Mom drove me to Clark Hall the morning after that, where I took collage classes. And when my classes ended mom drove me directly to the Children’s Hospital Clinic on the other side of the city. It was squished between two food places, and made of mostly windows.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuVHANXKMbT
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“Be nice and polite!” she said as I got out of the car.
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I sat in the freezing waiting area for almost thirty-minutes. It was crowded and diverse with mostly children and their parents. Impatience and annoyance polluted the air. I kept my attention mostly on the TV even though I couldn’t actually see what was on the screen.
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Soon, I met Dr. Marie Swayze. Her office was like any other office. It had a window and a desk in the corner of the room. Encouragement posters everywhere, and toys running up her filing cabinets, and crowding the desk.
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“Hi Esther! How are you?” Marie was a lot older than I pictured her. Graying black hair and dark brown eyes and crocked yellow teeth. She also had a British accent. She was in dress pants and a tight shirt that flayed out in ruffles halfway down her short torso.
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“I'm good, you?”
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“I'm doing great,” her smile became soft. “So Esther, why don’t we start out with getting to know each other.”
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“Okay.”
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“My name is Marie, I'm forty-two, I like kittens, and I can't stand dogs.” she crossed her legs. “Your turn.”
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I personally thought Marie went a bit far with telling me her age but I guess it didn't matter. “My name is Esther, I'm sixteen, I like reading and singing, and I can't stand spiders.”
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“Reading? What kind of books do you like to read?”
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“Anything I guess.”
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She nodded her head so hard, her hair was beginning to look longer than it was. “Esther, do you have any idea why your parents wanted you to start getting counseling?”
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“They think I’m depressed.”
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“Why would they think that?”
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“I don’t know.”
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Marie didn't ask too many questions after that, some about mom and dad, and then others about school and friends.
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Mom wasn’t here yet, which kind of unusual because if anything, she would be waiting for me after something like this. And so I called mom when I got a few feet away from the building. We only talked for a couple minutes before I told her I loved her and hung up.
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The clinic was surrounded by a lot of stores. Mostly fast food places and small shops. It was kind of cold too. I glanced around and then I saw him. I saw Toby working on a pick-up truck across the street at an auto garage. My cheeks felt engulfed in flames. His shirt was stuck to his body, glued with a bit of sweat, outlining his muscles.
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I decided to cross the busy street and walk up to him. “I thought cowboys only rode horses.”
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He came out from behind the hood of the car swinging a towel with oil stains over his shoulders. “Well hey, troublemaker,” he tipped his hat. “And not all the time.”
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“Troublemaker?”
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“Seems appropriate.” He said taking off his hat.
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Music was playing (Asia I think) from a small radio on a cement table crowded with different tools. The garage itself was grey and smelled like oil and sweat. There were three other workers; older and even more sweaty.
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“You're a Mechanic?” I asked.
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He threw the towel to the table. “More or less, my daddy owns this place.”
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“Wow.” I kept my eyes wandering.
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Toby glanced at me and then at the car, he was laughing to himself. “Esther…”
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“What’s so funny?” I asked.
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“Your cheeks,” he lifted his shirt over his head and hung it over a chair. “They’re a brighter red than my mama’s tulips.” Toby changed into a new flannel shirt and put his hat back on. He was even more gorgeous when I spotted his cheeks turning a pale red. He kind of turned me on. “Troublemaker,”
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“Yeah?”
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“How would you like to come out to my family’s land, outside the city?”
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“I’d like that, cowboy.”
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“Esther!!” mom called me as she pulled into the parking lot of the auto garage. “What are you doing over here?”
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I whipped around to her. “Just saying hi to a friend.”
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“Well, there’s a marathon of The Voice coming on so let’s go!”
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“Mom, I think I’ll be out with my friend Toby Callaghan.”
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❤
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Toby drove. He drove carefully. But still, the ground was coated in gravel. So, I was basically being strangled by my seatbelt. The terrain was fertile and covered in bright green grass and it got warmer as we got further away from Hilliard and Gahanna. I had never been outside Gahanna or Hilliard since I’ve been here.
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“I have to break the awkward silence.” he finally said.
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“Awkward?” I said.
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“No, seriously, maybe we can play twenty questions.” I watched him roll his shoulders and then shrug, as if he were nervous.
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“Okay.”
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“So, I guess you’re supposed to ask me something about myself?”
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I stared to chuckle. “That is not how you play twenty questions!”
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“Really?”
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I leaned over a grabbed his hat. I put it on. “Really!” I peered out the window toward the wind. “Typical for a cowboy!”
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“No, I pretty sure that’s how you play.”
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“You've spent way to much time on a farm, and under the hood of a car.”
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“Probably,” Toby, I could tell, he was out of breathe, and so was I. “Okay, so, tell me about you.” he said. “What you like, dislike, your addictions.”
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“My addictions?” you could hear the laughing hiding behind my soft voice.
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“I’m serious.”
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“Umm…stuff.”
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“Stuff?” He asked with a big smile. “Stuff…stuff like drugs?”
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“Oh my god, Toby, you need to calm down.” As I looked at the window, I realized the further out we got, the emptier the land became. “Toby, where do you live?”
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“Morrow County.”
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“Morrow County?” I asked him. “That’s an hour away!”
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“I knew if I told you how far it was, you wouldn’t have come.” He looked as if he was trying not be nervous.
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We turned into a pebbled drive. The property was affluent, I could tell it was worth more than a regular mansion. Presumably because the land around it was spacious and the grass was too perfect. And the fact that the drive leading up to it was lined with spotless stones and huge trees. I followed him inside. The foyer was massive, filled with new-looking mahogany furniture and centered portraits. Rifles and animal hides hung from the walls, it was like a dungeon for depicting animal torture but it was still big and pretty.
