The smell of rain grew stronger, but nothing fell from the clouds. A fresh wind clutched at my cheeks and my body trembled. Kai and I sat opposite each other. I focused everywhere but his eyes. I didn’t want him to read me again.
“Tell me something,” Kai said.
“What?”
“Tell me something about you … something I don’t already know.”
I gave up and looked at him. “You don’t know me at all.”
“That makes it easier for you then.” Kai gazed at me. Like he was discovering some form of hidden treasure.
I decided to be honest. “I don’t like strangers.”
“Well I’m glad we’re not strangers then.”
I scrunched my face. I was pretty sure we were.
“We met yesterday, so that makes us acquaintances.”
Smart-ass. Even in silence my cursing felt offbeat. But it was my first thought. “Tell me something about you then.”
“I like all things new. New people. New stories. New adventures.”
“Your life must be pretty exciting.”
“It is. It’s even better now you’re in it.”
Did he really just say that?
“How did you know that I lied about my injuries?”
“Hey, it’s my turn to ask you something.”
I just glared at him. Waited for an answer.
“But I’ll bend the rules for you.” He smiled. “Well, I wasn’t a hundred per cent sure, but now that you’ve admitted it, I am … I know what fighting injuries look like, bruises, cuts and all. I’ve had a few myself. And the injuries you have, they’re not from that type of fight.”
I didn’t like that he knew so much about me just from looking at me. Vulnerable was an emotion I was tired of feeling.
“Tell me something else. What’s something you love, or like to do?” Kai said.
I didn’t want to tell him anything else. I felt like he already knew too much. But words slipped from my lips. “Um, I like painting,”
“Cool. What do you paint?”
“Whatever I feel like. It doesn’t matter.”
“Even cooler.”
I didn’t know how, but he got me to smile. All I could think was that he was good at flirting – if that was what he was doing.
“Well, there’s no need to get too excited; I don’t really do art these days.”
“Why?”
I looked to my phone, thinking I would see my stopwatch, but I remembered I hadn’t set it. Part of me wanted to know how long I’d been there. Not that I was keeping a record.
“OK, answer me this one last thing, then you’re free to leave,” Kai said.
“I wasn’t free to leave before?”
“No. Obviously I was holding you captive, locked in this secret force-field bubble and it will only evaporate if you answer this one last thing.”
“Proceed, captor.”
“When are we hanging out again?”
“What?”
“Well I only assume we are because of your earlier responses to my questions and because I know you’re intrigued by me and my mysteriousness and you know I’m interested in you. I know we’ll be seeing each other again. I can feel it in my gut.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I know you sat there agreeing with everything I just said. Now please answer the question so I can pencil-in the date and plan the perfect second date.”
“Second date? When was the first?”
Kai smirked. He lifted his palms and stretched his arms as if he were offering me our surroundings. “We’re in it.”
“This is your idea of a first date?”
“Well it was short notice. We could’ve done something else, gone somewhere a little more exciting if you were willing to ride on my motorbike. So when will our perfect second date be?”
I don’t know what came over me, but I answered with the first day and time that came to mind, even though I wasn’t convinced of my attendance. “Friday. Seven o’clock.”
“Two days from now … not much time to prepare, but I like a challenge.”
Half of me wanted to go on the date. The other half didn’t. I tried to convince myself I was completely uninterested, but I was intrigued. Intrigued to see what he would plan for us. I didn’t know what it was about him, but he had me aflame. “Friday.”
“See you then, Peyton Swift.”
I smiled at him. Partly because my system was struck with a spark of excitement and partly because I liked the way he said my name.
I shifted from the park bench and wandered home.
The clouds clashed together. The sound of thunder rumbled through my ears. Lightning struck, brightening the sky for mere seconds. Rain poured. It was like the weather was repainting another layer of grey – I liked that. I felt content. Almost protected. I made my way home as fast as I could, with my jacket sprawled over my head. I was cold, caught in the storm, but was I wrong to think every cloud has a silver lining?