Lady in Stone

two.

ATLAS NOBLE

     I don't want summer to even start, I want to savor every day at school with Olivia. Time with her has become limited. I wish I had never taken it for granted. I remember the day I met her when we both went to a mutual friend's house party. She was wearing a cute blue dress with straps, and her long brown hair had beach waves in it. I was embarrassed to talk to her, but it was so easy to. I knew she was interested in me too by the way she blushed every time I spoke.

Today was the last day of school. We were all gathered in the gym for an assembly. The seniors were saying goodbye and I saw one group of girls crying and hugging each other. I sat by Olivia and she clasped her hand in mine. "We'll make this summer the best one yet." She whispered in my ear. 

Principal Mayfield walked up to the podium. He gave a heartfelt speech that was impressive to no one. When the final bell rang, everyone got up from their seats, and a mob formed around the exit. My friend Steven walked up to us with his girlfriend. Steven has been my best friend since the eighth grade and was a casanova.

"Yall need a ride?" He asked us. I did not want to ride the bus today, so I accepted. His girlfriend was grasping his hand tightly, and smiling at me sweetly. She seemed like a nice enough girl but also really clingy.

"I think I'm gonna catch a ride with Rebecca today," Olivia said. She gave me a quick kiss on my lips and walked away as I was leaning in. Rebecca waved frantically, signaling her to hurry up. 

"I think Olivia trying to play cat and mouse with you," Steven teasingly said, and his girl laughed. Hot air hit us and we opened the doors for the last time this year. 

Stevens's red car was parked close to the school entrance, a sign close next to it marking the space as reserved. I think he might have paid the school so that he wouldn't have to walk far to get his car. This time I was thankful for his laziness because the heat was making me sweaty.

"You want to hang out at my place tonight?" I asked Steven as I slide into his backseat. I glanced up at the air vent, making sure it was going to blast on me.

"Steven's a little busy, we are going on a date to the coolest restaurant tonight." His girl said. She was proud of it like she caught the best fish in the sea. I felt a little bad for her, she probably didn't know that Steven was as committal as a snail was fast.

"Have to take a rain-check babe. Jake found a place that he wants Atlas and me to see." He said, driving out of the parking lot.

She gave him an exaggerated pouty face and I could tell he was cringing when he saw it, "Ok, but you better take me out tomorrow then." 

"Of course." He gave her a genuine smile, putting his hand on her leg.

☽☾☽☾☽☾

The car ride to this special place was bumpy and we were getting farther and farther into the woods. It had gotten dark and the moon was glowing through the trees. I was afraid something could jump at the car any minute. I could just picture the scene in my mind, the monster slashing the tires and breaking the windows.

"Where the hell are we, Jake?" Steven asked breaking the silence. He was sprawling across the backseat like a bored child, going in and out of sleep. We've been in the car for what seemed like forever. Phones had gone out of service, so we couldn't call anyone for help or get directions.

"We are almost there, I swear," Jake said. He had his hands firmly clutched on the wheel nervously. His eyes were glancing everywhere, and I noticed a sweat drip down his face.

"What's there anyways?" I asked, looking around for any sign that we were at our destination. I cursed myself for even going along with this plan and I had a bad feeling something was going to happen to us.

"Well, some of the guys on the hockey team said there was this abandoned garden that used to be the gathering place for a cult," Jake said. In the distance, I could see an iron fence blocking something that looked similar to a building. The gate looked rusted and plants were entangling it. "There it is!"

Steven sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "What am I even looking at?"

"That's just the entrance. The best part is inside." Jake said, he was definitely relieved. Steven would have made fun of him forever if he had just led us on a wild goose chase.

Jake put the car in park and I could see what was behind the fence better. It was a huge circular stage that had a big hole in the top. There were stairs at the front of the apron that led to the audience, and long benches curved around the stage and stopped in the middle. It looked like a wedding aisle. All around the theatre were flowers, of all shapes and sizes. But the creepy part of this place was the large statue in the middle of the stage. I couldn't see what It looked like from here, but it seemed out of place.

"It just seems like an old wedding venue," I said. Jake locked his car and we stopped at the gate. There was a rusted lock on it. Steven found a large stick and hit the lock as hard as he could making fall off and drop to the ground. I pushed open the gate with ease and it felt scratchy on my skin.

Thank god I have my tetanus shot. 

"Look, that's the thing they were talking about," Jake said, pointing to the statue. "The cult used to pray to it like their god." The closer we got to it, the more I got chills. Every time we stepped there was a crunch of dead grass or old fallen leaves.

It didn't look creepy, it was more ethereal. It was a woman who had long hair. She had a sad look on her face like she was in pain. She was wearing this long flowy dress that remained me of a waterfall.

"What if it's like cursed or something?" Jake said. Looking amused, he took another step closer and touched it.

"I guess Jake is cursed forever now," I said, laughing. It wasn't like it was real.

"I dare you to kiss it Atlas." Steven declared. I was not scared out of this stupid thing so I walked up to it and stood by Jake. He took his phone out from his front pocket and turned on camera mode.

I stepped up onto the base, feeling a bit unbalanced. I leaned in and place a quick kiss on the statue's stony lips.