On the Horizon: Where the Wind Blows

Chapter Two

After a positively freezing flight to Port St. Lucie, I land outside Mrs. Lark's house.

After coming back from the beach, I changed into my high top, black Converse, blue jeans, and a long sleeved, maroon shirt. I left my hair down, as I usually do in the winter.

I knock on the front door. I tilt on my heels while I wait.

They have a ring doorbell. Then a guy's voice yells, "NATE! IT'S YOUR GIRLFRIEND!"

I feel myself flush red, but then the door opens. Nate looks just as embarrassed as I feel.

He winces when he sees my expression. "Please tell me you didn't hear that."

"I'd like to say yes." I sigh.

"I'LL BE BACK LATER!" Nate calls inside, and jumps out the door.

"Nate," Emily says, walking up to him. She tosses him a pair of keys. "You forgot those."

Nate rolls his eyes. "I would've figured it out."

"Mhm." Emily laughs, and walks back inside.

"Good grief." Nate grumbles as we jump in the car, making me laugh.

                                                          ***

We chat a bit on the way, mostly about our senior year so far.

Before we get out once Nate parks, he reaches into the back and grabs a camera.

"You're so not taking pictures of me." I say.

Nate laughs. "We'll see." He looks at a restaurant and thinks. "Hungry?"

"Sure." I shrug, and we walk inside.

"It's Acai." Nate explains. "And smoothies."

After ordering some acai, we sit down at a table to wait. "Have you convinced your parents to get a dog yet?" I ask.

Nate groans, making me laugh. "No. I've tried everything. Do you have pets in heaven?"

I roll my eyes. "It's not heaven, and yes, but they're... different from cats and dogs."

"Like what?" Nate asks.

"Well my family raises griffin cubs." I think.

Nate quickly jumps up to grab the food, and we walk outside. "Do you have cats and dogs though?" He asks, digging into his acai.

I look quizzically at mine, hesitating before sticking in my spoon.

"Have you ever had acai?" Nate asks.

I shake my head. Nate smirks to himself. "It's good, trust me."

I take a bite, and find he's quite right. "Mmm." I mumble, and start gulping it down, making Nate laugh.

"This way," he says, calming down a bit. "There's a lake we can walk around."

"So do you usually decide to dive off tall things?" Nate asks. "I'm always catching you falling from something."

I elbow him, laughing though. "Not usually, but I do enjoy cliff diving occasionally."

"You're friends do too, it looks like." Nate comments.

"We had to stop since the humans started gawking." I sigh.

"My cousin also said your friends we're cute." Nate rolls his eyes. "He told me to tell you that."

"He wouldn't be the first." I grumble. "Guys always seem to prefer my friends over me. I mean I obviously don't care for those guys, but... it would be nice to be liked."