Free Something True by Jessica Roe

single word as he shuts off the music and starts up. Neither of us speak a single word as he pulls out of the field and we make the drive home. And then neither of us speak a single word when he drops me off at my apartment an hour later. I guess that's just how we roll.

Chapter 9
Ibbie
     
    I TRY TO get on with my life over the next couple of days but everything I do feels robotic, forced. My evening with Walt replays over and over in my mind to the point where concentrating on anything else proves to be impossible. The kiss, the different side to him, the dance, the kiss. Oh man, the kiss.  
    Sabrina notices – probably because I accidentally turned all of her white shirts pink when it was my turn to do the laundry.
    “I love you, but if you don't get a grip on whatever's got your panties in a twist then I will have to kill you,” she informs me firmly. “God, what are the guys at work gonna say when I show up in pink ?”
    People at work notice too, because I fluffed my lines up on two consecutive nights and normally I'm one hundred percent on form.
    Blair also notices, and out of everyone she's the one who'll let me get away with it the least. “You're quieter than usual,” she observes. It's one of my rare days off, and instead of sleeping in and watching TV in my sloppy jammies like I should be doing, she's dragged me out to Lake George so we can hike Prospect Mountain. It's actually a lot of fun, but since I complained pretty much the entire four hour drive out here, I definitely won't be admitting that. She claimed it was because she wanted to get some photos, but though she's brought her camera, I know it's just a ruse. She just wanted to get me away so she could find out what my deal is. “It's freaking me out. Quiet Ibbie is wrong. Just wrong.”
    “God, am I really that talkative that it weirds people out when I have nothing to say?” I wonder out loud. “Cringe attack.”
    “So. . ?”
    “Maybe I've just decided to transform into a quiet person.”
    She eyes me doubtfully, then we both fall about in laughter, unable to keep straight faces. We come across a large boulder and sit down for a couple minutes of rest.
    “How's the wedding planning going?” I ask to change the subject, because if you brought up an upcoming wedding to most brides then it would be a surefire way to distract them for at least, like, five hours. Unfortunately, Blair is not most women.
    “Haven't even started,” she replies. “Now spill.”
    I actually do want to spill and I'm not sure why I didn't the second Walt dropped me off the other night, so with a relived sigh I tell her everything. Blair is the best friend ever, because when I tell her about Alex ignoring my calls her eyes narrow angrily on my behalf, and when I tell her how nice Walt was and how he drove me out to his grandparents' house, she keeps shtum even though I know she wants to ask me a million questions, and then when I tell her about Fauna and about Aleix's reaction to seeing me, she stands up and balls her little fists and threatens to hunt him down and pulverize his nuts. I'm tempted and all, but I make the tiny spitfire sit her ass back down because I'm not finished. I tell her about Walt kissing me in his old bedroom and about the windmill and the dancing and the second kiss. And when I tell her about Walt admitting that he wants to be with me it's such a weight off my chest that I can't figure out why I didn't tell her sooner. Usually I love to gossip. Walt's got me in such a frigging tizzy!  
    She takes it all in, nodding her head up and down and not being at all surprised and shocked like I expected her to be. I mean, a little awe and outrage might be nice. Jeez. “So Walt's into you?”
    “I guess so.”
    “Totally called that one.”
    “You did not.”
    “Did so. When he first started texting you.” She sticks her tongue out triumphantly when I realize she's right. “So how do you feel about him?”
    “I don't know. Confused,