I've Been Waiting For You

Chapter 9

   Mitchell awoke the next morning, feeling exhausted from his restless night. He got up and sluggishly headed to the bathroom. Fifteen minutes later, he was heading downstairs to the kitchen. As usual his mom was already dressed.

   A yawn escaped his mouth involuntarily. He grimaced when his mom turned to look at him. 

"Didn't you get enough sleep last night?"

  He didn't want to go into any details about his night so he just shrugged his shoulders. 

"I slept fine. How was your night?"

   Sarah turned to look at him a frown on her face. 

 "Try to get some sleep early tonight. I'm going out with the guys after work. A celebration dinner to welcome me to the company."

"They'll regret that decision after they see you eat."

  His mom laughed at him with feigned shock.  "I don't eat that much."

  He laughed at her expression as he grabbed his breakfast and bag, then made his way to the front door. He pulled on his jacket since it was still chilly outside, and quickly walked to the vehicle. He unlocked the door and slid inside, pulling the door shut.

   Sarah got into the driver's side, started the engine and drove off towards the school. His heart thumped in excitement the closer they got to the building. When his mom parked the car, it took everything in him not to rush from the vehicle.

"I'll see you later tonight."

  He got out the car and waved at her as she drove off, disappearing from view. Knowing Markus was waiting for him, he quickly walked towards the football field. He spotted Markus leaning against his car, talking to Kev and Susan.

  Markus was wearing a red fleece hoodie, black pants with black Canvas sneakers.

  As he got closer, he felt Markus's gaze on him, even though his eyes were covered by a pair of dark sunglasses. He pretended to be unaffected but he guess he failed since he saw Markus smirked at him. 

"Hey, Mitchell." 

  Kev and Susan looked at him then at Markus, with amused expressions on their faces.

"Hey, guys."

"Can you give us a few minutes? I want to talk to him."

"Sure."

  Markus waited until they were alone before grabbing his hands, and pulling him closer.

"Let's hang out later after school. I want to show you my spot."      

  Mitchell glanced up at him. "Why are you so tall?"

  Markus smiled at him. "You're just short. Let's get to class before we're late." 

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  Markus drove his car with Mitchell in the passenger seat to an ice-cream parlor an hour away from the school. 

"How far is this spot of yours?" Mitchell asked as they got out of the vehicle.  

"Not too far from this place. It's about twenty minutes from here." 

  There wasn't a lot of people inside the parlor, so they didn't have to wait long to order.

"Good afternoon. What flavor of ice-cream would you like?" 

  Mitchell smiled the lady behind the counter. "I'd like get the two scoops of the Coconut caramel." 

"And I'd like a cup of the pistachio ice-cream. "

"I thought you'd be more of a plain flavored guy?"

"I don't like plain ice-cream. Pistachio is my favorite flavor."

   They took their order and went back outside. Instead of heading back to the vehicle, they choose to sit at one of the benches underneath the shade, since the sun had made an appearance.  

"I like coming here, especially with my friends." Markus told him as they sat across from each other.  

 "How long have you been friends with them?" 

 "I've known Kev since we were five. Then we met Susan."

"Were you born and raised here?"

   Markus stared at him. "I wasn't born here. My parents moved back to Pine Crest after I was born."

"Do you like it here?"

"It's a small town, but I like it here."

"What do you do here for entertainment?"

"There's always ways to entertain yourself. Like the party I told you about earlier."

"Do you always go to parties?"

"No, I try to avoid those." Markus reached over to grasp his hand. "I'm still waiting on your answer."

"I'm not really a party person. I don't like to drink."

"We don't have to drink anything."

  Mitchell stood up after finishing his ice-cream. "I'll think about it."

 "I'll pick you up Friday night. "

   Mitchell gaped at him. "You don't take no for an answer, do you?"

"Not if it's something I really want."

"Let's go to your spot. I have things to do at home."

   After twenty minutes of driving, Markus finally turned his car onto a deserted road. He could hear the sound of waves knocking against the rocks. 

 "An isolated section of beach. But we'll have to walk for a bit." Markus told him as they both looked out the window to stare at the scenery. 

  As they started to walk down the trail, Mitchell took his time to admire the thickets of trees with bright green leaves lining on both sides. They didn't see or meet anyone as they took a winding path down the trail to the beach. 

"Have you ever been here at night?" Mitchell asked as they approached the end of the trail.

"No, I've never been here during the night."

  Mitchell glanced up and flashed a smile at him. But Markus didn't smile back at him. He just stared at him. The expectation lodged in his throat. The breeze was rustling his hair as Markus stood there with his hands in his pocket, all very casual. But the interest in his eyes weren't. He was staring at him intently.