How to Stay Afloat

~6: Where She Sees His Abs~

CHAPTER 6:

Where She Sees His Abs

|Fallon|

~~**~~

I placed my books in my locker and sighed softly.

Why did things suddenly seem so complicated?

I should have been happy that Archer had finally decided to help me with my car, instead, I just felt pathetic. It was clear that the only reason he was doing it was because he pitied me.

And if there was one thing I hated in this world more than anything, it was people pitying me.

The sad thing was, I was desperate, and I couldn't turn him down.

The convertible had been my dad's. He'd left it to me in his will, he had wanted me to have it on my eighteenth birthday, which had been exactly a month ago.

My parents had died when I was three.

In a plane crash.

I had been the only survivor.

No, that wasn't right, my younger brother and I had both survived.

A miracle they had called it.

Until a month ago, I hadn't even known my brother existed. The lawyer who was responsible for executing my father's will had told me about my brother when he had come to give me the car.

My father had left him his collection of antique watches, so the lawyer, Mr. Patterson, had looked for him for months before he finally found him. He had been adopted by a nice family in Florida, which was a 40-hour drive from where I lived.

His name had been changed after he'd been adopted which was why he'd been so hard to find.

His name was Jamie Mathews now.

I'd managed to find him on Facebook but hadn't mustered up the courage to send him a friend request or message. I'd just stared at his picture forcing myself to recognize anything about the boy who stood smiling at the camera, who was supposedly supposed to be my flesh and blood. My mind had come up completely blank.

One of the reasons why I was so adamant about getting my car fixed was because I wanted to see my brother in person. I had no idea what I'd even say to him, or if I'd even go and talk to him but I just wanted to see him once, to make sure that he was doing okay, that he was happy.

"Hey."

Archer's voice had me slamming my locker shut in utter panic.

He raised his hands in mock surrender at my reaction.

"How can someone your size sneak up on someone?" I hissed as I clutched my chest trying to get my racing heart under control.

His lips twitched in an almost smile but it disappeared quickly.

"I was wondering if you could show me your car today so I could get a rough idea of how long it would take to fix and what parts I would need to get?" He shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Uh y-yeah, sure," I responded, still reeling over the fact that he'd agreed to help me. "I'll give you my address and you can come whenever you're free."

He studied me intently for a while, making me shuffle my feet out of nervousness.

"I'm free now." He said quietly.

~~**~~

"Would you prefer taking the bus or do you want to walk? It's not that far." I told Archer as I adjusted my bag pack on my shoulder.