I'll Take A Bullet For You

Chapter 9

Kallen is still at college when I come home. Ruth is in the kitchen like she always is and texting someone. I say hello to her and go upstairs to change. I don't feel like starting my homework, reading, or going outside to water the plants. Besides, I'm hungry, so I go downstairs into the kitchen. 

        "How was school today?" Ruth asks me, taking out a thick glass bowl and an eggbeater. She asks me the same question everyday, something my own parents and Kallen hardly ever do. No, they never do. 

        "Good." It's an honest answer. She asks me how my study period with Alistair went. "Good." 

        "Just good?" Ruth says, raising an eyebrow. I raise an eyebrow, too. What else did she want me to say? "Ever since you were little, you always look at that boy from the lawn and your bedroom window. Surely it's more than good." I tell her it's not more than good. She's thinking of something else and that something else can never happen.

        "What'cha doing?" I ask her, pulling myself up on the counter. She shows me a box of chocolate cupcake mix. "You're gonna make us all fat, Ruth. And your food is not even bad." Ruth laughs and puts the box down.

        "You're parents take some for work. They need that sugar after all," she says. But my parents can get energy from something else. This is too unhealthy. "I'm making extra today." I ask her why. "Some for Alistair. He didn't take any cookies the other day he dropped you home, and he told me he loved the ones I gave him before." 

        "So you're gonna keep giving him treats?" I say. 

        "Why not, Amy?" She gets sugar, flour, and two eggs out. "He's a lonely boy in the house and could use some good-tasting cupcakes. Plus, he hasn't given back the plate yet."

        "So what?" Why am I so resistant on Ruth making Alistair cupcakes? "You know what. Whatever. I don't care." Ruth smiles. "Can I help? I'm starving so I want this done quickly."

        "There are leftovers in the fridge." She points at the white refrigerator and I open it. I don't usually like leftovers but I can eat a horse now. "Amy," Ruth gets my attention. I look at her. "He's a nice boy." I turn around. He is, but in a very different way. A way no one can understand and know but him. 

        It's around seven by the time we finish making the cupcakes and letting them completely cool. Ruth puts the icing on them and I stuff at least two in my mouth before she takes the pan away from me. She takes the best ones and puts them gently into a small plastic box. She tells me to give them to Alistair.

        "Now?!" I ask in horror. It's getting dark outside, Kallen's home, and Ruth expects me to walks to Alistair's house and deliver a box of cupcakes to him?

        "Yes," she says, winking at me. Kallen won't know, I promise," Ruth says. I look down at my outfit. Ruth takes my hair and spreads it across my shoulders and back. I glare at her and she gives me the box. "Hurry back."

        I wear my flip-flops and step outside. Alistair's house is in view, but my feet don't work. Taking a deep breath, I walk. It's not the first time I'm going near his house, it still makes my hands tremble. Once I'm directly in front of his door, I linger a finger on his doorbell. Please let there be no chocolate in my teeth. I ring the doorbell and stand back, tightening my hands on the cupcake box. No one answers the door. I ring it again. 

        The door opens. "What now?!" a yell erupts in my face. Alistair is surprised when he sees me, and I'm surprised myself as I look at him. 

        "Um, hi," I try. He's still surprised, his hand pressed to the frame of the door and head outside. "My aunt was making these cupcakes and...she wanted me to give them to you." Alistair looks down at the box in my hands. 

        "Wait." He slams the door in my face, leaving me dazed. He returns, handing me the plate from before. I take it and give him the box of cupcakes. I hope he likes chocolate. I wrap my arms around the plate, which is clean. He counts the cupcakes. "Only six?" 

        My cheeks warm. "Um, well, if you want more I can--"

        "I'm kidding," he interrupts. "Tell Ruth I like her cookies." I wonder how Alistair knows my aunt's name. I don't remember telling him her name. "Sorry," Alistair says, and I give him a confused look. "For yelling back there. I didn't know it was you." I kind of got that part. I nod and tell him it's okay. "Just so you know, I'm not a fan of apologizing."

        "Why not?" I ask. His eyes avert to the empty space behind me. No answer. "Okay. Who were you expecting when I came?" 

        "One of my 'friends'," he replies, using air quotes. My jaw drops and his lips twitch. The night air circles us, and I can't seem to move under his steady gaze. His eyes wander down the length of my body. Do baggy pants and a sweater look bad? The last time he surveyed me, I was wearing a dress. But why now? I feel so warm, like his gaze alone can set me on fire. "Amy..." he says, almost in a whisper. The way he says my name makes my heart clench. His face falls again. He steps back and holds the door. "You should go. Thanks for the cupcakes." Wh-what?

        "Okay," I say. He closes the door, and I head back to my house with the plate. No matter how bewildered I am about Alistair, and the whole Black Cat pack, I'm still interested as to what exactly is going on. But more than that, Alistair doesn't tell me to go away or stop talking to him like he tells other people. He doesn't ignore me, at least. I'm happy with that. 

        I will be happy to go and give him anything else Ruth makes for him.