Only one word -Rosie- penetrated the fog choking his brain. Rosie. Was she back? The tightness in his chest loosened a little. His body shook with his shallow, gasping breaths. This far back in the shadows of the booth, no one noticed his distress.
A round rubber tip suddenly pressed against his lips. Rosie was back? She was giving him his pacifier? He automatically parted his lips then a familiar rubber nipple filled his mouth. He sucked. The familiar plastic of the pacier’s shield pressed in on his cheeks. After a few moments nursing the nipple, his heart started to slow. He could breathe easier. His adrenaline dropped.
Warm flesh pressed in on a calming point along his abdomen. For one wild second, he thought it was Cookie. He quickly dismissed it with a pang in his heart. Rational thought came back. Drool dribbled down his chin from all the sucking on the pacifier. Waves of warm calm radiated the pressure like a musical flute luring the beast of his anxiety back to slumber. Who was touching him? Rosie?
Just as he opened his eyes, the pressure disappeared, followed by a dull thump of someone sitting down on a rickety table. A stranger sat on the table, casually swinging her legs. She looked right at home. Had she touched him? His heart twisted anxiously at the thought. There was no way she could have pulled away, made it all the way to the table, and sat down in the few seconds it took for his eyes to open. That was not possible. She’d have to be supernaturally fast.
His adrenaline spiked back up. His diaper grew warm as he peed again. A gurgle rumbled in his tummy but he took no notice. He suckled his paci and clutched Fiji.
“Hey. Don’t start that again. You just calmed down. It’s alright. I’m Rosie’s friend. She sent me to give you your paci. You feel better, right? See. I’m a friend. You’re safe. You’re okay.” Her voice was calm and gentle, soothing as a warm cup of coffee. Her smile was like the autumn sun, softly beguiling.
Lucas rolled his chair back then clung to Fiji. He knew all of Rosie’s friends. Hell, he knew all the locals, both in town and on the surrounding farms. He’d never seen her before. But….she looked familiar. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but he got a sense of deja vu.
The girl had curly brown hair pulled up in a frizzy ponytail. Flyaways escaped to frame her face. She was kinda pretty. No blue ribbon beauty queen, but with the right makeup and hairstyle, she could give Rosie a run for her money. She was short and on the chunky side. She wore an orange hoodie, skinny dark blue jeans, and black Converse. Her gray-blue eyes twinkled at him, encouraging him to trust her.
His silence spoke for itself.
“I lived here a long time ago. Just moved back recently. I’ve always had kinfolk in the area, though.” She kept smiling, radiating warmth and trust.
Lucas kept silent, scooting his wheelchair back another inch. His fingers shook. Where was his rotten cousin? Rosie handled people so much better than he did. He never knew what to say. His brain froze up, went numb. When he did manage to open his mouth, something awkward and stupid usually fell out. Then everyone looked at him like he was an idiot. It made him feel even more uncomfortable, so he rarely spoke out.
That’s why he had no friends of his own. He had a few acquaintances; people he talked to at school. They were terrified of Rosie. The upside to having the school bully for a cousin was nobody messed with him. The downside was the kind of people open to being friends with him were afraid to get close. Rosie’s reputation scared them off. The result was Lucas alone much of the time. Sometimes he hung out with Rosie and her friends. They were all seniors, like Lucas was, and they ruled the small, rural high school with an iron fist.
Lucas stared at the girl. Something just felt off. Rosie had to know her somehow, since she’d given the girl his pacifier. Still….sending his pacifier back was uncharacteristically thoughtful of Rosie. Giving his pacifier back to prevent a panic attack that landed him in the ER and landed Rosie in trouble…now that was more along his cousin’s line of thinking.
“I like your bear.”
He hugged Fiji, squishing the tie-dyed plushy almost in half. He hated talking with strangers. What should he say? What should he do? Say nothing and look like an idiot, or open his mouth and still come off as a moron? Oh, he just wanted her to go away. His sucking on his paci picked up pace. She was being nice so far…Rosie’s friends were usually nice to him, in a pitying sort of way. They usually made Rosie be nice to him, too.
This girl had complimented him. That, he could handle… “T-tank y-yew.” He lisped softly around the rubber nipple filling his mouth. He sounded like a scared toddler.
