Island.

Chapter 9

Nine.

We had ended up going to our houses, parting ways when we reached the plaza. We had our hands intertwined the whole way there. He was really one of the sweetest guys I had ever met. He always stopped to ask me if I was okay.

The rain was just awful. Don’t get me wrong. I love the rain, but it was pouring down so hard, that it was hard to see where we were running. I tried my best not to slip on the slightly muddy pavement. It didn’t help that I wore sandals.

 Finally, we had stopped at the front of the street that led to my house. I didn’t even know that he knew where I lived. We just stood under a tree for a little while, waiting for the storm to die down a bit.

 When he let go, I felt something in my hand. I opened it to reveal a bracelet, with three charms that were carved in wood.

The first charm was what looked like flames. It looked as if they were dancing, and it was carved into a reddish brown wood.  They were carved with such detail and precision, that I was sure this had taken a lot of time to make.

The second was a dolphin with again, very precise features and a smile. This one was painted with a bluish gray paint that somehow shimmered in the light, creating a rainbow color against the almost metallic gray. It shined the slightest bit where the light hit it.

 The third one was a small chip of wood with a sunflower carved into it. I couldn’t deny that even though it was a small carving, it was very beautiful. There was something about the sunflower that looked… innocent. Harmless. I had to remember to ask him what this meant. I didn’t want to confuse myself about it, so I just put it on my dresser and got ready for bed.

I laid down on my bed trying to fall asleep. But who was I kidding? Sleep was never going to come. Not when my thoughts were swirling around  in its own little whirlpool. This suddenly reminded me of his paintings. I hoped they weren’t destroyed.

~

It was about noon when I finally woke up. Seeing as it was Sunday, there really wasn’t much to do. School took up most of my time, but everything was so easy here. Almost too easy. It made school seem like a joke.

I wandered outside, briefly telling my mom I was headed out for most of the day. I couldn’t picture myself wasting the entire day inside the house doing absolutely nothing. The only thing was, I didn’t know where I was headed. I looked down at my hands and saw the bracelet hanging freely from my wrist. A part of me wondered what Keanu would be doing right now. Would he be painting on the beach? Was he trying to salvage his paintings from the cave? I really hope that the one with me in it wasn’t destroyed.

I decided right then and there, that I was going back to the cave. I don’t know why, but that place just had this familiar feeling. Isn’t it strange, for someone to feel safe, or comfortable in a cave?

Something must really be wrong with me.

I walked down the road and through the plaza, all the way to the dead end, bypassing the path that led to the sandy beach. I tried to remember where the opening was and guessed that it was to my left. I walked over and parted the trees, and sure enough it was there.

But it was dark, and I didn’t have Keanu to walk me through. Then it hit me. What was I doing? Just because he showed me the place didn’t mean that I was welcomed here at anytime. I was starting to turn around when I heard footsteps coming from the cave.

“Shit.” I said out loud. I was scared, but I couldn’t move. I just stood there and then I spotted the ponytail that no one but him could pull off.

“Whoa. What are you doing here?” He asked me a little startled. It seemed like we were always sneaking up on each other.

“I honestly don’t know,” I said while fumbling with the charms of the bracelet. And he noticed. His eyes shot right down to my wrist.

“I didn’t expect you to wear it,” he said softly. I looked up at him, and it seemed as if we had all the time in the world to just stand here. I looked into his obsidian eyes, that seemed to hold some type of sparkle.

“Why wouldn’t I? It was a gift, right?” I mumbled. He took his fingers, and swept it across my cheek, barely touching it, as if I were as fragile as glass. And he took my hand, while breaking his gaze, and started pulling me towards the cave.

“Lets go inside, see if we can salvage any of the paintings.”

~

“You’re joking! That really didn’t happen, did it?” I half shrieked half laughed.

We ended up spending the entire day in the cave and we were walking back to the plaza to grab dinner. Keanu was very funny, once he opened up and let someone in. He was smart too. I learned that besides his love for art, he had a gift in mathematics and won the schools very small decathlon for two years in a row. At one point I decided to ask him about the fire, mainly about his parents. But  he seemed to tense up, and only told me that he now lived with his aunt. I decided I was going to avoid the topic for now.

We were talking about our most embarrassing moments, and he was telling me how once, the town had a series of classes. And he wanted to sign up for the surfing class, to be an instructor. But since there were so many clipboards he grabbed the wrong one. He ended up signing to be the make up artist for a small beauty pageant.

“I wouldn’t lie about that, Ava.” He laughed. By this time we had arrived to a burger shack.

 “My aunt owns the place. So help yourself to anything you want. It’s on me.” I noticed that he was smiling more and he seemed more lighthearted.

“If you say so.” I laughed.

We were halfway through dinner, when a shadow was cast over our table. It was Sam, I realized.

“Hey, Ava. I’m having this party at my house on Friday. I would love it if you came.” He was looking at Keanu with a confused expression.

A party? Me? I didn’t want to say no when he had that hopeful look in his eyes.

“Sure,” I said with a sigh. Keanu was silent the whole time.

“It starts at seven. And don’t worry, Leia’s going too.” He told me with a smile.

“Okay,” was all I said. And he walked off.

I looked to Keanu who was looking down at the table, with a frown cornering his lips.

“What?” I asked him. He only shook his head and gave a soft smile.

With that vulnerable look on his face, and the hurt clear in his eyes, it only made me more confused. And determined.

I was going to find out all about this boy. Even if it killed me.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Well, what do you guys think? Is she too quick to accept him as a friend, or is she rushing into things with him way too fast? Oh, and what do YOU guys think of Keanu?

Remember to vote and comment. I lovee hearing what you guys have to say :)