Chase: and the girl who came back

I walk Daisy across the street and up our driveway, remembering that I had a second message on my phone.

Once we enter the house, Daisy takes off through the kitchen and out the back. I pull my phone back out to check the time before I call up the stairs. “Millie, are you awake?” Not expecting a response, I check the text just as she calls out something about getting in the shower.

Smalls: Yo Shorty, good luck today! You’ve got this. Hug Mildred for me.

I smile at my phone. Smalls was an unlikely friend. I hated him at first because Dad showed more interest in him than he did with Millie or I.

Smalls was busted boosting cars on more than one occasion. Dad felt sorry for him. He used to get called to Smalls’ house all the time. His parents weren’t nice people and he had a rough start in life. But when he was put into foster care, he got lucky. He’s been with his foster mum since.

They moved in with her boyfriend and his kids. I feel for Smalls though because he has a complicated relationship with the daughter, and she’s just been shipped off to a boarding school in England.

I first met Smalls when Dad brought him around one day when I was twelve to help restore my first car a ’68 Volkswagen Beetle. I hated him then. I hoped to restore that car with my dad, not him to do it with Smalls.

I hated that Dad showed him more interest than he did to Millie or me. I think I was jealous of his relationship with my dad, but as I got to know him, I realized Smalls had a rough start in life and that was why Dad cared about him that much. When Smalls convinced my dad to let me help them restore the Beetle, it sealed our friendship. After a while though, Dad stopped helping and it was just Smalls and I that worked on Wander.

By that time, it didn’t bother me anymore. Dad wasn’t in the picture, but at least he gave me an older brother in a way.

Smalls didn’t take the news of us moving away well. He knew it was the right thing for us though. Especially me. There was no way I could stay in that town after what happened.

Smalls was my only friend even though he’s three years older than I am.

I want to tell him what happened this morning and a text just won’t cut it. I miss him already. I tell him everything, and I feel like he’ll be able to shed some light on why I’m feeling the way I am. I hit call and wait for the phone to connect.

“Awww Shorty I’m flattered, miss me already?”

I scoff at him while rolling my eyes. Typical Smalls. “Of course, I do, but that’s not why I’m calling. Something happened this morning. Well, more than one thing happened actually.”

“How? You’ve been there for like 2 minutes? Who do I need to kill?” Smalls had a hard time holding back his anger when he found out what happened. I’m pretty sure he would kill someone for me if I needed him too. Or at least help me hide the body.

“Ha ha. No need to kill anyone. First up, I had a night terror again, so I took Daisy for a walk. But I dropped the lead and she took off up someone’s driveway. When I went to get her, she was wagging her tail, getting pats off a stranger.”

“No shit, it took weeks for Daisy to come anywhere near me. I’m cut.” It was funny, Smalls pretty much had to bribe Daisy with treats before she’d go anywhere near him. He is a giant, so I don’t really blame her.

“Well brace yourself, because I am fairly sure the damn dog just tried to play matchmaker. This guy, he took my breath away. The minute our eyes locked it was like I could see into his soul, and that caused me to keep my guard down. I didn’t try to hide it from him. I felt like I knew him.” I replay the earlier interaction in my head and smile.

“Then Dad messaged to tell me he’s staying at work and won’t be back to take Millie to school, so I started to freak out and get angry, you know kind of like an episode. But when he approached me, I could smell him, and everything melted away. I was instantly at ease, all the panic and worry just gone. It freaked me out. That’s never happened before.”

Smalls chuckles, but he lets me continue. He knows that when I start, I need to get everything out before he can talk.

“Then Daisy kind of nudged him closer, he asked what was wrong, I didn’t really tell him, he told me his name, and then I bailed. I’m kind of freaking out here Smalls. Not like freaking out freaking out but confused and I have no idea what happened.” Smalls starts full on laughing on the other end of the line. I walk up the stairs and go to my room to get my uniform ready.

“I’m glad you find this amusing.” I grumble.

“Sorry, but never did I think that it would be Daisy that plays matchmaker. First up, that’s a dick move from your dad. But you need to give him time to ease into this. You know he’s working nights for the first few weeks, but by the time you finish school he should be fully switched to days.” Smalls had to mediate that conversation. It was one of my conditions of the move. Dad needs to switch to days so that he can be home with Millie at night.

“It’s his first night, he probably has stuff to do. Millie will understand. Promise her a girlie night and you know she’ll move past it.” I love Millie for her ability to be able to move past something so easily. I know she gets upset by Dad’s actions, but she never dwells on it.

“Second. You know how I told you once that one day you’d meet someone who quietened the noise in you head without needing to try? That you’d meet someone who could see through your masks and wall, see the real you, without even trying?” He pauses waiting for my response. I remember the conversation; he was trying to make me feel better after I had a panic attack.

“Yeah. I remember.”

“I think you just met that person.”

Well shit. He might be right, I expected him to be angrier considering he’s slightly overprotective.

