Only platonic

Chapter one

« I'm starting to be cold Everett. »

« We're almost home, calm down. »

« Did you ask me to calm down? »

« Huh? I never told you to calm down. Why would I say that, Iris? »

« You just did. And you would say something like so since you can't come up with better insults. »

« Is « calm down » an insult now? »

Yesterday was the last day before school reinstated after the holiday break. Everett and I went on a walk with his dog around our subdivision. There was a light snow throughout Oakwood that made the leafless trees feel soothing. The not so quite blond guy kept blabbing about how he didn't want to return to the draining highschool. I never disliked the whole learning thing as it has always been rewarding to me. On the other hand, Everett really didn't enjoy sitting at a desk and listening to teachers all day. All he wanted to do with his life was to live in the mountains with a pet goat. I've always thought that he was crazy with his idea, but having dreams and aspirations is great, for him, at least.

When we finished our round, Everett brought me home and then walked to his house at the end of the street. A few years back, we moved to my father's hometown where I met Everett. It had been two minutes since my dad and I started unpacking when a family of six kids appeared on our new doorstep with a fresh batch of rock hard raisin cookies to offer us help with the boxes. The third to the eldest child carried two boxes labelled « Iris' stuff » , walked toward me and asked :

« Are you Iris? »

I answered with a vertical nod since I was too timid to speak.

« Weird name. I'm Everett. »

« And you dare to say Iris is a weird name. », young me returned faintly.

« Did you say something? »,
the ten year old spat out. I didn't bother to reply as his attention left when he saw my brown cat, Sprout.

As I opened the main door to my house, the rough smell of beer passed through every inch of my body. My father was sleeping, laying his chest to the sofa with his feet dangling off the left armrest and his head on the right. The television was turned on a news channel, talking about random politics. In the kitchen, dishes were covering every countertop, including the stovetop. I held no interest to clean so I only left a glass of water with a bottle of aspirin on the coffee table. I quickly showered and packed my bag with my books for the day to come. As I was gracefully getting into my bed, my phone buzzed. It was a text from Everett that read : we need to talk. He wasn't the type of person to write such a thing. Usually he gets straight to the point. As I evaluated the message, he followed with a few more.

« I love you ».

« I always have ».

« I want to live in the mountains with you and only you ».