Free Crashing Souls by Cynthia A. Rodriguez Page A

she opened this door, I was willing to follow her through it. But I couldn’t force her to see me. She’d have to open her eyes to us on her own. I made that deal with myself in that moment, waiting for her to react to my confession.
    She looked at me in surprise. “Huh. Well, that’s why I didn’t want to give you my number.”
    “I don’t get it. Explain it to me.”
    “ I’m not that good at this. Not good with people. I do the loner thing best, which is probably why this is the first time I’ve ever really hung out with anyone one-on-one. It’s easier to hide in a group. But when it’s you and me, I feel like you can see me.”
    She was right. She owned my eyes. From the moment I saw her. They found purchase on any bit of her that was visible.
    I nodded and we walked in silence until we reached the restaurant. We were seated immediately among the empty tables. The Christmas decorations made the place look cozy.
    A waitress came up and took our drink orders, handing us menus. Noa refused hers, saying she already knew what she wanted, a small grin on her face.
    I leaned forward with interest as she relayed the dish and exactly how she wanted it as she shrugged out of her coat and removed her gloves.
    “Please don’t serve it with zucchini. I’d rather the steamed broccoli. Also, extra sauce on the side. Thanks so much.”
    I handed the menu back to the server and said I’d have the same.
    “So, what are we doing here?” Noa’s head tipped to the side a bit. Her smile was small enough to worry me, one that didn’t quite show amusement.
    “Eating,” I said with a shrug. “We’re both hungry and I’m making it up to you, like I said I would. Can’t have you thinking I go back on my word.”
    “You just look like someone who cares what other people think. Like, your image and all that. Which doesn’t explain why you’re here, sitting across from me, buying me dinner. I don’t think I fit that image, Dexter Andrews.” She leaned forward to whisper, “Do you know how many times you’ve walked past me, not ever really noticing me?” I’d think she was serious if I didn’t see the twinkle of humor in her eyes; the brown irises that were turning me inside out.
    I didn’t know what to say. Noa was intimidating but I couldn’t look away, even as she proved just how much of an ass Dex had been.
    “I wasn’t seeing as clearly as I am now.” I hoped she didn’t think I was cheesy. My honesty was a bit more timid than hers, but it was honesty nonetheless.
    She nodded like she knew exactly what I meant. That she didn’t know that I hadn’t actually been Dexter and hadn’t actually known her until the moment we bumped into one another didn’t escape my knowledge. Still, I appreciated that she seemed to relate. The waitress came back with our drinks. When I’d ordered the same exact thing as Noa, I hadn’t realized she’d requested ginger ale. I stowed that random fact into my ‘all things Noa’ box.
    “What’s your deal, Dexter?”
    “My deal?” I still had no idea what to say to this girl, other than the fact that I was going to follow her for the rest of my life. Which was insane. But I believed that wholeheartedly. I just had to make sure I didn’t creep her out.
    “Yes. What do you do for fun? What’s your favorite color? What’s it like to survive being hit by a car?”
    She had no filter. It was refreshing to the point of unnerving. Normal, normal,
bam
, a question that made me want to double back to figure out where it’d come from.
    “I am quite the computer geek. I enjoy programming in my off time. My favorite color is blue,” her lips curved as she tugged at her hair and I smiled before going on, “and I don’t remember the accident or anything before waking up in the hospital, so I can only say it feels like waking up in someone else’s life.”
    I didn’t know if Dexter’s favorite color had been blue. But blue was all I’d seen since meeting her that afternoon.