What Happened That Night

7 ~ j u m p

A/N: If any of you notice some name flip-ups, like involving the names Melody, Fiona, or Bex, then that's my bad. Those were the three names that Clara's best friend has had so in the last chapter, when Fiona is mentioned, that girl is now Bex because I realized that Fiona was the same name as the main character in Shrek, lol. There was a Melody mentioned here, accidentally, as well and that girl is Bex now. So basically, Fiona and Melody = Bex.

The grass was wet and prickling against the bare skin of my feet as I stood in the backyard of our house, and behind me I heard the sound of water droplets plunging from the roof and plinking onto the wood of our patio where our dampened lawn furniture and barbeque sat, a pair of tongs with purple, rubber hands resting on the side, and Emily's round sunglasses were on the arm of one of the patio chairs, droplets clinging to the lenses. It was dark outside but the moonlight that occasionally escaped the cover of the clouds and the streetlights that I could just barely see from the background kept everything dimly lit as I waited for Griffin to show up. I had changed out of my pink drawstring pants and white tank top and into a pair of coral denim shorts and a slightly oversized gray sweater and quickly clasped a heart shaped locket—Emily's, which she had left in my bedroom a few nights ago after dramatically entering, letting the door bang against my pale blue walls, and she sighed, eyes tilted to the ceiling tiles as she began to tell me about her latest adventure with Wilson Westbrooke, taking off her locket and leaving it on my dresser as she did—and quickly sprayed a little bit of Pure Paradise fragrance mist before quietly, but swiftly, tiptoeing down the stairs, unlocking the patio doors, and slipping outside.

My mind was racing as I thought about how he had lifted me off of the ground earlier that night, my feet unable to meet the tiled surface of the school floor, and how close he stood to me even after he placed me down, how I still felt as I could smell the soap and musk emanating from his body as he called me Cinderella as he whispered into my ear, a little secret just between us. And now he wanted to see me again, after midnight, in my backyard, in the drizzling rain. I had just brushed a lock of my hair behind my ear when I heard the sound of rustling in the distance, footsteps, and then I was blinded by the bright whiteness of the motion light coming to life as Griffin Tomlin climbed over our fence and landed on the grass near my father's vegetable garden, where a couple of tomatoes, cucumbers, and ears of corn were still belatedly growing, a few dewdrops of water splashing around his legs. A fleck of mud landed on the hem of his black sock that extended from his Converse sneaker.

His cerulean eyes narrowed as he looked at me, squinting, and then he brought his forearm over his forehead to shield his eyes from the glare of the motion light, his skin—his summer tan still lingering on his body—almost looked washed out and pale underneath the strong light, and I darted to the other side of the yard, feeling the damp grass beneath my bare feet as I stood a few feet away from him. The scent of the rain and freshly cut grass was strong in the charged air but still, I could've sworn I smelled the soap on his body as he smiled at me, slowly bringing down his arm as the motion light flicked off and it was just us, alone, and in the dark, and rain.

"Hey," I whispered to him, my voice barely carried through the air that was sprinkled with falling rain droplets that landed on our shoulders, darkening the fabric of our clothes, and dampening our hair. As I looked at him, at the moonlight cascading down his sun kissed skin and sparkling his ocean blue eyes, a raindrop fell on the angular curve of his cheekbone, rolling down his cheek until it dangled from his jawline and fell onto the chest of his shirt, but he didn't seem to notice this. He was only looking at me, and that felt both wonderful and terrifying at the same time. "So, um," I said, breathing in the scent of the rain and feeling the fragile wings of butterflies grazing my ribcage as my chest expanded, setting them free, "did you need to talk to me or something?"