Fairy Rings

Chapter 6

"Emmy tell me did you push Mrs. Trin down the stairs?" Mr. Baker asked. Mr. Baker was a chubby man from two towns over. Currently, he was trying to play good cop with me, offering me snacks in exchange for tidbits of information. His partner, Mr. Carson, standing behind him, trying to exude an intimidating aura. This might have worked if I didn't babysit both of their kids every Friday night.

The police department in a town this size is practically a joke. The jail is over an hour away, sharing what police they have with the next three towns around. Made more evident with each question they decided to ask after I asked for a lawyer. Each question was met with the same blank stare and silence.

"you aren't going to get in trouble if you tell us. We will even get the judge to go easy on you."

'How stupid do you think I am? I haven't responded in the last 20 minutes, and it was only I wanted my lawyer. 'I thought to myself.

"you will stop talking to my granddaughter and get her dam lawyer right now, Jared." Grandma barked, walking into the interrogation room like she owned it.

"Fine, we aren't getting anything anyway." Mr. Baker sighed, banging his hands on the table, motioning for Mr. Carson to follow him on the way out. Grandma sat in his seat, Grumbling about how this was not her day.

***

"You can leave if you are not under arrest and go home." the secretary said, finally letting me go. It was well past 11, and I hadn't seen a lick of food scents lunch. The snacks had all disappeared as soon as grandma came. The lawyer had only just shown up, and they hadn't talked to me since almost 5. I got the feeling that they did it out of spite. We walked outside, grandma still as hopping mad as when we started this fiasco. She ripped the car door open, slamming it shut on her way down.

"I know you didn't do it no matter how much Tam may have deserved it, but do you know who did?" Grandma asked softly.

"I don't have a clue. I don't even know Mrs. Trin was pushed down the stairs until after lunch." I said.

"Either way, I want you to be careful. This may just be a delinquent, or it could be something else. Just be safe ok, sweety." Ok grandma, we pulled into our long dirt driveway

"I am going to bed. It has been a long night," I said

"Don't worry about school tomorrow," Grandma said. I nodded, trudging my way to bed.

***

A tink at my window woke me up. It was already past 1 in the morning. -I covered my head and rolled over, groaning and shoving my face into the plush pillow, wishing the noise would go away.

Tink,

Tink,

Tink,

Giving up on rest, I got up to see what was happening outside. At first, I thought it was a branch from one of the nearby trees. It was just then that a small pebble hit the window.

Tink, cracking my window open, I gazed down into the darkness below. At first, I didn't see anything until I saw a male figure picking something up from the ground choking back a scream. I flicked the lights on in my room, illuminating myself and casting just a touch of light down below, just in time for the man's face to shoot up, giving me a familiar wild grin. Theo stood in all his glory without a pinch of shame picking up pebbles?

"Ah Juliet, I see you have awoken, and may I say that your face is like the sun Blindingly radiant." He said, cockiness dripping from every word. My face was definitely turning red.

"Theo, what are you doing here," I asked.

"I just wanted to see if you were up for a trip down memory lane." He asked. I looked down at him, and for just a moment, my heart dropped. I would be going back to the fairy rings. Although nothing had happened, the memories still seemed to buzz in the back of my mind like a hive of bees pricking me, ignoring the sweet memories in favor of a terrifying fantasy. Everything in me screamed no, and for once, I was going to listen to my panic response. Besides, I liked not dying.

"N.." I caught a glimpse of Theo in the light, his dark eyes drawing me in.

'Nothing else matters but Him.' I thought. One look was all it took for all other thoughts to be put on the sidelines—leaving my worries to bubble beneath the surface.

"Yes, of course, just let me change out of my PJ's." the words ran out faster than I could think. Something was wrong. This was not the plan.

"Great just jump out the window when you are done." He said as though this was something typically done. And I usually would question him, but I merely nodded. After all, Theo would catch me.

"Try to be quiet. You wouldn't want to wake up, dear grandma, and don't worry; I will catch you." He said, laughing in that same cheeky way Reminding me of something long forgotten.

****

"Emmy, Come on, jump, I can catch you," Theo said; standing below the tree, I was quickly 50 feet up. Theo had somehow convinced me that climbing the tallest tree in the forest was a good plan. Only after reaching its tremendous height did I even think that it might have been a bad idea. Even worse, I found myself stuck nearing the top of the tree. Looking down, Theo seemed small, and his outstretched hands did nothing to quell the feeling that I would throw up. I found myself frozen, grasping the trunk so tightly in my little hand that my hands were turning white from lack of circulation. Digging the bark into my skin undeniably created an imprint of the wood.

"What If you don't? What if you drop me or walk away" I shouted back at him, clenching my eyes shut in indentation.

"I would never do that. Trust me, Emmy. You are my best friend." He called back with such confidence that if he weren't a child like me, I might have believed him. Unfortunately for both of us, the ground was still looking like my coffin.

"Emmy, please, I promise that if you die, I won't be far behind." He called. I snapped my eyes to Theos form an indescribable calm came to my mind. I found myself slowly letting go of the tree trunk.

"That's it, Gem, don't worry. I Got you. There will be no problems." He said fog formed across my mind. It was almost as easy as breathing to walk to the edge of the branch, only seeming to snap out of the haze when the branch snapped under my petite frame. My eyes screwed shut, wind rustled through my ears, and my stomach flipped itself inside out. A scream stuck in my throat.

Plop. My body landed with a harsh thump against Theo, unscrewing my eyes. For a moment, I thought we were hovering in the air. Theo seemed to have wings coming out his back, bathed in white light, but it was gone at the moment that it had happened. We were just on the ground.

"See, I told you I would catch you." He said, teasing me.