He stared at her so intently that she briefly understood what it was that Leah found so captivating. When he smiled, he looked like a boy, mischievous and fun, but there was also something masculine and strong about him. Even his smell was seductive, and although she fought against it, she could feel herself being drawn in, unable to regain her footing.

“I’m fine.”

It happened in a second, maybe when she was staring down at the pavement thinking about the ocean. He grabbed her by the collar. The movement was so sudden, it squeezed the breath out of her. Then he grit his teeth, the words coming out like the snarl of an animal.

“You and me? We are the same. Only difference is that she’s mine and you can’t have her. The sooner you get that through your fat head, the better. Understand?”

He brought her up to his face so that she could feel his heat. His lips came close enough to kiss her, but then he laughed and pushed her away, sending her stumbling backwards. When Tim drove up, she got inside the car, feeling the rage well up inside her, pushing into her chest. She wanted to scream, but her voice seemed to have disappeared. Anger crept across her cheeks, and she admonished herself once again for questioning her instincts and not doing what needed to be done.

“Everything okay?” Tim asked, poking her playfully in the arm.

She nodded, even though she knew. Nothing was okay.

Matilda

Drawing circles.

It was something I did when I felt lost. Little ones inside of big ones, with no beginning and no end.

“Pretty,” Sara said as she shifted past me, order pad in hand. “Is Lavi supposed to meet you here?” She glanced down at her watch.

I shrugged. I didn’t tell her I hadn’t spoken to Lavi in days. That I honestly had no idea what had drawn me inside the restaurant or what I was doing sitting at the counter. There weren’t many customers and once they had their meals, the room got quiet. Sara slid behind the counter, dragging her rag over a crack in the Formica.

“Daryl and Lavi are still not speaking,” she told me and pushed the rag harder, making it squeak with each pass. I drew a medium-sized purple circle in the corner of my placemat.

She cut me a slice of apple pie, then took a canister from behind the counter and sprayed a pyramid of whipped cream on top. “I can tell about you, Matilda . . . you are like me.”

I drew a smaller circle inside the purple one.

“We both follow our hearts.”

I plunged my fork into an especially large slice of apple.

“That’s why Daryl likes you so much.”