Knox's Little Annie

8

Sun filtered in through an open sliver of my curtains, beaming me in the eye the next morning. I had been awake for a while, opting to stay in bed, unmoving instead of bothering to get up and start a day that held no plans.

Knox had driven me home right after the ice cream parlor and thats what I laid thinking about now. I hadn't truly expected him to be so nice to me.

No boy had ever really been that nice to me. Not a single boy other than ... not that it mattered now as it didn't end well anyways. Knox was nice to me though. He even agreed to be my friend and lord knew I had no others I'd never been good at making friends. I moved houses too much for too long. I didn't stick around long enough to make a lasting impression on anyone. I didn't even really learn the skill of keeping friends - bonding like that.

I learned to form quick attachments - even if they weren't always the best or healthiest for me.

I rolled over to face away from the sun beaming at me. I closed my eyes for a second, taking a deep, steady breath. In through my nose and out through my mouth.

I hated remembering my childhood. I was tired of reflecting on it. I spent too much time in my own mind, and I didn't want to waste my Saturday thinking about every bad thing that happened in my life.

Kicking my legs over the side of my bed, I stretched out my arms far above my head.

I may have slept in a few hours later than usual but I still felt sleepy. I had gone to bed quite a bit later than intended. After Knox had dropped me off at home, Serena and I spent the night zoned into our favorite reality tv show - binge watching it well into the night. Once we started, it felt impossible to stop, and so we didn't.

Deciding to get a head start on my homework, I pulled out my binder from my backpack and started sorting through all the papers I had collected throughout the week. There wasn't that much to do but I wanted to get it out of the way before I did anything else so that I could truly just focus on relaxing.

It was noon by the time I had finished. Serena had popped her head in an hour ago, bringing me a sandwich and fresh lemonade. She truly was the kindest person and I was immensely grateful for her.

She did have to leave right after that though as she had a bunch of work she still needed to catch up on. I admittedly felt pretty bad about that considering I made her leave work early multiple times this week. And no matter much she tried to reassure me that it wasn't my fault, it was hard not to feel like I was at least partially to blame.

"It's a beautiful day, Annie. Why don't you go to the park, walk in the sun and get some fresh air." She had suggested before she left.

And looking past my now open curtains through my window, she had been right. It really was a beautiful day and now that I was done with my work, I couldn't see a reason not to go outside.

The only thing was that I knew I didn't want to go alone.

Pulling out my phone, I texted the only person's number - besides Serena - that I had in my contact list.

Knox replied back in an instant, agreeing to meet me there.

With my heart racing, I rushed to pull on one of my favorite baby-blue sun dresses. It was still summer time and if I wore anything else, I knew I'd be sweating ridiculously. Slipping on some white sandals, I headed out the door.

The park was only a couple blocks from my house. A short, easy walk with just enough nature along the way that it felt thoroughly enjoyable.

The nearer I got, the more jittery I could feel myself getting. The anticipation of seeing Knox was for some reason affecting me differently today. I was starting to get used to seeing his face not only everyday but at almost every moment throughout as well. It was already beginning to feel weird getting this far in the day without seeing him.