3: Night Out

 "And there were times when I knew how you felt, and it was hell to know it, my little one. Lolita girl, brave Dolly Schiller. " 

-Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita

Bryan on the side! --->

"Can you take me somewhere?" Said a small, sweet voice.

Bryan looked over to see Candice coming down he stairs, like nothing had happened earlier. 

"Um. If-If that's alright with your mom." Replied Bryan, stuttering.

She smiled kindly and nodded. 

---

"So...you're not mad at me, anymore?" Bryan asked, to make sure. 

She shook her head, "Nope. I overreacted. Sorry." She mumbled.

Bryan blinked at her, "It's okay." He said, quickly.

Bryan didn't know the area that much, but Candice looked as if she knew where everything was, marching confidently towards the bus stop, the street lights seemed to hit her face perfectly, as her big, shiny blue eyes spotted Bryan staring at her. She smirked at him, then looked away.

"So...do you mind telling me where we're going? Since i'm responsible for you..."

She waved him off, but he insisted.

"Look, i'm pretty sure you were lying when you told your mom you were going to the movies."

She shrugged, silently. "I like the movies." She said, pulling out a lollipop. It was the 3rd one she had since they stepped out. 

"Don't you have enough of that?" Bryan asked.

"Enough?" Candice asked, innocently. "No one can get enough of sweet things." 

"Well, i can. That can give you cavities." Bryan mumbled.

"Well, i don't tell you what you should eat and shouldn't eat-"

"Yeah, but i'm not telling you what to eat and shouldn't ea-"

"Whatever." Candice mumbled, and crossed her arms, staring straight ahead of her. 

There was an awkward silence. As Candice stayed still, crossing her arms and ignoring him. Suddenly, she groaned, as if something was bugging her, and she pulled out the lollipop from her mouth and turned to Bryan. "Want a lick?" She offered. 

Bryan deeply wondered what was constantly going on inside the head of this adolescent. He finally shook his head. "I'd rather not." He said, coldly. 

Candice found his attitude amusing and let out a small chuckle. 

The bus finally arrived and she took Bryan's hand, and pushed him first into the bus, and stopping him next to two empty seats. She pushed him down a little aggressively. 

"Hey." Bryan protested.

A few people glanced up at them, giving Candice weird looks. But she ignored them, and squeezed between the seats, giving Bryan a full view of her legs, then she sat down on the seat next to the window. 

Bryan rolled his eyes and shook his head, trying his best to look away. 

After 10 minutes on the bus, Candice was quiet. Too quiet. Bryan checked to see if she was awake, and without surprise, she was dozing off. Bryan nudged her softly, as she opened her eyes and turned to Bryan. "HM?" 

"Um." Bryan scratched his head. Is she serious?! "Tell me where we're supposed to get off in case you fall asleep again." 

"Mm- Great Alaska Steak House. Woodridge Avenue." She mumbled, before doing another sexy purr and falling back asleep.

Nearly an hour went past, the bus was now empty, and Bryan started to get more and more frustrated, sitting back in his seat, crossing his arms. This isn't what he's paid to do. Riding a bus with a crazy teenager who lied about a made up place for what? He clenched his jaw. Woodridge Avenue my ass, he thought to himself. 

Bryan woke her up again, as she blinked at him. 

Candice smiled at him, about to ask him if they arrived, before she looked at his face, full of rage. "Are you fucking with me, or what?" He spat.

Candice blinked. "What?" She demanded.

"That's it. We're going back home, i have enough of this bullshit. I know what you're trying to do. You're trying to wind me up so that i quit but guess what? This is my job now and i couldn't give a crap about a kid like you trying to put me off-"

"You're off your head, Bryan." Candice replied, snickering. "Now shut up, you're giving me a headache."

"Shut up? You lied to me for whatever reason. We've been on this bus for nearly an hour and i don't see a stupid steak house on an imaginary Woodridge Avenue!" 

