Chapter 6 Comfortable Lies
NANCY’S POV
I was up before my alarm rang.
Usually I wasn’t and something about me waking up this early today was incredibly annoying.
Because it meant my mind had devised a way to torture me early and I thought this because after the first few seconds of blissfully staring at the ceiling of the room Mr Landon had decorated for me, according to Diana, reality crept in slow and merciless.
I was a long way away from home and Summer lessons were starting today.
That meant seeing Mr Landon even more than I had accounted for.
“Holy shit,” I cursed when my stomach gave a violent churn.
“This is fantastic,” I groaned, turning on my side to muffle my voice with the pillow. “Just fantastic.”
Because clearly, running away from one older man I deemed problematic, only to find myself under the roof of another dangerously attractive man who was years older than me was exactly the kind of life choices I would make.
It was like the simple case of turning over from a frying pan directly into a flame and somehow, I had managed to do just that.
Groaning again, I launched the pillow away from myself, “Get a grip, Nancy.”
I sat up in bed and took in a breath, as deep as I could, then another, until it looked like I was participating in a breathing exercise.
Today was no big deal, unless I made it one.
It was just school and lessons…taught by Mr Landon.
I just had to exist within the four walls of the same building with him.
I could handle that.
Except, the day hadn’t even begun and my heart was already flipping backwards.
Sighing heavily, I got out of bed, took a quick look at my face in the mirror to be sure it wasn’t puffy, then padded towards the bathroom.
It should have taken just a few minutes for me to freshen up but I spent way longer than that, because my brain wouldn’t let me forget how I had gotten myself off in this very bathroom while thinking of Mr Landon.
How disgusting I was.
I wrinkled my nose at the vivid picture my mind painted then hurriedly got out of the bathroom before further images would be conjured for me to review.
For my first day at school, I selected a form fitting pair of jeans then a pink top I thought was cute, nothing too serious and nothing that would leave too much of an impression.
Certainly not an impression from Mr Landon.
Afterwards, I stood in front of the mirror, trying to convince myself that I had thought too much about the look he gave me that day at the airport.
“You’re overthinking,” I whispered, slapping my hands lightly at my face.
The faint clatter of utensils reached me before I was even fully out the hallway and my lips curled slightly.
Diana.
I found her in the dining area as expected, setting the table while something cooked over the stove.
The delicious aroma made my stomach rumble, grabbing Diana’s attention.
“Oh, look who’s up?” Her bright, surprised voice called out to me.
“Such a bright ray of sunshine,” I made a mock groan then smiled. “You are way too cheerful for this hour.”
“Excuse me?” She gasped dramatically, grabbing her chest. “It’s not my fault that you wake up in a foul mood.”
“Well it’s not my fault that you’re so cheerful either,” I retorted.
We stared at each other for a minute, tension crackling and then we both burst out laughing.
“Oh, how I’ve missed that,” Danielle said in between chuckles.
“I missed you too bubbles,” I smiled.
“How do you feel? Nervous?”
I thought about lying but changed my mind a second later. It wouldn’t do me any good to start lying to her off the bat so I nodded my head slowly.
Her lips tugged back with a look of relation and she grabbed a cup of coffee which she handed over to me.
I took it gratefully and took a small sip. “Everything is new you know…not you though…It’s just, new school, new place…New everything.”
“I totally understand how you feel,” Her eyes softened at me. “I was like that the first few weeks of arriving here. It took all of my courage to even attempt to make new friends…”
“You?” I interrupted her incredulously.
“What do you mean ‘me’?” She narrowed her eyes on me.
I gestured vaguely, “Isn’t it obvious? You’re a social butterfly. I would assume you made friends right away.”
“Please,” She rolled her eyes, reaching out to stir whatever it was she was making, “confidence is a learned skill.”
“I hear you,” I muttered, slipping into a chair.
I rested my chin on my hand and glanced around as if I didn’t already do that the minute I walked in, “speaking of, where’s your Dad?”
“He left early,” Diana answered casually. “He sometimes has meetings before classes, had one today, being the first day of summer lesson.”
I nodded as if I understood what that implied
Diana left the stove and walked forward then narrowed her eyes at me in silence.
“What?” I sputtered, avoiding her gaze.
“You sound relieved.”
I was about to explain that I absolutely did not sound like that when she asked something else that left me stunned.
“Did something happen between you and my Dad?”
“Did something happen between me…” I pointed inwardly at myself, speech slow as fuck. “…And your Dad?”
“Yes,” Diana replied, nodding her head with a gaze that said she couldn’t understand why I looked so gobsmacked.
“No, nothing at all,” I chuckled, awkwardly, then huffed loudly, “What the hell could possibly happen? I just got here.”
“Good, I was just making sure you were comfortable,” Diana straightened.
I smiled at her but inwardly, I was a mess.
With her gaze still on me, I couldn’t even let out a relieved sigh.
If only she knew how comfortable I’d made myself in her home.