashamed that I was seeing him in this vulnerable state.

"What happened?" I asked him.

He was about to respond, but he was hesitant. I could tell he didn't want to talk about it. So, I shifted the subject.

"And your dad?" I asked, trying to get him to finish what he was about to say earlier.

"It just seems like he's trying to get me to fill her shoes and it's almost impossible. I'm not some kind of robot, who can just do everything that he tells me to do and feel no re-." he stopped himself, sighing heavily.

I assumed he was talking about school and normal teenage stuff.

"I'm sure whatever your dad is expecting, you can do so much better," I said attempting to encourage him.

I must've said the wrong thing because he immediately sighed and shoved his face into his cupped hands.

I never had to say anything to Clover to comfort her. I just had to be there. It seemed like Antonio didn't want me here and I felt like I had to say something. I was new to this.

"Sorry," I said.

Sorry? When did we start apologizing? Is this who we are? Is this what we represent?

"For what?" He asked.

I shrugged my shoulders. I didn't know myself, I just felt like I had to say it.

"You don't have to apologize. I mean, it ain't your fault." He said.

He looked up staring at me with admiration in his beautiful hazel eyes.

"We should do this again sometime," I told him.

He raised an eyebrow, "A date?" he asked.

I nodded my head, "This was a terrible first date." He said as he chuckled, silently asking me why I'd ever want to do this again. I laughed asking myself the same question.

Ten minutes passed and Antonio and I laughed until we were on the floor of the diner. I loved his smile, he needed to do it more often.

"Why would you do that to the poor girl?!" He laughed referring to a childhood story I was telling him and I was about to respond when I spotted a blue BMW pulled up in front of the diner.

My smile dropped when I realized it was Royal's car. Antonio noticed my grim expression and leaned in whispering in my ear, "Like you said, we should do this again sometime."

"Yeah," I said locking eyes with him until I finally shoved my bag over my shoulder.

He extended his hand for me to take, helping me out of the booth before he pulled out his cell phone and signaled for me to give him my number.

I quickly grabbed it and saved my name in his phone as 'my favorite first date'. I gave him back his phone and he looked at it and began to smirk before Royal honked his horn.

I walked out of the diner and Antonio followed. Before I got to the car I turned my head, made a phone with my hand, and put it up to my ear, mouthing the words "Call me."

He nodded before he said, "Be safe."

When I got in the car Royal didn't say anything and I wondered what was going through his head.

I spotted Royal and Antonio nod at each other from the corner of my eye as I looked straight ahead through the windshield before we sped down the street.

A/N:

It's crazy that this is chapter 8 and only day 2 of the entire book. It's moving along so slowwww!

I'm also going to try and make the chapters longer because I know y'all don't wanna read these 2 worded chapters.

PS: you might not see Antonio for the next one or two chapters maybe, but after that, you're going to see him much more often. like.. every chapter :)

ONE MORE THING.. these songs that I picked for my parts don't really match the chapters. At this point, they are just songs that I likee!

I hope you're enjoying this book so far. Don't forget to vote, follow, and comment on what you think about the book!!