The Scars She Hides

Part 17 - Tall Boy-men and Short Above Average Girls

CHARLOTTE

Were you late if you brought a bribe?

I wasn't even bothering to speed walk to the Engineering building at this point. Two coffees in hand and not an ounce of guilt for being late to be seen, I calmly made my way towards Holden's room.

That was a lie.

I was practically jogging, dodging meandering students right and left as I rushed to the other side of campus. Holden got extra grumbly when I was late. And when he was grumbly he did this... aggressive mother hen thing. Where he pours my coffee down the drain and force feeds me protein bars "for my health".

There would be no chalky man granola bars today. I put my straw to my lips and sucked on my frozen drink while moving a little faster. Better to finish it before Holden can get his hands on it just in case.

Speak of the devil and he may appear.

As I rounded the corner I ran right into Holden. Bounced off his chest, if we were being accurate, really.

Holdens hands snatched the loose fabric of my jacket sleeves, stopping my no doubt graceful fall towards the floor. I hung there, half suspended in his hands, in a daze. Holden pulled me up straighter, and then smoothed down the fists full of fabric he had grabbed.

"Good?" He mumbled, tilting his head down to be more in line with my eyes.

I pressed a hand to my nose and attempted to rub the sting away. Meeting Holden's eyes I glared up at him.

Why was he so tall? And whose chest was that hard? It was unnatural. All of it.

"Geez, watch where you're going." I grumbled, making a pretty good Holden impression. He huffed a laugh.

"Maybe if you weren't so short I would have seen you."

I sputtered in indignation. Waving my hand up and down, gesturing at his absurd height in mock outrage.

"Short? Short? I am above average in the United States, thank you very much. Just because I'm not a lumbering giant doesn't-"

Holden interrupted my sputtering by taking his frozen drink out of my hand, and inspecting it.

"You forgot the extra caramel drizzle." Holden frowned down at me. I blinked at him in utter shock. This man. No. This overgrown boy... I took a deep calming breath, letting my anger fizzle out and fade before speaking again.

"I hope you get a brain freeze." Ok, now the anger was gone. Holden just rolled his eyes. He made his way towards his parked bike, motioning me with a tilt of his head to follow him. He leaned against his it and sipped on his "girly shit" frappuccino.

"I have to drop something off for my sister at her school." He shook the cup, moving around the contents so he could drink more easily. "So I'm gunna have to cancel our tutoring session." He made finger quotes, mocking our agreement we made at the beginning of the semester. 

I tilted my head a bit in confusion. Sister? Since when did Holden have a sister? Thinking back on my earlier observation, his mother-hen-ing did make more sense now, if he had a younger sister. He was probably naturally protective of younger girls because of his role as a older brother. 

I ignored the snag in my chest at the thought of being a like a younger sister to him. As my therapist said, 'Better repressed than distressed.' ....

Ok, he actually did not say that. That would be against his entire therapist religion. 

But it was a good motto. And it rhymes. 

I narrowed my eyes at Holden, coming out of my side tracked thoughts, to watch as he devoured the rest of his caramel drink. What a monster. A human garbage disposal. He smirked at me, and tapped his temple.

"No brain freeze." He bragged. I rolled my eyes back at him.

"Sister?" I asked.

Holden nodded, and walked to a nearby dumpster to toss his cup into. "Foster sister if you want to be technical about it." He shrugged like it made no difference. "She's 10." He returned to his bike, and swung a leg over it.

"I can drop you off at the dorms..." He offered. "Or you could come with me, and I'll buy you another coffee."

I raised my eyebrows at his bribe, and took the helmet he offered me. He really didn't need the bribe, I would have taken him up on his offer either way, desperate to avoid being alone in my dorm.

Field trip and a coffee?

I guess big lumbering boy-men were ok. 

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Sorry for the late/short update! Applying to Grad school has kicked my butt. Application is in, and fingers are crossed! I'll be back next week with a longer chapter, pinky swear!