Michael quickly changed and thundered down the stairs, not wanting to keep Ari waiting.
"I thought you were sick?" Suzanne entered the room as he was pulling on his shoes.
"I'm feeling a lot better now," Michael replied, hurrying to tie his laces. "I decided to go after all."
As if on cue, Ari opened the door and stepped in.
"You were taking forever," She remarked, giggling a little at Michael's awkward, bent over position. "I had to come investigate."
"I was going as fast as I could!" Michael said in a playfully defensive tone.
Once he had his laced tied, he straightened up and turned to Suzanne.
"Well, bye." He smiled, knowing she knew the truth about his condition.
"Have a good day," She mothered. "And if you feel sick again at all, come home straightaway."
"Okay." Michael held up his hand, thumb up.
Once Michael and Ari stepped out the door, Ari embraced him in a fleeting hug.
"What was that for?" He asked, blushing and examining his feet as they headed down the path towards the sidewalk.
"I haven't seen you in a while," she smiled. "I don't know...I just like hugging people."
Michael wanted to respond, but they had reached the sidewalk, and Michael was bombarded with a plethora of greetings from Cake, Wolfgang and Ashton.
They started walking down the sidewalk, and Michael hurried to catch up with Ari.
"Where are we going?" Michael asked her, and then quickly added. "and don't you dare say 'you'll see...', all mysterious. I barely survived last time you did that."
"Oh c'mon," Ari rolled her eyes, shoving him playfully. "we had fun that day at the cliff."
"You took him to the cliff?" Ashton raised his eyebrows, overhearing his cousin's words. "aw, he must have been so scared. He's such a city kid." Ashton gave Michael a playful shove just as Ari had moment earlier.
"Yeah, he kind of is," Ari giggled, glancing apologetically at Michael. "and to answer your earlier question, we were just planning to walk around the village for a while."
"Oh, okay." Michael nodded, but his thoughts were elsewhere. Ashton's words were still running through his mind. "He's such a city kid."
He really was a city kid, and looking back, he had been a bit of a wimp whenever Ari tried to get him to do something. He had grown a lot though, and it was so obvious to him that he knew it must be at least a little apparent to other people. He was growing to love this tiny village. The trees, the starry sky at night and, above all, the quietness of it all. Sometimes Michael forgot there were even people around him, and he got lost in the beating of his own heart.
The group continued up the sidewalk, and Michael wondered fleetingly if they would get a chance to go to the waterfall again, as he had really been wanting to go back.
Michael tried to maintain his spot next to Ari as they walked, but he seemed to have constant competition, as everybody else wanted to walk beside her as well. He finally decided that he would just let nature take its course, and he fell behind the group as his spot next to Ari was claimed by Ashton.
"Hey, slowpoke!" Wolfgang called to Michael.
"Hey, it's not my fault you guys all walk five hundred miles an hour." Michael laughed. There was suddenly a buzz from Michael's pocket, and he reached into it to pull out his phone. His mothers name flashed across the screen. Michael stopped dead.
Ari was at his side within seconds, a hand on his shoulder. She must have been able to tell that something was up.
Michael swallowed before making his decision. He slid his finger across the screen to answer the call. He put the phone to his ear, and in doing so, notice that the rest of the group had stopped as well, looking back at him and Ari with a mixture of confusion and concern.
For a moment there was silence on the other end, and then Michael's mother spoke.
"...Michael?"
"Yeah?" It came out in a whisper the first time, and he had to repeat it.
"I...we...your father and I were wondering if you wanted to come back. You know, to America."
Michael swallowed
"I think I already told you that me sending you away was wrong," Mrs. Clifford continued. "And if you want to come back, I can arrange everything."
There was a moment of silence during which Michael was left staring at the group in front of him. He realized he didn't want to go. These people, this place, Canada, the whole thing had been such an amazing adventure, and he wasn't ready for it to end. Not so prematurely. He glanced to his left at Ari, and the deal was sealed.
"Actually, I think I'll stay." he was surprised at how strong his voice sounded. This was the first time in a while that he had spoken to his mother and his voice hadn't been a shaky mess.
"Well, that's okay," his mother continued, her voice the epitome of shakiness. "I just hope it's not because you're mad at me. I mean, I understand if you are, but - "
"No, that's not why," Michael grinned, realizing that his words were the truth. "I just...this place is really great. I've met tons of great people, and I'm not ready to say goodbye yet."
Michael could almost hear his mother smiling on the other end.
When the two had said goodbye and Michael was shoving his phone back into his pocket, he felt a pair of arms wrap around him. Ignoring the wolf whistles from Ashton and the rest of the group, Michael smiled and hugged Ari back, breathing in her sweet, fruity scent.
Michael felt a floaty feeling of happiness fill him, one that only Ari could bring, and there was something else along with it: the feeling if contentment that came with making things right with his mother.
Because one thing that his time with Ari had brought him was perspective, and he now understood why his mother had sent him away, it wasn't because she was mad at him as she had stated, or because she was scared of him like he had previously assumed.
It was because she was both scared and mad at herself, and Michael knew how that felt.
Hope you guys like this book (and that you're actually reading it XD)
Loser_Luke
