Chapter Ten

I stared at him with blank eyes, searching his face for a sign that gave him away and that told me he was totally joking and that I really wouldn't be getting a job because he wouldn't torture me like that.

          But I didn't find a single trace of amusement. Therefore, he wasn't joking. Therefore, he was being serious. Therefore, I was actually getting a job.

          I immediately began regretting the decision to even allow Logan to help me with this plan of his.

          A job that required me to interact with people I had never met before was big no-no. I mean, yes, I had become friends with Logan, who I hadn't known before, but he was just that kind of person. It was easy with him.

          As I was about to ask him what kind of job he was talking about, a smug smile stretched across his lips. "As much as I would love to sit here and let you stare at me," he pulled out his phone and unlocked it, looking at the screen, "class is about to start, so we should get going."

          I narrowed my eyes at him. How dare he joke around at a time like this.

         We both stood up from the booth and took our wrappers and unfinished food to the trash bin next to the entrance. As we made our way to the car, Logan walked towards the passenger side. Frowning in confusion, I was about to ask what he was doing when he reached to grab the door handle and pulled it open. It took me a couple of seconds to realize he was holding it open for me.

          To my embarrassment, I felt my cheeks flush. "Oh, thanks."

          He looked down at me and smiled, closing the door as I got in. He made his way around the car and climbed into the driver's seat. Starting the ignition, he looked over his shoulder and pulled out of the parking space safely.

          As we drove, Logan hummed and tapped his fingers to the rhythm on the steering wheel along to She Will Be Loved as it played softly on the radio. I found myself smiling at the sight.

          "So, um," I spoke suddenly, causing Logan to glance at me from the corner of his eye. "What kind of job were you talking about?"

           He smiled mischievously. "That's a secret for me to know and for you to find out later."

           "What? You're not going to tell me?" I said turning to look at him exasperatedly.

          "Nope." He replied, popping the p.

          I looked away from him and slumped in my seat. I was already feeling unseasy about agreeing to get this stupid job, and now I couldn't even know what I was going to be doing!

          I think I might throw-up. I swallowed and took deep breaths.

          "Uh, you know, I-I don't know.." I said shakily.

          "Just trust me on this."

          "Fine," I said uneasily. "But can you at least tell me where I'm going to be working?"

          "If I tell you, it wouldn't really be a secret, now would it?" Logan said as-a-matter-of-fact-ly. I glared at his profile.

          He glanced at me and smirked. "Well, that's a pretty face."

❧

          We arrived on campus a few minutes later. Logan and I seperated ways and walked to our next class. When I strolled into the classroom, everyone was sitting with their friends, talking and laughing, waiting for class to begin.

          I walked over to an empty desk in the back of the room. Taking out a pen from my bag, I mindlessly began doodling on the wooden desk. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who had been drawing on it. There was a variety of everything; vulgar language, inappropriate drawings, and names surrounded by hearts.

          When I decided to look up from the pen marks scattered around the desk, my eyes landed on Faith. I furrowed my eybrows. I hadn't noticed we had this period together.

          What surprised me more, however, was that she was sitting alone. As far as I knew, she was the type of person people wanted to get to know and be friends with, unlike me, who shut out anyone who would even talk to me.

           Her chin was propped up on the palm of her hand and she wore a bored expression. The more I continued to look at her, the more I began to realize how pretty she was. Her straight, dark brown hair went all the way down her back, reaching below her elbows. Her emerald green eyes were striking and were sitting under perfectly shaped eyebrows, and her skin was unbelievably clear - no blemishes or pimples in sight.

          I found myself becoming envious of her beauty. I also found myself wondering why she didn't have all the guys running after her. I mean, she was beautiful.

          Before my thoughts could engulf my mind, Mr. Clark, our teacher, walked through the door and prepared us for a pop-quiz.

❧

          It was eleven a.m. on a Saturday morning, and I was getting dressed to go out to the park again.

           I wore a grey over-sized sweater, black leggings that came half-way down my calfs, and my black converse. My hair was up in a messy bun, and I  left my face make-up free.

          I trekked down the stairs to eat a quick bowl of Lucky Charms before grabbing my bag and keys and heading out to start my walk to the park.

          It was a nice morning. The sun was out and shining brightly; the sky was clear, not a single cloud in sight; the cool wind swept by lighty, picking up loose strands of hair that had fallen from my bun and tickling my neck.