She stared at him and laughed, "Oh! You're an idiot!" She exclaimed. 

"Hey, hey!" The bus driver shouted, "Shut up or get out." 

Candice pouted and crossed her arms, with a little 'hmph!'

The bus stopped, and the sign in front of the bus changed to 'Woodridge Ave'. 

Candice looked at Bryan, with a 'i told you' face, and stuck her tongue out at him. 

-----

"You're really good at being an ass, you know that?" Candice said, opening the door to the steak house. 

"Well, you should've told me it was gonna take an hour." Bryan protested stubbornly. 

Candice sighed. "Since you used profanities when you yelled at me like a maniac on the bus and-"

Bryan rolled his eyes, "-Oh, come on-"

"-Was so mean to me...ONCE AGAIN, i'll have to ask my mother to fire you." She said, seriously. 

"You're kidding me, right?" Bryan said. 

Candice shook her head, her ponytail moving swiftly. "Unless you pay for my meal-"

"What am i, your-"

"-THEN...i won't ever say a word to my mother." 

Bryan bit his lip in frustration. That money he earned yesterday was to take his girlfriend out. Why would he spend it on a bratty kid? He groaned, and reached inside his pockets. Candice grinned at him and took him to go and order.

-

Candice's eyes were glued to her phone, as she typed away, vibrating every five minutes. Bryan couldn't help but look at her face, as he eyes lit up, laughing quietly at what she was reading on her phone screen. 

She was completely ignoring him. 

Bryan cleared his throat, "So..."

Candice looked up, before pressing 'send'. 

"How-How did you find out about this place?" 

"I used to go there with my friends every night after school..." She said, looking as if she was remembering those days, as her eyes gleamed. 

"What made you stop?" Asked Bryan, curiously. 

"I stopped going...to school." She explained.

He frowned, "Why?"

"I don't know." She said, too quickly. And shrugged. She then smiled, "I'm more mature than all the others." She said.

"Like i'd believe that." Commented Bryan. 

"Shut your pie hole-"

"Whoa, whoa." Bryan said, grinning. "I know you hate me but you need to calm down-"

"Who says i hate you?" Candice asked, as she leaned in front, looking at Bryan accross the table."If i hated you, you would've been long gone..." She paused, "As a matter of fact, i actually have a crush on you." She said, casually, crossing her arms and leaning back. Before Bryan had time to reply, she started talking again, "But don't get too excited. It's only a little crush. Just a tiny one. It dosn't even phase me." 

For some reason, Bryan's heart was pounding in his chest, as he tried to remain calm, the palm of his hands sweating, as he felt like he was on fire, but carefree Candice didn't notice -gladly- and put her lips around the straw, drinking the refreshing ice cold water. 

Their food arrived, and Candice wasted no time grabbing her knife and fork, but first, she quickly admired to artistic design of the food in front of her, even though it was just an ordinary American Diner, the chefs try hard to make the cuisine as appealing as possible for the diners. 

Bryan examined Candice cutting up half of the steak contently, as if what she had said earlier was just a figment of his imagination. He swallowed his dry throat slowly, suddenly finding it harder to breathe.

Candice's eyes darted up to meet Bryan's. She smiled amusingly at him. "What? Don't tell me you're still thinking about what i said. Here." She said, putting half of her steak onto Bryan's plate.

"Did you intend for what you said to stick in my mind?" Asked Bryan, raising one eyebrow cockily.

Candice scoffed, stabbing her vegetables with her fork, like a little kid would. "No." 

Bryan did a small smirk, "Then, at least i didn't disappoint you."

She raised her eyebrows to show that she agrees. She chewed on her broccoli, then abruptly held her neck, coughing uncontrollably, as if she was choking.

Bryan looked up, alerted. "Are you okay?" He asked, helplessly.

She nodded quickly, and grabbed the glass of water, taking the straw out and taking huge gulps of it. She took a deep breath, then exhaled.

