Philip had somehow convinced Lee to join him and his friends at the local coffee shop that day, and now they were sipping their respective drinks and watching Kat and Wayne argue over whether cats or dogs were the better pets.
Wayne threw his hands up in the air, effectively shutting Kat up for a moment. “All I’m saying is that I like cats way more than I like dogs. Clearly, that means cats are far superior.”
Kat’s eyes darkened and narrowed. “That proves nothing!” She almost knocked all of their drinks off the table when she slammed her palm on it.
“Woah, there, Kitty Kat, no need to be so violent.” Wayne caught her mocha before it toppled to the tile floor. He took a long sip and looked her straight in the eye. “What’s so wrong with liking cats anyway?”
Philip cut in before she could explode into a passionate rant again. “Is this really something worth getting so worked up over?” When neither of his friends answered, he sighed. “I thought so.” He took one last sip of his coffee and glanced around the table. “Anyway, does anyone want to do anything later? I’m free for the rest of the day, actually.” Philip snuck a glance down at Lee, who had started fidgeting in her seat.
Wayne shrugged. “What were you planning on doing?” he asked, lazily stirring his drink with his straw.
“Not really sure. Maybe watch that new movie that came out last month?” He directed the conversation toward the other two, but he decided to keep his gaze trained on Lee, who was clearly uncomfortable for a reason unknown to him.
“Sounds fun to me,” Kat answered, grinning widely.
Wayne nodded. “If Kitty Kat’s going, then I’ll go.”
She rolled her eyes and scoffed. “Por supuesto, Wayne. I’m your ride, after all.”
“Semantics,” he tossed back with a slight chuckle.
As the two erupted into a pointless, heated argument once again, Philip took the opportunity to focus all of his attention on Lee. He wasn’t sure why going out to spend time with friends agitated her so much, but she’d given him a similar reaction in the cereal aisle of the grocery store.
Philip supposed it was just luck that Ian had insisted they were running out of cereal at home—which they weren’t, but his older brother just wouldn’t listen—and that Lee had also needed cereal at the same time. She had been a pleasant surprise when he turned the corner, an immediate remedy to his sour mood caused by his brother’s pushiness and insistence.
She hadn’t noticed him, however, and promptly walked into him without looking. When he glanced up at her after his fall, he almost laughed at the utterly horrified look on her face as she realized who she’d just sent flying to the floor. He had leaped up and grabbed her wrist when he realized she was about to run in fright. He immediately released her wrist after coming to his senses and sheepishly asked if she wanted to join him for coffee.
And then her demeanor completely changed into something like what it was now. She was fidgeting, refusing to look at anyone or anything in particular for too long. Her hair had fallen over her face again, and her hands were trembling.
He tried to smile gently at her. “Want to watch the movie, Lee?” he asked, leaning down so his mouth was right next to her ear.
That was when he realized she was murmuring under her breath, ever so silently. He couldn’t make out what she was saying—he could barely hear it, after all—but he knew she was completely stressed even if he didn’t know why.
“Hey,” he began, voice still soft, “Lee, are you okay?” When she still didn’t answer, he took her hands from her lap and held them in his. “Lee.”
She finally looked up at him, the fear in her eyes subsiding the slightest bit.
He tried a gentle smile again. “Come watch a movie with us.”
She froze for a moment before shaking her head with growing fervor. “I have to go home. I must go home, or he—”
“Well, if it isn’t my baby brother,” a loud voice exclaimed, snapping Kat and Wayne out of their argument and startling Philip enough to cause him to jerk back, letting go of Lee’s hands. Ian approached the table, clapping one hand on Philip’s shoulder and the other on Lee’s shoulder. “It’s a family reunion!”
Philip pushed his eyebrows together in confusion. “Ian, what are you doing here? How did you even get here? I have the car.”
“Ian, my man!” Wayne greeted excitedly, standing up to give him a bro hug. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”
He grinned. “Me neither, Wayne. Beautiful as always, Kat.”
Kat let out a laugh. “Flirty as always, Ian.”
“You love me.” He turned to his brother. “For your information, Philly, I took Dad’s car because you were taking too long to get the cereal. Now I see you’ve ditched me to have coffee.”
Philip wanted to punch him in the shoulder, but he restrained himself. “For your information, Ian, I did get the stupid cereal. I was going to bring it home later.”
“Too late, I got my own.” Ian glanced down, and his eyebrows shot up in surprise as he realized for the first time that he didn’t know the girl on whose shoulder his hand was resting. “Well, hello, random girl. I have no idea who you are.”
Philip caught Lee’s eyes flickering to his before she looked back down at her lap. “My name is Lethana Barnswell,” she said by way of greeting.
“Ian Marshal,” he answered with a slight grin as he looked between Philip and Lee. “Older brother to this incompetent fool over here.” Before Philip could object to that statement, he pressed on. “Want to hang out with me for the rest of the day, Ana? I promise I’m more fun.”
Ian’s little nickname made the hairs on Philip’s arm rise. He couldn’t rationalize it, but he couldn’t help but feel that Ian was about to steal his friends away, especially Lee.
“It’s true,” Wayne chimed in, earning a slap on the shoulder from Kat.
Lee didn’t answer right away, clearly panicking. Philip interrupted for her.
“We were actually going to see a movie, Ian. So go away.” He shrugged Ian’s hand off his shoulder and raised an eyebrow, daring Ian to challenge him.
Unfortunately, his brother had always been one to accept a challenge. “I’ll just come with you. What movie are you watching?”
Philip furrowed his brows in annoyance. “Whatever. Just follow us to the theater.” He grabbed Lee’s hand and pulled her out to the car he shared with his brother.
As he buckled up, she spoke. “Philip, I must go home soon.” When he turned to look at her, he found her practically cowering in her seat, frail and fragile against the worn leather. Her hands were trembling much more violently than they had been in the coffee shop. “Please, Philip.”
He twisted around to look at her. “Lee, honestly, what’s so wrong with hanging out with us? Do you not like us or something?” he asked, unable to contain his annoyance. He couldn’t tell if he was annoyed because his brother had decided to ruin his day with his presence or if he was annoyed because Lee was always so hesitant around him despite his best efforts to make her feel comfortable or if he was annoyed because he just couldn’t understand the one person he wanted to, but the fact was that he was annoyed, and he found he couldn’t keep it in anymore.
Unfortunately, the only thing he managed to do was scare Lee off. He didn’t even get a chance to call out to her before she was out the door and running away down the sidewalk. He groaned in frustration, mentally berating himself.
Ian sauntered up to the door Lee had left ajar, a smirk on his face. He glanced around the inside of the car before hopping in the passenger’s seat. “Either you bought a whole bunch of extra food, or Ana left all her groceries in her hurry to get away from you.”
ns 172.70.131.52da2