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of his fingers clad in the well-fitting leather gloves. It is in that very moment that I note for the first time the fact that most of his skin is covered. He is wearing a long sleeved hoodie under his light jacket, its sleeves coming past his gloves, just upto his palms. The long sweatpants he wears are not odd even though summer is just coming to an end, for it is quite chilly up here in Greenfield most year round.
    He is not a germaphobe, I then note. He just can’t stand skin contact with people.
    “Are you afraid of touching people?” I cannot stop myself from asking. I hear his sharp intake of breath.
    “Something like that,” he says after a pause.
    “Since when?” I ask him.
    “I’ve been avoiding human contact since.. since I was of reasoning age,” he says. There is that odd something in the way he speaks again, how he slowly chooses words, or just the odd word choices in themselves. Like how he says human contact, rather than contact with people. It has me on edge.
    “Why?” I choose ask him. He chuckles before attempting to answer.
    “I’ll tell you if you agree to go on a date with me,” he surprises me by saying. My breath catches at the almost unassuming, confident way with which he’s just asked me out.
    “Then I guess I’ll never find out..” My words die out unspoken in my mouth the instant I turn to face him, and the smug smile on my lips freezing in place upon meeting his eyes. Their intensity burn through me, confusing my thoughts, ransacking my mind, scattering my inhibitions, opinions.
    “Pick me up tomorrow at six,” I hear myself say before I can stop myself.
    “Why not tonight?” He asks in his captivatingly quiet voice.
    Why not tonight? I ransack my mind, trying to recollect my thoughts so as to remember why I can’t tonight.
    “I have family therapy at 5pm,” I say. He nods once, before breaking contact.
    “I’ll be there to pick you up at the end of Connelly Beach Road at six tomorrow,” is all he says before walking away, and I’m left staring after him speechlessly, unsure of what exactly made me to so willingly accept to go on a date with him.
    Those riveting eyes, Sophia, I tell myself, watching him receive the ball my brother unexpectedly throws his way, and he in turn mindlessly sends the ball through the basket with an effortless jump shot.
    Those riveting eyes have you enchanted, I admit to myself.
     

Chapter 7
    “Sophia has a date..”
    “Tony!” I exclaim.
    “Do you now?” Dr Young says.
    “Yep!” Tony answers her with an amused look.
    “You’ll pay for that,” I threaten him, our cheerful moods pleasing both our therapist and our mother.
    “That’s great to hear,” Dr. Young says smiling. “Tell me about him.”
    “Yeah,” mom now puts in. “This is the first time I’m hearing about it. Tell me about him.”
    “I..” I start. “It’s this new kid at school. His name’s Gauthier.”
    “That’s an uncommon name,” mom puts in.
    “And he’s weird too,” Tony says. “Keeps staring at Sophia so intensely..”
    “Tony! Shut up!”
    “No, Sophia,” Dr. Young now puts in. “We don’t stop each other from speaking in here. This is a fair sharing ground for everyone, remember?” I nod defeated. Mom and Dr. Young now turn to Tony curiously.
    “Go on,” our shrink says.
    “I guess he just likes her, but he stares at her in this intense way,” he says shuddering slightly, and its clear to all that it makes my brother uneasy. It does also make me uneasy when he stares at me. Very uneasy indeed.
    “Does it bother you?” Dr. Young now says, writing down something on the notepad resting on her knees. “Does it bother you when you see someone being so intensely interested in your sister? Does it make you feel as though he intends to hurt her?” I now turn to Tony too.
    “It bothers me,” Tony admits. “But.. I really doubt he’d hurt her. I think he just likes her a lot, and doesn’t know how to hide it.”
    “That’s