Red For Rebellious

He's Not A Delinquent

I could have stayed wrapped in Colton’s arms for forever, but of course the moment had to come to an end. That end happened to be the frantic buzzing of my phone. I pulled away and reached into my back pocket. My mother’s name shown on the screen, but instead of answering it I ignored the call. The warmth from Colton’s body was slowly fading away.

“I should go.”

I forced the words out of my mouth before I did anything I would regret.

Like kissing him.

All I wanted to do was plant one on him, but what if he didn’t want me to? The friendship we had was too valuable to lose, and I wouldn’t lose him over a kiss.

“Look Sutton, about Vee and Mark…I just think—“

“We don’t need to talk about them,” I said in a shaky voice.

If we talked about them I’d probably start crying. “I don’t want you to lose them. They might be confused right now, but in the end I know they’ll come around,” he assured me.

I shook my head. “You don’t know them. They’re stubborn, and when they don’t understand something they don’t give it the time of day.”

He brought his hands up to the sides of my shoulders and gave me a little squeeze. “I’ll see you in a few days, okay?”

Days? Colton wasn’t coming back to school for days? I looked up into his beautiful blue eyes only wanting to stay with him for the rest of the day.

“Remember, you don’t need me to cross off everything on that list of yours.”

A smile crept to my face and as I brushed a finger over my tattoo. “You’re right. Maybe I’ll do the skinny dipping and buy some lingerie.”

“No I definitely want to be there for those two,” he told me, his usual flirty self restored.

We stood on his front porch and watched each other in silence. Colton looked like he wanted to say something, and boy I sure did but nothing came out of either of our mouths.

“Goodbye Colton.”

I managed to turn away and head down the street towards my car. It took a lot of strength not to turn back and look at him because I knew his eyes still lingered on me. Once I got into the car, I buckled up and sped away as fast as possible.

What was happening to me?

I told myself I wouldn’t fall for Colton. Now I was tripping head first.

**

When I arrived home, my mother was patiently waiting for me in the kitchen. By the way she stood so stiffly I could tell something was up. Great! I thought about creeping through the back door unnoticed, but I knew sooner or later she would realize I was home.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t answer the phone, I was driving,” I said as soon as I stepped into the kitchen.

My mother’s eyes looked over me in disapproval. “Where were you?”

“Out.”

Her gaze was harsh under the faded kitchen lights. “With that trouble maker?”

I almost laughed. “What are you talking ab—“

“Mark told me you were hanging out with some delinquent. I thought he was joking but as of lately you have been acting out of character.”

Mark told my mom about Colton? How old was he? “Colton’s not a delinque—“