Odd Ball Out Read Online Free PDF Page A

my mom, now twice in one day with you, it’s…bizarre
     
    MORGAN: oh
     
    HADEN: yeah
     
    MORGAN: what are your theories?
     
    HADEN: I’m crazy
     
    MORGAN: well yeah, but we already know that
     
    HADEN: HEY
     
    I hear Morgan giggle and throw him a mock scowl
     
    MORGAN: oh you know I’m kidding
     
    HADEN: well that’s all I have
     
    MORGAN: tell me why you think you’re asexual?
     
    HADEN: oh wow
     
    MORGAN: you don’t have to, it’s okay, I shouldn’t have asked
     
    HADEN: it’s fine, I just meant like oh wow how do I describe that
     
    MORGAN: oh ok, well how would you describe it?
     
    HADEN: no sexual drive at all, no desire for anyone, except well
     
    MORGAN: what
     
    HADEN: this is all tied up with the story about Mallory
     
    MORGAN: okay, well it’s late anyway, we can talk about it another time
     
    HADEN: okay
     
    MORGAN: hey if you ever want to try the talking thing, I’d be happy to be your guinea pig and I wouldn’t ever laugh or make fun, not suggesting it for now or even the near future, but if sometime you want to try and feel like you can trust me, then I want to be there for you. Would you feel up to a hug goodnight?
     
    I put my phone down and turn toward Morgan with a smile and nod. He scoots closer to me and goes up on his knees, putting both arms around my neck. I curl one arm around his lower back and one around his upper back, pulling him closer. I want to give him something, something to show how much I feel for him, all this overpowering stuff bouncing around in my head, in my body. I whisper haltingly, “t-t-thank y-you.”
     
    Morgan pulls away and again cups my face with both his hands, smiling into my eyes and replies tenderly, “your welcome Haden.” He quickly kisses me on the cheek and is out of my bed, quietly closing my door before I can even process his lips on my face. I reach my hand up, tracing where he’d kissed me. I can imagine it was still a little warm, a little moist.
     
    Morgan sure didn’t seem to have social anxiety around me or my mom, maybe just bigger crowds? No, because he said he’d never been on a date and those can easily be one on one. There was a charming and charismatic personality at first glance, but… something else. Something else just under the surface that I didn’t quite get yet. I know he’d had a rough life, had been struggling to make ends meet and had ended up in the hospital. None of that showed though.
     
    The background had been thorough and all of his story had checked out, so I know he was telling the truth. How was he so… normal? I’m starting to think maybe I don’t know Morgan as well as I think I do.
     

Chapter 5
    In the earliest hour of the morning I wake up suddenly, startled, but not sure why. I am still and quiet and listen hard. There, my door is opening. My heart is beating triple time and I’m starting to panic when I see a familiar face through my lowered lashes. What in the world is Morgan doing? I close my eyes and relax my breathing, curious rather than concerned about why he’s in my room in the middle of the night.
     
    I hear him close the door and my curiosity is further peaked. I focus on my breathing and even shift a bit so I’m not too still. I hear him walk to the foot of my bed where he stops. I hear something rustling, fabric I think. Then after a few moments, silence.
     
    I slit my eyes open just barely and see…nothing. I glance toward my bathroom door but it’s open and dark. I know he didn’t leave the room and I know he didn’t go in the closet because I didn’t hear the door open. The only place he could possibly be that I don’t have clear line of sight is at the foot of my bed.
     
    What is Morgan doing at the foot of my bed, on the floor, in the middle of the night? I ponder the question for a while but have no answers. Soon, my eye lids grow heavy once more and I’m asleep.
     
    
     
    The next morning I wake up at 6am and immediately recall the events of the