CHAPTER 11

When Josh came to pick us up, it was already dark, so he couldn't see my bruised face. It was a relief. When I climbed into Josh's SUV, Wes didn't even turn around to greet me or acknowledge my existence. He just looked forward like he didn't hear us climbing into the car. I frowned. Should I say hi? I never did that with Wes before. But he did buy me lunch. It seemed rude to ignore that. So, I cleared my throat and croaked.

"Hi Wes." There, that was all I could manage. He turned his head to me and just gave me the nod.

""Hey," and then he ignored me after that. I sighed. Well, at least he acknowledge me. A little. Whatever.

"Hey, girls. You're up for some fun?" Josh asked as he started driving. Daisy perked up but then she glanced at me and kept quiet. I felt bad.

"Um, Josh. I'm really tired. Why don't you take Daisy? I need sleep like right now." I said from the back seat.

"Aw, but why won't you come? Are you really that tired?!" Josh sulked at he pleaded for me to come with. Wes of course said nothing.

"Yeah, I am so done. You guys have fun, ok." I said. I was not disappointed for not being able to join them. I really was tired. Daisy looked at me, a little disappointed that I would ditch her. I looked at her pleadingly. Daisy sighed and just accepted my decision.

Josh dropped me off and I waved at the car as it drove away. I rushed into the house quietly, a little worried grandma might still be downstairs. But when I entered the house through the kitchen, the house was in semi-darkness. Breathing a sigh of relief, I walked up to my room. I heard some sound from Grandma's room. She's probably watching some movie online. That's her nightly ritual. I knocked on her door just to announce that I've arrived safely home.

"Good night, grandma!" I said after I knocked.

"Good night honey!" Grandma called out. I smiled as I walked to my room. Once I locked the door, I took off my cap and peered at my face in the mirror. The bruise had turned an icky shade of purple . Yuck. I sighed as I peeled off my top and jeans. I got ready for a warm bath. My body ached from struggling so much last night and there were even bruises on my torso and thighs. I refused to look in the mirror. They were too vivid.

After the warm bath, I put on my pajamas and sat near the window, staring out into the street. Suddenly, a figure caught my eye. It looked like a guy was walking slowly on the street. If I'm not mistaken, it looked like Wes. What's he doing walking alone at night? I watched him carefully. What's he doing? Without thinking, I opened my window wider and pushed my body out, craning my neck to see him.

"Hey, Wes! Wes! Over here!" I called before I could stop myself. What the eff was I doing?! I suddenly realized what I just did. Oh God, did I just call Wes out like that?!

Wes stood stock still as he looked furtively around him. Probably spooked by my voice. Well, since he looked pretty shook up, I decided to put him out of his misery.

"Hey, Wes! Over here!" I whispered yelled. Wes' head snapped towards my bedroom window and I waved at him. He looked closely at me. When he saw me waving at him, he looked relieved. He walked briskily towards me. Suddenly, he was lost from view. Where the heck is he? I walked to the door and went down the stairs. When I reached downstairs, I went to the front door and opened it. I almost jumped when I saw Wes sitting on the swing on the porch. I walked towards him. He turned to me when he heard the door creaked open.

"Hey. What's up?" Wes said casually. His face, although bathed in the dim light from the street lamp was as usual, devoid of emotions. Although he was still very good-looking. He was wearing a white t-shirt and worn jeans.

"Why are you walking around in the middle of the night? It's almost midnight. I thought you're with Josh and Daisy." I asked as I crossed my arms over my chest. Shoot, I forgot I wasn't wearing a bra. Heck, I was about to go to bed. Who wears a bra to bed anyway?! Not that I have much in the chest area anyway.

"Just walking around. Trying to clear my head. I mean, I had to get outta there." Wes explained but abruptly stopped. I frowned. Huh?

"Why? Is something wrong?" I asked mystified as I sat on the swing. We were pretty close but Wes dudn't seem to notice.

