"Still no word from him?" Lina asked.

"Nope. He always does this." Clint replied.

"I didn't realize he studied so much until we started hanging out." Lina said.

"Yeah, Ben tries to hide it. He used to be such a nerd. Like, back in middle school. He asked a girl out once, I think we were in 6th grade, and her reply was to burst out laughing. Her friends started chanting, "Nerd in love. Nerd in love." whenever they saw him. He stopped wearing dress shirts to school after that."

"Wait, he used to wear dress shirts to school?" She asked.

"Oh yeah. His mom is one of those way-too-christian Koreans. So, for most of elementary and middle school, he wore a bowtie."

Lina burst out laughing. He started to laugh with her then something caught his attention off in the distance. He quickly glanced to the right but the shadow was already gone.

"You okay?" Lina asked.

"Yeah. Sorry. I thought I saw something." He replied.

"Big scary wolf in the woods?" She asked.

"Yeah. Scared it's going to eat me." He said with a laugh.

"What time does your sister come home?" Lina asked.

"Usually, around 4. But sometimes on Fridays she drives out to Tacoma to see her boyfriend and stays for the weekend." Clint replied.

"You're home-alone every weekend?" She asked.

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"Sometimes. She never tells me when she's leaving so I usually don't find out until I see a wad of cash for groceries on the kitchen table. I'm pretty used to it. She hates this town. Tries to be out of it as often as she can."

"Isn't she kind of neglecting you?" She asked.

"I guess. But, well, she's gotta have a life too. I don't know." He hesitated, "Sometime's I feel guilty about it all. She put so much effort in to leaving. Now she has to stay here another year because of me. Looking after the house on weekends is hardly enough to make up for it."

Lina got up from the lawn chair, picked it up, and moved it around the glass coffee table. She set it down next to Clint and sat down. Her arm went under his and she put her hand in his hand.

"You shouldn't feel guilty about it. You didn't ask her to stay. She made the decision."

He laid his head on her shoulder.

"I know. I know. But thats how I feel. I can't change that." He said in a soft tone.

"Well you can focus on other things. Instead of feeling that way." She said.

He twisted his head and looked up at her.

"Like what?" He asked.

"Like your phone ringing and you somehow not noticing." She said.

He perked up. It was on the glass table. The vibrations were bringing the panel to life. He quickly reached his left hand out to grab it. Immediate regret. Pain shot up and a muffled whimper escaped him. He'd missed his phone and punched the metallic edge of the table.

"Shit." He said, somberly.

"Dude, be more careful." Lina said as she reached across him and grabbed the phone.

The coffee table's incessant buzzing stopped.

"Heyyyy Ben. How are you doing?" Lina said. She put the call on speaker and held the phone between the two of them.

Ignoring Ben's response, she whispered to Clint, " You okay?"

"I'm fine. But that hurt like hell." Clint replied while he shook his fist. As if somehow that would undo the punch.

"-then Jerry showed up out of nowhere and we got stuck talking to him for like 15 minutes. I swear. Anyway we're almost in town. Where are you guys at?"

"We're at Clint's house. Let's meet at the movie theatre?" Lina asked.

"Okay, cool. See you there." Ben hung up.

They both stood up.

"Who was he with?" Clint asked.

"No clue." She replied.

They exited the yard through the garden gate. As he was closing it, Clint thought he saw the same shadow flicker in his peripherals. He ignored it and closed the latch. Clint and Lina walked hand in hand through the romance filled streets of the suburban development.