She's My Kinda Girl

Devan didn’t sleep well last night. And it wasn’t exactly because of the pain—though that was pretty intense. It was because she couldn’t help but wonder what Alex was hiding from her. She didn’t know him that well, no, and she wouldn’t pretend as if she did. But she knew when someone was lying to her.

And Alex was.

Not to mention, he wasn’t exactly subtle. Or maybe Devan was just more adept at picking up little nuances about people’s behavior. One of the two. But probably more of the former.

Somewhere around four thirty in the morning, Devan finally fell asleep. And when her alarm went off two hours later, she really felt like throwing something against the wall. She shifted uncomfortably on the couch, her hips aching, and she reached for her glass of water on the coffee table, taking a long drink of the lukewarm liquid.

“How are you feeling, Dev?”

Devan glanced up at her father as he walked into the living room, brushing her hair out of her face. “Horrible. You?”

He smiled sheepishly. “Not that bad, I have to admit. Do you want to stay home today?”

“Decidedly not,” Devan said, using all of her strength to sit up straight on the couch.

“I’ll be back in a minute to help you into your chair, kay?”

Devan rolled her eyes, waving her father off. She normally wasn’t one to have an attitude with her father but, well, she just really didn’t feel well for some reason. Or, well, okay, she knew the reason (obviously) but. Still. As her father walked out of the room, she decided she couldn’t just sit there and wait for him to help her do everything, so she took matters into her own hands.

Bracing her hands on the sides of her wheelchair, she made sure the wheels were locked, and she hoisted herself up. She bit her lip, refusing to let out a cry of pain that was tearing through her, and turned herself around as best as she could. Once she was seated, she fixed the awkward angle that her legs were at, and she let out a sigh of relief.

“Dev, I told you I was gonna help you!” her father exclaimed with a sigh. “Goddammit.”

“I’m fine, dad,” she told him.

“You look like you want to cry.”

Devan shrugged. “I’ll be fine,” she told him, pulling a pair of gym shorts and a v-neck out of the basket of her clothes by the couch. She set them in her lap before going to the bathroom, doing her business as best as she could, before changing. Granted, it took a while without help, but she was determined to adjust to her situation as easily as she could.

“If you want to stay home today, you can, Dev,” her father told her when she exited the bathroom.

“No. No way. I’ve already missed enough school,” she told him.

“But you’re in pain—“

“I’ll push through,” she said.

“Devan—“

“Dad, I’ll be fine,” she repeated. “Okay?”

Her father sighed. “How about I make you some hot chocolate?”

Devan couldn’t stop the small smile on her face. “I’d love that, dad, thank you.”

+

Alex had two choices, he could either wait inside the school for Devan and have to listen to all of the bullshit rumors spreading around, or he could wait outside. He picked the latter option, sitting on the sidewalk with a notebook open on his lap as he waited for her father’s car to pull up. His stomach was in knots, a feeling he was not accustomed to, and he didn’t want to become accustomed to it either.

When he saw her father’s car pull up, he breathed a sigh of relief. He greeted her father with a smile, helping him get Devan out of the car, and he draped his own back pack over the handlebars of her wheelchair.

“How are you, Dev?” Alex asked her.

Devan frowned. “I’m sick of people asking me that.”

Alex nodded. “I’m wonderful, myself, thanks for asking.”

“I didn’t ask.”

“That’s why I thanked you,” he said with a smile.

“I’ll see you after school, Dev,” her father told her, pressing a kiss to her forehead before climbing into his car and driving away.

“Wake up on the wrong side of the bed?” he asked.

“No. I barely fucking slept because I hurt all over,” she snapped. “Any other smart ass comment you want to make?”

Alex took a step back, holding his hands up in surrender.

Devan’s eyes widened and she sighed, shaking her head and running a hand over her face. “I’m sorry, Alex,” she said quietly. “I just… I’m just in pain. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Alex said with a nod. “You’ve been through a lot lately.”

“I know, but you’ve been nothing but nice to me. I shouldn’t be snapping at you,” she told him. “Forgive me?”

“Already done, babe,” Alex replied with a smile. “Now. How about I take you to class?”

Devan sighed. “I really don’t want to be here today,” she said quietly.

“We can always skip if you want to,” he said with a shrug.

Devan sent him a look. “I’ve never skipped a day of school in my life, Alex.”

“There’s a first time for everything, right?”

She sighed. “This close to graduation, I really can’t,” she told him. “We graduate in two and a half weeks—“

“One day won’t kill you, Dev,” Alex told her.

“I mean, what would we even do? I can’t even walk. I haven’t even started physical therapy yet. It’d be a waste.”

“Are you allowed to try yet?”

Devan shrugged. “Yeah, just not allowed to put too much weight on my hips,” she told him.

Alex smiled. “I have the perfect idea.”

“What, Alex—“

Alex grabbed the handles of her wheelchair and steered her in the other direction and across the parking lot. “Wait here. I’m going to go get the keys from Rian.”

“Alex, I—“

“I’ll be right back,” he promised before running back towards the school.

With a sigh, Devan realized she couldn’t exactly, well, run away. And even though she didn’t want to, waiting around for Alex might have been her only option. It was barely two minutes later when Alex jogged back across the parking lot, dangling keys from his fingers.

“Rian is so easy.”

“Does his girlfriend know that?”

Alex paused. “He doesn’t have a…”

“It was a… Um…joke?”

“Oh,” Alex said with a slow nod. “Oh! I get it. You got jokes.”

Devan shrugged. “Sometimes, yeah.”

“Alright. Good. Sweet. Um, we’re in business,” Alex said, unlocking the doors. “Let’s go.”

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.”

+

“This is your house?” Devan asked as they pulled up to a substantially large house in the middle of a subdivision.

“Yup,” Alex said with a nod, cutting the engine.

“Why are we here?”

“I have an idea,” Alex declared before getting her wheelchair out of the back seat and taking her into the house. “Here, climb on my back.”

Devan paused. “What?”

“That might not be a good idea, never mind,” he told her. “I’ll just carry you.”

“Wait, wha—“

“Yup,” Alex said before picking her up bridal style, making sure to be as gentle as he could, and carrying her up the stairs.

“I don’t even understand what the heck is going on, Alex,” Devan said.

“You don’t have to,” Alex said as he sat her on his bed. He walked over to his dresser, flipping through his clothes, before tossing her something.

Devan paused. “Should I ask why you tossed me a swimsuit or should I ask why you have a swimsuit in your dresser?”

Alex shrugged. “Semantics, semantics. You can change in here. Let me know when you’re done.”

“Why am I changing?”

“Because I asked you to,” Alex said sweetly before grabbing a pair of swimming trunks and exiting his room.

Devan sighed but did so anyway. Granted, it took a little bit, but it wasn’t as difficult as she thought it would be. Once she started moving her limbs a little bit more, she actually felt better—a little sore, but better. She just didn’t want to push her limits too much. “I’m done,” she called out, feeling self conscious, and she pulled her shirt back on.

Alex walked into the room slowly, scratching the back of his neck. “You ready?”

“You do know I’m not able to actually swim, right?”

Alex smiled. “I know. Put your arms around my neck.”

Devan rolled her eyes, wrapping her arms around his neck as he lifted her. “So why am I in this ridiculous outfit?”

“You’ll see.”