          I had walked for fifteen minutes before finally reaching the park. As I walked past the playground, I caught a glimpse of the bench I sat at the last time I read Mockingjay and also where I met Katie.

           The corners of my lips tugged upwards at the thought of the charming little girl as I continued strolling through the park.

          I caught the sight of what seemed to be a hidden trail that led through the trees, and I stopped in my tracks. The tree branches came down and obscured the opening but the grass underneath appeared to have been stepped on before. I looked over my shoulder and glanced around to see if anyone was watching. I turned back around and chewed my lip, debating whether to follow it or continue on the path I was taking. My curiosity took over, and I slowly started to follow the hidden trail. I pushed the branches to the side and walked through the opening.

It was as if I had emerged a completely different place. The trees surrounded me and obscured everything on the other side of the opening. I couldn't see the rest of the park unless I looked back and pushed the tree branches out of the way again.

I slowly walked forward and followed the small trail. The sun shined through the branches, giving the trees an enchanting forest-like look. I walked along the grass until the trees eventually cleared out and reached a hill that over-looked the whole park.

Wearing a small smile, I sat down on the cool grass and brought my knees up to my chest. I sat there for a while, just looking out at the park, admiring how beautiful everything looked from up here. I closed my eyes and tilted my head up towards the sky, loving the feeling of the soft wind blow through my hair.

After minutes of amiring the view, I pushed myself up from the grass, brushing off dirt and grass from my legs. I made my way back to the park, knowing I would be coming back to that spot often.

I found my way out of the hidden spot and strolled through the park, looking for someplace to sit and read. Deciding on the bench underneath the oak tree, I walked over to it and sat cross-legged. I made myself comfortable before opening my bag and pulling out Mockingjay.

I had been reading peacefully when I heard a loud squeal of laughter ahead of me. Looking up from my book, I glanced over to the playground curiously. My eyes landed on a certain little girl.

Katie was being chased by another girl with platinum-blonde hair and chocolate brown eyes. A grin stretched across her face as she ran after Katie, both their cheeks tinted a rosy color from all their exercise.

I chuckled quietly at the sight.

When Katie was finally tagged, they both decided to go over to the swing-set to rest. As she sat herself on the swing, her eyes flickered over to meet mine. I could see a flash of recognition in her eyes before she broke out in a grin. She turned towards the blonde little girl and said something to her. The girl nodded and ran off to the slides. Katie jumped off her swing and began running towards me. Smiling, I laid the book down on the bench. She reached me and squealed my name as she wrapped her arms around my neck.

"Hey, cutie," I laughed. "Back at the park?"

She let go and giggled. "Mhm! They let me come before going back to the hospital for my treatment."

"Are you having fun?" I asked, ignoring the sound of my heart breaking.

"Yeah, I made a new friend! Her name is Kylie. And our names start with the same letter!" She sounded so excited, I couldn't help laughing.

"That's so cool," I said, imitating her excitement. She nodded and showed off her toothless smile with a wide grin.

"Katie!"

We turned at the sound and saw a woman standing by a picnic table, pointing at the watch on her wrist playfully. I remembered her as Katie's mother. Katie nodded and turned back to look at me. She suddenly gasped.

"I have an idea!"

I raised my eyebrows expectantly as I waited for her to tell me.

"You can come visit me at the hospital when I can't come here!" She said. "I get really loney sometimes when my brother isn't there with me."

"Of course! I would love to visit you." I told her with a smile.

"Come on, come meet my Mom so she can tell you the directions to my hospital!"

"Uh, you know, I--"

Before I could finish, she grabbed my hand and started to pull me up. I stumbled off the bench and followed her towards her mother. As we approached her, I was able to get a good look at her. Her hair was pulled up in a ponytail, and she wore a plain white shirt with blue denim jeans.

"Mom! Mommy!" Katie called to catch her mother's attention. She lifted her head from the table where she was picking up Katie's things. Her grey eyes landed on Katie, then flickered over to me. She smiled. "Mom, this is Lauren. She's my best friend!"

She chuckled at her daughters enthusiasm. "Hi, Lauren. I'm Mindy."

I smiled shyly. "Hi,"

"Mom, can she come visit me in the hospital sometime?" Her eyes were wide with hope.

"Of course," Mindy nodded, stroking her daughter's head lovingly and looking up to assure me with a warm smile.

"Yay!" Katie said, looking at me and jumping up and down. "You get to visit me!"