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“Wow.” I commented.
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“I know, it does get kind of scary sometimes.” whispered Toby.
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“You don’t say!”
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Well howdy!” said a man barging into the living room. He was older. The man had fair skin and uncomfortably dark brown eyes and shoulder-length silver hair. An oval face and cold eyes. A broad nose, a pointed chin and a silver handlebar moustache. “Hello, little lady,” he went on stumbling up to us. He was limping and carrying a cane to his right side. “Toby, what a beautiful southern belle you’ve brought to us!” he held his and to me and I took it. “I’m Flloyd Callaghan, I’m Toby’s father.”
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“I’m Esther.” I said with a smile.
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“Bella! Come and meet our guest!” shouted Flloyd.
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A woman scrambled into the room. She was a red-head. With pure devil red lips and pale skin with reddish bags under her eyes. She was wearing a flowered dress with white flats. She was also holding a baby “Well it’s nice to meet you, Toby ain’t ever brought a girl home.”
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“Mama!” said Toby. His cheeks had darkened again. He put his hand on my shoulder. “That’s my mama and my baby sister Ginny.”
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“Well don’t be rude, show the little belle around while we make lunch!” said Bella. She clasped her hands together. “Would you like to stay for lunch, belle?”
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“Sure.”
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Toby and I went out behind his house while they fixed lunch. They had pens and grazing cattle. It was a true farm or plantation. They had a horse stable. All the horses were either black or brown but there was one outlier.
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“Your dad’s pretty weird.” I commented.
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“Yeah, my step-dad’s pretty weird, and he’s a gimp.” He walked up to the white horse. “Ever ridden a horse?”
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“Not ever.”
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“Want to?” the smile on his face was uncomfortably energetic.
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“Yeah.” I smiled. “I’m guessing we can we ride the white one?”
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“Of course, her name is Day.”
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Toby had saddled up the white horse and easily pulled himself up onto the animal. His knees with loose grip, his legs lying against the horse’s sides, and his feet in the stirrups, and his heels pushed firmly down. He helped me up onto it. “Are you ready?” he asked.
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“Yeah.” I answered.
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The horse had taken off into the sun. The breeze whistled through my hair and face and the pale green leaves and grass. I had never held on so tight to another person. I was terrified. I could see nothing but the back of Toby’s head. I could feel the horse’s back sway under the saddle. When she trotted, I could feel a slight bounce. And as I gripped tighter onto Toby, I could feel his shirt link with his sweat and stick to his lower stomach.
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“Oh my god!” I shouted
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Toby laughed. “I thought you were tougher than that, troublemaker!”
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“Shut up!” I said.
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Once we had gotten off, Toby took Day back to the stable but I had ended puking up my breakfast. I walked into the stable where Day’s pen was, looking for Toby. He was standing in front of her. Shirtless. Showing off his muscular silhouette. His metallic arm. He was drenched in sweat. His frame demanded my attention. His chest was strong and defined. And that only added to his near perfect figure and slender torso. My cheeks burst into flames. His biceps were flexed as he pulled his shirt over his head.
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Suddenly, he turned in my direction and I panicked. “I didn’t think staring was your thing.” he said.
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“I’m sorry.” I blurted it.
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“It’s okay.” He closed Day’s door. “Oh!” he grabbed something from his pocket. It was my phone. “This dropped from your pocket.”
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I took it. Toby and I went inside. After I talked with his parents and watched him flush, we went up to his bedroom. The room was fairly small for the size of his house. Blue walls with white curtains. A lot of posters and pictures of people I guess were friends and family. An enormous closet and a small bathroom. He had two sets of shelves. One full of trophies and another full of figures. I walked over to the trophies as Toby came out of his bathroom.
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“What are these for?”
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“I love my horses, I do the rodeo at fairs in different states.”
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I smiled and nodded. I walked to the shelves full of figures. There were Star Wars bobble heads. Luke. R2D2. Darth Vader. Honestly, it was adorable.
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“You really like Star Wars.”
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“It’s a guilty pleasure.”
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I started going through his bookshelves. There were a lot of books, especially old ones. I found about three copies of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens stacked on top of one another at the bottom of the case. I grabbed a copy while whipping around to Toby. He was sitting at the edge of his bed with a big smile on his face.
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“You really like this book.”
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“I’m in a book group down at the library and that’s what we’re reading, it’s a pretty good book.”
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Going downstairs, we decided to watch an old Star Wars movie while eating ham and tomatoes sandwiches. His parents were really nice. We sat on the couch together, surrounded by animal skin so it was hard to stomach lunch. We were half way through the movie. I turned to Toby. His eyes were a little red and puffy.
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“Toby?”
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“Luke!” he said with his hands cupped to his face and his fingers lingering in the corner of his eyes. “It’s just so emotional,” his cheeks were turning a deep red.
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“Toby, it’s okay!”
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Once we finished our food, we both went outside to his truck. I got in the passenger seat and Toby came and stood at my window. I smiled. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
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“I’m sure.” he sat his arms in my window. “You’re so beautiful. A perfect southern belle.”
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“You’re trying too hard, cowboy.”
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Toby laughed.
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“Oh and I know you put your number in my phone when you picked it up.”
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Toby tilted his head. “You caught me,” He reached to my pocket and pulled out a plain red card. “Red-handed.”
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My eyes almost popped. “Magic tricks?” I clapped my hands, leaving them in my laugh. “Oh, you’re a dork.”
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“I know.”
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“Is it how you get girls?”
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He smiled in embarrassment. “It probably explains why I’m still a virgin.”
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“Probably.”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDriGlJU6DJ
