Page 8 of A Lesson For the Grump

The rain steadily builds, falling down harder as thunder clashes somewhere in the distance. The roar of the storm is the only sound in the truck as we make our way to the garage, the silence thick between us as I pull into a parking spot in front of Maple Auto.

Sonnet sighs and looks over at me, “I don’t think it’s letting up anytime soon. Could you take me home instead?”

I open the truck door and step down into the rain, tilting my head toward the garage. “Just come wait inside, Sonnet. There are some things I want to run by you about Betsy anyway.”

She stares at me for a moment, her eyes searing into mine before she rips her gaze away and opens the door. Our clothes are already soaked in the thirty seconds it took to make our way inside.

Otto sits at the desk, invoices covering the wooden surface as he tries to sort through them. His head shoots up when he hears the bell, a smile automatically breaking across his face. “Sonnet! Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes!”

He comes around the corner and wraps her in his arms, squeezing tight before looking at me with a raised eyebrow. “You two back to stirring up trouble?”

Sonnet scoffs at my responding shrug. “We’re just here to check on Betsy and wait for the rain to clear.”

Otto nods and motions towards the back. “Some parts came in today, but there are a few on backorder. They’ll take another week at least.”

I leave Sonnet groaning behind me and make my way into the garage, eyeing the boxes stacked on Betsy’s hood. Looks like the spark plugs and thermostat came in. Luckily those are some of the quicker fixes, and I can have those done before heading home tonight.

Sonnet walks in as I’m unpacking the parts, my eyes scanning each one to make sure they’re in perfect condition before putting them on her car. I can feel Sonnet staring at me, and a quick glance from the corner of my eye shows that she’s still standing by the door, shifting from foot to foot as she stares.

“You aren’t going to catch something if you sit down, Sonnet. We rode in the same truck the whole way here.”

She’s silent for a moment before she walks over to the same chair she sat in last week. “This is weird.”

“Why?” I spin around and lean against the Mustang, crossing my arms over my chest. Her legs are crossed at the ankles, and her fingers pick at the skin around her nails. She’s anxious and uncomfortable. I don’t need half a decade of friendship to pick up on those signals. Still, it doesn’t stop me from opening my mouth again. “What’s so weird about this, Sonnet?”

She gives a shallow laugh, her head raising with fire in her eyes as she motions between the two of us. “This, Miles! Acting like everything is okay when we both know it isn’t. I know you’re uncomfortable as hell because I’m uncomfortable as hell.”

“The only reason you’re uncomfortable is because you think I broke your heart on purpose.” I can’t stop the words from spilling from my mouth just as she can’t stop her mouth dropping open at the sound of them.

Her mouth turns into a snarl as she jumps up from the chair. “What makes you think you even had that power?”

My feet are moving faster than I can stop them, and within seconds, I’m standing in front of her with a hand wrapped around the back of her neck. I lean my face down in front of hers, leaving only inches of space between our lips. “Don’t sit here and pretend you weren’t as in love with me as I was with you. I know you, Sonnet. You may hate me for things you don’t understand, but I’ve loved you in spite of them.”

Her chest rises with rough breaths as she shakes her head in my palm. “You’re wrong.”

I feel a smirk growing on my face as I lean in a little closer, letting my fingers tighten in her hair to keep her held in place. “So, you’re not practically dripping at even the thought of me kissing you? Don’t you wish I would bridge this gap and kiss you like I should have all those years ago? It’s been seven years, Sonnet, and I still dream of you. Tell me you don’t feel the same.”

Her eyes grow wet as I close the rest of the distance between us, pressing our chests together as my lips swipe across hers. Not a kiss, but a promise of one.

“Tell me, Sonnet,” I whisper just loud enough for her to hear as my lips trail over her jaw. “Spill those pretty little lies.”

Her hands come up to clutch at my shirt, squeezing it as she tries to pull me closer. I shake my head and pull back, putting a few inches of space between us. I can’t do what I want to her until she knows the truth. Slowly, she lets go. “I don’t understand. I heard you two laughing at what she did to me. I saw you kiss her.”

I’m already shaking my head before she can finish. “You saw what she wanted you to see.”

Sonnet’s hands clench into fists a few times before she sighs. “Enlighten me then.”

Memories of that day come flooding back into my mind, causing the hair on the back of my neck to stand on end. “I was hanging out in our spot, waiting for you to get out of class. That girl came up to me and started talking about how she tripped you and made paint spill all over your shirt, bragging about it like being a bully is something to be proud of.”

I reach up and run my fingers through my hair, anxious and excited to finally get the chance to tell Sonnet the truth. She’s nodding along as if she remembers exactly what that girl said about her all those years ago.

“Then you laughed.” The words are short and to the point, but still a lie she doesn’t yet understand.

“No. She reached out to grab my hand while talking and then I laughed. I couldn’t help myself. She comes to me to tell me how she terrorized the girl I love and then tries to touch me in the same breath? It was comical. I went to push her away, but you came around the corner, and I guess she heard you and…and then she kissed me.”

Sonnet laughs when I finish, causing tears to line her eyes as she waves her hand toward me. “That’s the fakest story I’ve ever heard. I saw you, Miles!”

“Yeah, you saw her kiss me, but did you wait around to see me push her away? Did you linger long enough to hear me tell her to never touch me again? Did you ever look at any of my texts after that day? Or listen to the voicemails I left you?”