"Um, well. My step-mum and my step-sister is here. And I don't have the energy to handle them tonight." Wes said with a chuckle that was so mirthless that I thought he was about to groan.

"Um, ok. You wanna talk about it?" I asked carefully. Wes just chuckled again and shook his head.

"I don't think I should tonight. Maybe next time." Wes said as he sighed.

"Ok. Suit yourself." I said with a shrug. We went quiet for a while. I took that opportunity to stare at his profile. He's so good-looking and unapproachable. Then, Wes turned to me and I was caught staring. I whipped my face away from his direction and acted as casually as I possibly could.

"You got anything to eat?" Wes asked suddenly. I turned to him. Man, this guy's random. I nodded and got up.

"Sure. Come on. Let's go to the kitchen. But be quiet ok. My grandma's already sleeping." I said as Wes nodded silently. Then we tiptoed into the house. I closed the door behind Wes as quietly as I could. Then we walked quietly in the semi-darkness into the kitchen. It was awkward as we were trying not to bump into anything, but we still did.

I switched on the small light when we're in the kitchen. I opened the fridge as Wes took a seat at the breakfast stool. I rummaged in the fridge and took out some cold meats and condiments. I toasted the crusty bread and then assembled a simple sandwich. All the while, Wes didn't say anything. He watched me make his sandwich. When it's done, I put the plate of sandwich in front of him and some juice.

"Dig in." I said and Wes devoured the sandwich in under a minute. I just watched him eat without saying a word. I was munching on an apple as I watched Wes eat. Damn, he must've been starving.

When Wes had finished eating, he gulped the juice and sighed in satisfaction. I almost laughed.

"So, you alright? Want some more?" I asked.

"Nope, that was plenty. Thanks a lot." Wes said as he wiped his mouth with a tissue paper.

"Um, Wes." I said hesitatingly.

"Yeah?" Wes said casually as he looked a me with a relaxed expression on his face.

"I wanted to thank you for buying me lunch. It was really nice of you." I said, just not caring if Wes thought I was being cringey. Wes just shrugged as if it was nothing.

"Oh, it was nothing. I was in the area and I thought you won't be walking around with that massive bruise on your cheek just to get lunch, right?" Wes said without emotion.

"Um, yeah. Still, thanks. ..Uh, I'm not sleepy yet. You wanna watch tv for a bit?" Okay, where did that come from? It just came out of nowhere. Shit! I braced myself for the NO that would surely come from Wes' mouth.

"Sure. I'm not in a rush to go home." Wes said as he got up from the breakfast stool. Surprised, I hopped off the stool as well and wlked out of the kitchen with Wes behind me.

In the dim living room, Wes and I sat on the three-seater overstuffed sofa. I switched on the tv with the volume turned low. I gave Wes the remote. Wordless he took it from me and started surfing. Suddenly he stopped at some random episode of Supernatural. We watched for a bit in silence. I was really starting to get into the story when Wes suddenly spoke up.

"Hey Addy..Can I ask you a huge favour?" Wes asked suddenly. I turned to look at him with my eyebrows raised in question. He looked at me dead-on.

"Yeah, with what?" I asked as I looked at him.

"Can I stay here?Just for tonight?" Wes asked, shocking me to no end. What?! He wanted to stay here?! Like here, where I am staying too?! I looked at him in disbelief.

"Erm, it's not that I don't want you to. I mean, you're free to stay as long as you like. It's just ..um..why would you want to stay here? I mean, Josh's place is like just a few houses away." I said mystified.

Wes chuckled suddenly. I looked at him, feeling that he's getting weirder by the minute.

"What?" I asked. Wes looked up and sighed. He looked at me.

"I want to stay here because I am sure my stepmother is naked on my bed, as we speak. And she won't leave until I give her what she wants. Me." Wes said with a small smile. I stared at Wes, unsure if I heard him right. Did he just say that his stepmother is naked on his bed at this very moment?! As of right this minute?! The eff?!