“Why does it sound like you’re smiling? Aren’t you the one who threatened to beat up any guy that tried to date me?”

“I only did that because none of them were right for you and I was right. But what you just explained and the way you’re talking open and freely makes me believe that your mystery neighbour might just be the person you need.”

“Chase, his name is Chase.” Even speaking his name feels familiar.

“Well you tell Chase the next time you see him, because there will be a next time, that if he hurts you I’ll fly down there and kick his ass.” I have no doubt that Smalls would do just that.

“Right now, though, you need to get ready for your first day and I need to get off the phone. Message me if you need anything, and I’m always here if you need to talk. Love ya Shorty.”

“Thanks Smalls. Love you too.” I hang up my phone and throw it on the bed, staring at the uniform that I laid out while I was talking to Smalls.

Our new school has a slightly more formal uniform than what our last school required.

Millie and I met the principal at school yesterday to pick up our timetables, uniforms, and get a brief tour in order to hopefully make today a little less overwhelming. The advantage of moving to a smallish Australian Coastal town? The principal is willing to meet you on a Sunday.

The uniform consists of a dark blue tartan pleated skirt that sits just above your knees. A white blouse that has the school emblem embroidered on the pocket and a dark blue blazer. The principal said that we can wear stockings during the colder months and any kind of shoe. I know I’ll be sticking with comfort and wearing my favourite pair of Converses. Lucky for me, red goes with blue.

I hear Millie shut off the shower and make her way back to her room. Turning around, I study myself in the mirror.

Geez, I really do look like a hot mess express.

Some of my chestnut brown hair has come loose of my bun and my cheeks are tinted red from the cold. My blue eyes stare back at me. Today they are vibrant blue. They change colour with my mood, if you pay attention. It’s been a while since I’ve seen them this colour. I have no doubt that Chase is responsible.

Shaking my head, I snap myself out of my daze and go to the bathroom to get ready.

Once I’m ready, I give myself a little pep talk and head downstairs to find Millie.

Getting ready doesn’t take long. I rarely wear makeup. As my hair is sometimes wavy but mostly frizzy, I tend to wear in a bun on top of my head.

Millie is rinsing her bowl at the sink when I walk into the kitchen. She looks cute in her uniform. It suits her. My sister is a younger version of me. The only difference is she got the athletic gene and I’m the bookworm.

She smiles at me as I enter the room. Millie knows something happened before we moved, but doesn’t know all the details. Dad and I chose to keep it from her for now. I’ll tell her when I’m ready. She doesn’t need to worry about me.

“You ready?”

She wipes her hands on the tea towel and looks around the kitchen. “I thought dad was taking me?” I hear the hope in her voice. It kills me.

“Sorry Mills, he got caught up at work. You get me instead.”

Her eyes drop to the ground. Although it’s brief, disappointment flashes cross her face.

“Hey, so I was thinking we could go and get a hot chocolate after your soccer try-out this afternoon and then come home and have a High School Musical marathon. I’ll even make brownies.”

She lifts her head and I catch her wiping away a tear. “Are you sure? I know we still have plenty of unpacking to do.” It breaks my heart. She is just a kid. She shouldn’t have to carry so much of the world on her shoulders. I walk up to her and pull her in for a hug.

“Of course I’m sure. We can even watch the singalong version. I’m sorry Mills.”

“It’s okay. I know you tried; can we maybe do the girlie night on Friday? To sort of celebrate making it through the first week.” She pulls away and walks out of the kitchen.

“It’s a date. Ready to do this?”

“Just give me a sec to grab my bag and then I’ll be ready to go.” She recovers quickly and moves on from the disappointment that Dad caused.

I check Daisy’s food and water before I head out to warm up the car.

The drive to school is short but Millie bops along to the music playing on Wander’s speakers. Smalls installed a kickass sound system in her for me. I love my car even more because I helped restore her. For a while it was great spending time learning from Dad, but then Smalls had no problem taking over and teaching me what I needed to know when Dad started flaking.

I pull into a parking space at the back of the lot, away from people and other cars. I’m the most introverted extrovert you’ll meet. I like being around people when it’s people I like and am comfortable with. Otherwise I don’t like people. Crowds freak me out.

Here goes nothing. When I put Wander in park, Millie turns to me. “Do you mind if I go and catch up with the coach? I want to meet her before this afternoon?”

“Of course, go. I want to read some of my book.”

“Are you still reading the book about the goat?” Millie may not be a reader, but she’ll always listen to me talk about whatever book I’m reading.

“Yep, I’m pretty sure Marshy is about to get goat napped.”

She giggles. “Okay well you can fill me in over hot chocolate this afternoon.”

“Deal.”

She leans over and gives me a kiss on the cheek before getting out of the car. She walks across the car park and once I can no longer see her, I take a deep breath and close my eyes. An image of Chase flashes in my mind and I smile.

Here goes nothing.