I sent her a smile and watched as Mindy squatted down to match Katie's height. "Go say goodbye to Kylie, honey. We have to leave."

Katie looked up at me. "I'll be back in a little bit!"

She let go of my hand and ran off to Kylie. However, as soon as she ran off, I started to panic. I had barely met her mother and I knew I would feel awkward and uncomfortable without Katie here to keep me company.

I continued watching Katie as she said goodbye to Kylie, and before I could realize what I was doing, I said, "Katie seems to be an amazing girl."

Mindy smiled. She was looking at her daughter with so much love, it made my heart ache.

"Thank you." She said, smiling at me. "She is."

"Um, so," I began, panicking once I could feel the awkwardness coming back to me. "Do you really think I can visit her sometime when she's at the hospital?"

"Of course! She's talked about you quite a bit. When we got here, she was hoping she would see you again." She chuckled.

          There was a sudden buzz, and Mindy looked down at the table, reaching for her phone. She opened the text and frowned.

          "Well, we have to go, but here--" She reached into her bag and pulled out a Barbie coloring book, which I assumed was Katie's, and a pen, and wrote on it with neat handwriting, "--this is the address to the hospital Katie goes to for whenever you want to visit." She ripped the piece of paper out of the coloring book and handed it to me with a smile.

          I took the paper and smiled gratefully. "Thank you."

          "We'll see you later, Lauren." She said. She turned towards the playground and shouted Katie's name. After saying goodbye to Kylie, she ran over to us. She wrapped her tiny arms around my waist and pulled me to her.

          "I'll see you at the hospital, right?"

           "Of course," I replied without missing a beat, hugging her and caressing her head sweetly.

          We said our goodbyes and went our seperate ways. I walked back over to the bench underneath the oak tree and grabbed my bag. Deciding to head home, I began my walk down the sidewalk.

           When I finally approached my house, I spotted a familiar car parked in the driveway. Furrowing my eyebrows, I came closer to get full view of the house.

          Logan was standing at the door, pressing his finger to the doorbell.

          "Logan?"

          He whipped around and faced the direction of my voice. His eyes lit up once they landed on me. "Hey!" He greeted, then motioned at the door with his thumb. "I came by to see if you wanted to go with me somewhere."

          "Sure," I nodded and gave him a small smile. "Where did you have in mind?"

          "Oh, just somewhere." He brushed off casually with a wave of his hand.

          "Okay," I agreed suspiciously. "I guess I'll go with you somewhere."

          "Great," He said cheerfully and flashed me an innocent grin.

          He walked away from the door and made his way to his car. Before I could open the door to the passenger side, he reached over and pulled it open. "I got it." He said, giving me a lopsided smile.

          "Thank you," I said, quickly becoming shy.

          As we drove to somewhere, my mind began swirling with the different possibilities where Logan could be taking me. But before I could stress myself, I decided just to sit and wait until we arrived.

          I lowered the window, feeling the cool breeze run through the loose hair that had slipped out of the high bun I had tied my hair into earlier. Logan followed suit, switching the AC off and lowering his window, as well. After about ten minutes of driving, I quickly became impatient.

          "So, can you tell me where we're going now?" I turned to look at him, lying my head on the headrest.

           He continued looking straight ahead, but I caught the smile that stretched across his face. I didn't even notice when he stopped the car. He turned to look at me. "We're here."

          I turned my head. We were parked in front of a small restaurant I had never noticed before. Above the entrance, large cream-colored letters spelt out The Coffee House. Glancing through the windows, I noticed that there wasn't a single empty table. The place was packed.

          "Come on," Logan finally said, popping the car door open and motioning for me to do the same. I unlatched the door and hopped out, following him towards the entrance of the restaurant. He opened the door for me, allowing me to go in first.

          There literally wasn't one chair that was free. There were so many people here; families, couples, teenagers, older people - there was a variety of everyone. The waiters and waitresses were rushing all over the place, trying to get to everybody who needed any sort of assistance. As I continued to glance around, my eyes landed on a stage to the side of the restaurant. There was a piano on the side, and a microphone in the center.

          I turned to look at Logan with furrowed eyebrows. "You couldn't tell me that we were going out to eat?"

         He smiled childishly down at me, throwing an arm across my shoulders. "Lauren, I didn't bring you to eat."

          "Then why are we here?"

          That playful smile was still playing on his lips, and it was making me nervous.

          "This," he said, motioning to the restaurant we standing in, "is where you're going to be working."