Walk the Line

4 - The Time They Get Locked in the Basement

4 – The Time They Get Locked in the Basement

"Eleanor, can you go get me a mason jar out of the basement?" my mother asked. She was canning some of her homemade tomato sauce, and had apparently miscalculated the number of jars she would need.

"Mom, it's creepy down there," I said.

"Eleanor, grow up. You're sixteen, you can make it down to the basement by yourself," she laughed.

"Mom, no, it's scary," I said.

"Aw, does wittle Ellie want me to hold her wittle hand and help her down the basement?" Ford teased me, talking like a baby.

"Don't you have your own house to be at?" I retorted.

"You're just scared," he taunted.

"I...No," I stammered. He lunged forward and I jumped back.

"Scaredy cat!" he teased. I glared at him. I put on my shoes and walked outside to go to the basement. We lived in an old farm house and the only way you could get to the basement was through a cellar door on the backside of our house. It came out of the ground at a slant and the large doors opened out. It was scary, okay?

I yanked open the door, and took a few steps down into the darkness. The light wasn't for a few more feet at the bottom of the stairs. I heard footsteps behind me and turned around to see Ford following me.

"Just making sure you aren't chickening out," he winked.

"Shut up," I sighed, pulling the switch on the light. He followed behind me, and I looked for the mason jars in the basement full of creepy cobwebs and lord knows what. I grabbed the jar, but I couldn't find the lid.

"Doing okay, princess?" I could hear the smirk in his voice. I rolled my eyes and smiled when I saw the cold colored lids in a box under the shelf. I tried pulling the box out, but I couldn't get it. Ford walked up beside me and lifted the shelf so I could get the box out.

"Wow, thank you, Mr. Muscles," I said sarcastically. He rolled his eyes at me. Then, with a loud bang, the door to the basement cellar slammed shut. My heart pounded and I might have screamed a little bit.

"Chill out, the wind just slammed it shut," he laughed. I walked up the stairs and tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge.

"Ford, it's not opening," I said.

"You're just not strong enough," he said, giving it a good shove, but the door was stuck, alright.

"You're just not strong enough, Ford," I teased him, but couldn't stop my heart from pounding. I really didn't want to be in the basement to begin with, let alone stuck in here with Ford of all people.

I sat down on the steps and tried not to cry. Ford pulled out his phone, but muttered a cuss word before realizing that there was no service in the basement. I let out a ragged sigh.

"Don't cry, Eleanor," he mumbled in a way that might be misconstrued for concern, but I wasn't sure that was an emotion that Ford was even capable of.

"I hate you," I mumbled.

"Ouch," he mumbled.

"If it weren't for you teasing me and making fun of me, I wouldn't even be in this freaking basement," I said.

"Well you faced your fears, Eleanor. It made you a stronger person," he tried.

"That doesn't make me hate you any less," I said. We were silent for a few minutes.

"I'm sorry, Eleanor. I just like getting you riled up. Your face gets so red when you're embarrassed and it's kind of cute," he said, I shot him a dirty look.

"So that's why you're always mean to me? You think it's fun when you embarrass me? That's why you pulled my hair all through elementary school, and teased me about boys in middle school, and stole my first kiss, and scared away Toby when he was trying to ask me to the school dance last year? Because you think it's fun? Well I'm glad you had fun ruining my life," I said.

"I'm sorry Eleanor. I didn't realize it made you so upset. I didn't mean to ruin your life," he mumbled, "Besides, when did I steal your first kiss?"

"You don't even remember?" I asked.

"I mean, I remember a lot of stuff about you, like how you wear Monday panties on a Tuesday and that you only like pink Starburst, but I sure as hell do not remember stealing your first kiss," he chuckled.

"Okay, first of all, I was fourteen and you shouldn't have even seen my panties," I defended myself, but I knew my face was a violent shade of red, "But you kissed me when I was thirteen and it was a dare during truth or dare, and I wasn't even playing the stupid game. I was just reading a book on the couch. You and Kyle drug me to that party because mom told Kyle he had to babysit me for the night and you guys said you were going to a party, but mom didn't want you to go to the party so you drug me along to prove to mom it was an innocent party, but it definitely wasn't an innocent party because you all were drinking and you stole my first kiss and it tasted like beer."

"That was hardly a kiss, and I didn't realize it was your first, or I wouldn't have done it," he said, "I'm sorry I stole your first kiss and it wasn't even a good one."

"Well it's not like I can redo it, so I guess I'll have to forgive you," I laughed.

"No, what if I do redo it?" he offered.

"You can't redo a first kiss," I said.

"Sure you can," he said.

"How do you think you're going to accomplish that?" I asked, my eyes meeting his. His dark eyes seemed to sparkle when he smirked a little before licking his bottom lip and leaning in. I froze, not sure what to do, but when his lips touched mine, my instincts took over, and I kissed him back a little. His arms wrapped around me and his large hand cradled the back of my head as he pulled me into him.

His lips were hot and heavy on mine and I couldn't help but melt a little. He took my bottom lip into his mouth and sucked on it. A shiver shook my spine, and I tangled my fingers in his hair. He grabbed my butt with his free hand and I pulled away from him. I met his wild dark eyes and felt a little breathless.

"There you guys are! The door must have locked when it slammed shut! I could not for the life of me understand how it took two people fifteen minutes to get a single jar," my mom laughed.

"It's right here," I said, holding it up, and heading up the stairs.

"You must have been petrified down there," my mom laughed.

"She got over it. I just had to calm her down a little," Ford said, giving me a knowing look.

Iguess it was safe to say I wasn't scared of the basement any more...