Dipping Into Together

Ch 6

I glanced over at Jonah, who had hopped off the boulder and was now lying in the grass. We had decided, after trying to think of a place to go and failing, that we would just hike up the mountain to the special spot. I lay back on the boulder and stared up at the sky. Today was a beautiful day, but still cold. I had realized a moment too late while climbing up the hill on the way here that I had carelessly forgotten my jacket in Jonah’s car. He had cranked up the heat on the drive over, and I had taken it off. Now, as I lay slightly shivering, I regretted ever taking it off in the first place. I’ll just go get it from the car really quick, I decided. Leaning up and reaching out to grip a branch, I started climbing down. When I landed on the ground with a soft thud, Jonah looked up. He simply raised an eyebrow in question.

“I’m going to go back to the car,” I said, still shivering, “and get my jacket.”

He frowned slightly, and then looked at my bare arms. He sighed lightly and stood up. Shrugging off his sweatshirt, he held it out to me. Glancing at his skinny arms, I shook my head.

“No,” I said, “I’m not going to take your jacket. I’ll just go get mine from your car.”

He just looked at me and continued holding out his jacket.

I shook my head stubbornly. Walking around him, I said, “Can I have your keys? It’ll just take a second.”

He muttered something under his breath and then threw his sweatshirt at me. It landed on my head. I stood there, not removing it from the top of my head, slightly shocked. Inside, I was smiling. I took it off of my head and slipped into it. It was big on me, I realized. Well, Jonah was tall. I glanced up only to see Jonah walking away from me.

“Jonah!” I called after him.

He stopped, and glanced over his shoulder.

“Where are you going?”

“To get your jacket.”

“But I was going to go get it.”

He shrugged and kept walking.

I watched his retreating back until he was blocked by the trees. I glanced down at Jonah’s sweatshirt that had engulfed me. I felt myself smile slightly. Without thinking, I ducked my head inside the sweatshirt and inhaled. Again, I smelt mint and the other smell that I couldn’t quite place. I felt my smile widen, and I sat down on the ground, leaning back against the tree. Letting my head fall back against the trunk, my eyes fluttered shut and I sat there very still, relaxing.

I didn’t realize that I had fallen asleep until I felt my head being lifted, and I realized just how unaware I had been about what was going on. I then realized that I was lying down, and that my cheek was stinging a little. I felt someone’s warm hand on my neck and face, lifting my head. I pretended to be asleep to see what would happen. I then felt my head being lowered back down onto a soft cloth. The lack of sleep from the past couple of weeks suddenly took hold of me. I faintly heard the person moving away, and I allowed myself to fall back asleep.

What seemed like ages later, I felt myself surfacing from my deep slumber. I opened my eyes just a slit. Jonah was sitting in the grass, leaning up against the bolder and hugging himself. He must be cold. I thought he went to go get my jacket. What happened to that? A small sigh escaped my lips and I closed my eyes again. I was so tired. No amount of sleep seemed to be enough to quench my thirst for relaxation. I lay very still trying to go back to sleep. After what seemed like another thirty minutes, I gave up and opened my eyes again. Jonah was staring straight at me. When I caught him looking at me, he flushed and looked away. Was he watching me sleep? Deciding to ignore it for his benefit and not embarrass him anymore than he already was, I sat up. Glancing down at the ground to see what my head had been on, I saw my own jacket. Frowning, I glanced up at Jonah.