Small Town Boy

Chapter 17

I must have eventually drifted off to sleep because the next morning I woke up late. I checked the time, and it showed that it was just past nine. No one had come to wake me up, probably because everyone had had a busy day yesterday and needed the extra sleep. The room was empty. Blake's duvet had been pulled back, Blake having already left the room. That, I was glad for. My reigning emotion was confusion. He hadn't straight up rejected me last night, but he hadn't declared whether he supported me either. 

After yawning, I sat up, stretched, pulled open the curtains, and let the light flood into the room. Or the light present during a cloudy November day in the mountains. I dressed and headed towards the kitchen hoping it wasn't too busy. Thankfully, it seemed like everyone was having a lazy morning, and people were trickling out of their rooms. All of my grandparents were up, as were Aunt Victoria, Alice, and Thomas. I could also hear Uncle Frank talking to Aunt Samantha, so they must have been up too. There was no sign of Blake though, so there was a chance others could be up and have already gone somewhere else. 

Quickly, I made my usual breakfast of toast, ate it, and got on with my morning. It took a few minutes to leave the kitchen, as my Grandparents all wanted to ask me how my morning was over their morning cups of tea and crosswords. Parker arrived, through the front door, breathing heavily, and sweating through his clothes. 

"Where've you been?" I asked.

"For a run." He panted. "If you were up you could have come too." 

"I had a late night," I told him. "I'll go tomorrow." 

"Fair enough." He nodded. "Just remember we are going a few days without practice, and we need to stay fit." 

"I know." I sighed. 

"I know you do." He smiled and went off to have a shower. 

While that answered where Parker was, I still had no idea where Blake was. I found Aunt Victoria coming out of Dad's office, where she had slept, and guessing that she would have the best idea about where he would be, asked her. 

"Um, do you know where Blake is?" I asked hesitantly. He could have told her, for all I knew, so I braced myself for whatever response she could throw at me. 

"Oh, I sent him to the store just before you got up." He answered chirpily. "He should be back in a minute, I just needed something for a little surprise I'm cooking for dessert tonight."

"Thank." I smiled. "And I'm looking forward to whatever you are cooking, it's always good." 

"Well, you've just put the pressure on me." She chuckled. It seemed like Blake hadn't said anything to her. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to get started, this takes all day." 

I let her go, and eventually found myself outside, aimlessly wandering around the backyard. I shivered slightly, my jacket being insufficient to shield me from the frigid breeze blowing up the valley. After a few minutes, I found myself sitting on the fence which marked the boundary of the field at the end closest to the house and barn.  

Having nothing better to do, I called Wyatt, who I'd stopped talking to abruptly last night when I'd come out to Blake. After a few rings, he picked up. 

"Good morning." He greeted, sounding out each word slowly as if he'd just woken up. 

"Morning." I echoed. "Did you just wake up too?" 

"More than that." He answered. "I was still asleep thirty seconds ago." 

"Oh, sorry." I apologized. 

"It's fine." He chuckled. "What's up?" 

"Well." I sighed, the pause drawing out. "I just wanted to call because I kind of left the conversation last night suddenly."