Stones to Abbigale

Chapter 12

Abbi was still asleep when I woke the next morning. It was still early so I just relaxed and watched her sleep for a while. At some point to my surprise Abbi said with her eyes still closed "Why are you staring at me James?" Pleasantly caught off guard I said "Oh my god!" and started to laugh. She replied, "I got you creeper!" now laughing with me. I felt so silly but replied, "I don't regret it. You look so beautiful." She pulled the blankets up to rest just under her eyes laughing in disbelief.

Just then, a knock sounded off on the door and my mom said "Hey, you're not going to school today, you're helping me pack!" We both replied, saying, "Ok mom!" My heart flut- tered hearing Abbi call my mom, well, "Mom". I looked at Abbi in disbelief. She looked back and said "What? She could be my mom one day." Seeing her say that made my eyes feel like they were about to water, I was so happy to see how serious she was about us be- ing together.

Abbi and I got dressed so we could help my mom. I carried most of the boxes and smaller furniture by myself to the truck because Rick wasn't going to be there until later that night. It also made me feel good about myself, as my mom and Abbi would compliment how strong they thought I was every time I walked out with something heavy.

Quite a few hours into working my mom called Davis over to help after school was over for him. Davis seemed kind of upset with me still, but he was at least smiling more, which I was happy to see.

My mom asked if I could pick up more box tape from the store, she knew I loved driving her car, or any car for that matter, so she tossed me the keys. Abbi was going to go, but my mom asked her to stay behind and help pack up her room.

"Davis, want to ride in a car with a total loser?" I asked jingling the keys. Davis responded "Yeah, of course I do buddy." smiling slightly but not sounding as happy as he normally did.

As we drove down the road, Davis asked me a lot of questions about Abbi, like about how serious we were and if I thought she was the one. He then asked "But you don't... like... you don't ever think about other people romantically?" I replied, "No, she's literally the cen- ter of my world Davis." He looked really upset by this. I asked "You don't like Abbi?" and he replied, "No, I like her just fine."

We approached the store and got out. As we walked in, he made fun of my shoes, likely trying to get away from the awkward conversation we had about Abbi. Once we were in the store he started wrapping tape around his head, contorting his face while dancing around looking totally freaky. I said, "Hey, I have to pay for that." he then turned to me look- ing completely goofy as he mimicked what I said with his warped tape face. "Hey, I got to, duh, pay, duh, for that, duh!" he said with his amazing comedic timing. I immediately be- gan laughing hysterically only to shortly after realize I was the only one in the store who was even remotely amused.

Walking up to the cashier, Davis still with tape still all over his face, I said "Can you also ring up this... whole thing?" making a hand gesture at the various tape rolls attached to his face. The cashier remained disinterested but complied using their remote scanner. Davis smiled putting his arms up like a ballerina, spinning as they scanned the tape hanging from his head. We giggled as they gave us our bags and we left.

On the way out, Davis wasn't done yet, he turned to everyone in the store and screamed "Hi ho silver lady mammy poppy sickle!" His antics made no sense yet still caused me to laugh even harder than I had before. "Come on Davis!" I screamed as I headed into the parking lot. "Okie dokie captain derp!" he screamed back.

As we drove back home, despite having to pull the tape off his face in a painful fashion, Davis seemed much happier. It was nice to get his mind off the number of things I imag- ined were bothering him.

After a few more hours we had finished packing up everything my mom was taking with her. My sister was pretty unhelpful the whole time, mostly just moping around the house, barely speaking at all.

I approached my mom to ask about her, "Mom, why is Lisa so bummed out?" I said. My mom stood up and said, "Close the door." I closed the door only to ask again; this time my mom answered, "A boy she liked, Matthew, died in the shooting." I had only heard about him in passing, but it became clear my sister wasn't just giving her heart to every other guy she met like I had assumed. My mom continued, "She said everything at the school reminds her of him, that's why she's coming with us." I thought for a moment and replied "But she's a senior, won't that mean she has to graduate late?" My mom answered, "She'll do what she has to, they'll hopefully recognize her current grades and transfer them, but either way she's done with this place."

I sighed and left the room without poking any further into my sisters business. As I walked back into my room I saw Abbi sitting on the bed. "Abbi, want to drop off Davis with me?" She smiled and said "Yep." I called out for Davis and we all got into to my mom's car.

Once again, Davis didn't seem too comfortable with Abbi, him having to take the back seat I'm sure didn't help either, but he still tried to make polite conversation. We dropped him off and waited to see him make it all the way inside. Before he closed the door he screamed, "You look like a couple of stalkers! God!" We laughed and he grinned really big only to slam the door.

As we drove back home Abbi asked if we could stop by a nearby park. I replied, noting that it was getting late, but she said she had something she wanted to experience with me. Pulling up to the park, she pointed out a specific spot and I slowed to stop as I could get to where she wanted.

Abbi got out and rested on the warm hood of my mom's car. I said, "How about that? I didn't take you for the star-gazing type." She smiled and replied, "It's not just stars. This is everything. You could look at every part of the Earth and you still wouldn't see as much as you would if you just looked up at the night sky. Looking at the universe has always helped me escape this tiny little life of mine." I smiled, once again comforted by almost everything her mind had to share with me. I slid on the hood next to her and looked up at the stars as well.

"What if stars were like birds, and they took craps on us..." I said as she interrupted with a sarcastic laugh, "Stop, just stop, you're stupid." I laughed and out of nowhere asked a question that oddly surprised us both, "Do you think we'll have kids some day?" She tilted her head and responded jokingly, "Whoa, too fast. I just wanted to look at the entire uni- verse with you, that's all." I laughed again and teased her by saying, "You're right, no kids." She sat up, "No! I want kids." I smiled having gotten exactly the response I wanted, I then said with a huge grin, "Gotcha". She became more serious and asked "You do?" I answered somewhat cryptically, "Every significant moment in my life, I want to share with you." She smiled and leaned in to kiss me. She then spoke under her cherry-smelling breath "Every significant moment to come in my life will be significant because of you James." I was overwhelmed with emotion; since Abbi and I began dating I felt more pur- pose, more value in my life, than I had ever known.

Abbi and I looked at the stars a little longer and headed home to spend yet another night in each other's arms.