Bryan chuckled, "Take it easy, kid." 

Candice smiled, sheepishly and looked away. "Went down the wrong pipe." She mumbled, quickly. 

After that, Candice grew more and more quiet. Bryan bit his lip, trying to start a conversation with her, or get her to talk. But she was the one that spoke up.

"I want to go home." Her voice was soft and quiet, but it still stood out to his ears among the rest of the loud voices in the restaurant. 

She sat  back in her chair, crossing her arms, but her lips were pouting, as she looked away from him. 

He felt himself get softer inside, as he smiled and nodded. Even though the food on her plate was barely touched, he didn't comment about it, and payed the bill. Candice silently pushed her chair back, and walked out, lazily, without waiting for Bryan to finish. 

---

Bryan constantly glanced down at Candice, she looked calm, sleeping like that. Peaceful and innocent. What does it take to figure this girl out? Her emotions looked like they were all over the place. 'One minute she's happy, the next minute she refuses to even look at you,' He thought, leaning back on the bus seat. He suddenly felt something on his lap. His eyes widened, as his hands were sweating nervously. Candice's head dropped to his lap, dangerously close to his- he cleared his throat awkwardly, hovering his hands hesitantly above her head, unsure of what to do. He didn't want to wake her up, but he also couldn't let them stay in this position. 

Candice shuffled in her seat, as her hands reached Bryan's lap. He drew in a sharp breath and tried to control his furiously quick paced heart beat. 

Her face was hidden by her dark blonde locks. Bryan slowly touched her hair. As it fell from his fingertips, he felt her move, then her head rising. He softly cursed to himself and closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep. 

He felt her hand softly touch his shoulder, as she lightly shook him. "Bryan...Wake up." She mumbled.

His eyes softly opened, as he pretended to be tired, stretching his arms out. "Oh, hey." He mumbled.

"Why did you fall asleep?" Candice demanded, irritatingly, as if she hasn't been dozing off for the past 45 minutes. "You're supposed to be my babysitter. What kind of baby sitter falls asleep on a bus, letting any creep kidnap the kid you're supposed to take care of?" 

Bryan shook his head, "Give me a break-"

Candice pursed her lips, then looked away, crossing her arms, "Talk about irresponsible..." She mumbled, rudely. 

"What about you? You were asleep the whole time, princess."

Her mouth twitched into a small smile at the little nickname he used for her, but her face was back to being angry. "Yeah. I was tired. I'm not the babysitter here." She retorted.

"Are you okay?" Bryan threw her off guard asking this question.

She bit her lip, and nodded, but an unusual expression rested on her face. "Mm-HM." She murmured, but half a minute later, she fell asleep again. 

Is she doing this on purpose, now?

The bus pulled up at their stop, and Bryan  hesitated, before tapping Candice on the shoulder. No answer. Bryan sighed deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

He slowly picked her up as if carrying her over the threshold. He gasped at how high her body temperature was. She was heating up, and the blood flushed to her cheeks. He frowned, as he hurried to get her home. 

------

Bryan finished tucking her into bed, when he spotted a photograph in a picture frame. It was what he presumed to be Candice, smiling brightly at the camera, with another girl next to her, and another guy on her left. Bryan let a smile play on his lips, but it soon faded. Why did she really stop going to school? He shook his head, snapping out of his thoughts. It's non of his business. He's only here to babysit her.

He took one last look at her before he left. Her cheeks looked as if they were burning. Should he wake her up and make sure she's feeling okay? 

Suddenly, the front door opened, and Bryan got downstairs, telling Ms Harrington about Candice's worrying situation. 

After Bryan left, Candice's mother slowly dragged herself upstairs, and quietly entered Candice's bedroom. She examined her daughter, laying on the bed, clearly looking as what Bryan described. She crossed her arms, and shook her head, slowly. "Just what are you hiding from me, Candice?" Her mother asked, only getting her soft breathing in response.