Sweet Like Honey

chapter eleven

"LAINEY, it's been almost an hour. Where is your father's house?" Isaac asked impatiently.

He stared at her through the rearview mirror, and her large eyes watched him from the backseat.

"It's coming up soon," Lainey said, her fingers brushing against Gavin's cheek as he slept soundly.

"Stop touching him," Isaac warned, staring at the road. "And you can't expect me to believe that your father lives an hour away from where you go to school."

"It's my mom's house, I don't want to go to my dad's," Lainey said while crossing her arms over her chest and taking a deep breath.

Isaac exhaled heavily. "Lainey, is something really wrong with your family? Is that why you act like this?"

"Is that any of your business?" Lainey asked, running her hands through her long, golden hair. "My family has nothing to do with you."

"Oh, so you can come in and completely tear my family apart, but I can't ask a question about yours?" Isaac asked with tight, frustrated laughter following.

"Yup," Lainey answered calmly as she stared out the window.

The sun had been covered by thick, grey clouds, which threatened imminent rainfall. Light drops of rain hit at his windshield every so often, providing a bit of sound to the tension-filled car ride. The windshield wipers dried them instantly as they squeaked across the glass.

"Turn here," Lainey said as they approached a dead end street. The small house she was referring to was hidden behind yards of trees and rocks.

Isaac parked the car and turned to look at Lainey.

"Can you let me out now?" Lainey asked, her eyes dull and narrowed towards him.

Isaac felt as if he had won - the look on her face was priceless. Her cheeks were heated, and her eyes were filled with defeat. She had lost. Now, she was back home, an hour away from him, and he could rebuild his family.

"I'm coming in with you," Isaac said, and Lainey tilted her head to the side.

"What makes you think you're doing that?" she asked, and Isaac smiled.

"Because I'm going to talk to your mother," Isaac told her.

"And say?" Lainey trailed off, shifting her position so that she was closer to him. "Oh, I know, you can tell her how you're my teacher and how we had rough," her words were drawn out and whispered, "nasty... and-"

"No! No, I'm not going to s-say that, Lainey," Isaac swallowed hard. He wished he never went near that evil girl. "More like, I'm going to ask her what's wrong with you."

"Okay, well, let's go then. You better be fast, we don't want Gavin sitting in the car for too long," Lainey chirped as she swung the car door open and hopped out.

Isaac furrowed his eyebrows at her sudden shift in attitude as he opened the door slowly and stepped out.

They began walking up the driveway, but Lainey veered off to the side of the lawn, where she knelt down to look at something. Isaac tilted his head as he stopped in the middle of the driveway.

"Lainey, what are you looking at?" he asked her.

She didn't respond, she continued to stare at something in the grass as he watched from behind.

"Lainey, come on," he said as he stepped closer to her. He stared over her shoulder, and he couldn't see what she was fascinated by, all he could see was a large, slate-colored, jagged rock. "What is it? A rock?"