I Was Saved... by the Jerkface

A Free Day

{Annabelle}

Five minutes later, Blake set me down on my feet in the grassy area outside of the school building. It was a wonderfully nice day out, with a crisp but not cold breeze. The sun was high in the sky and the clouds were puffy and beautiful.

"You know we could seriously get in trouble for skipping school, right?" I asked Blake dubiously. I did not want to get in trouble. I didn't know what they did to you for skipping school - because I've never done it - but I could only assume it wasn't good.

"Nah. Sure, they'll give you a 'talk' about how what you did was wrong," he said mockingly, putting air quotes around 'talk.' "And they might call your parents. But they don't actually do anything."

"Call my parents?!" I exclaimed, my eyes widening and my mouth dropping open. "Shit! Do you know how much trouble I'll be in if my parents get a call saying I skipped school?! I'm going back!"

I spun on my heel quickly and made a break for the doors, but Blake easily caught up to me and grabbed me around the waist, stopping me in my tracks and jerking me backwards.

"No, no, no! You can't go back now, we're already free," he said into my ear. His close proximity made me want to wrap my arms around his body and never let go, but in my moment of panic I resisted. His voice held a certain note of desperateness, and I didn't know why. It was as if he wanted to be free for a day to do what he wanted.

"But- but- but I-" I stuttered, but he cut me off.

"Come on. You don't actually want to go back to that stupid class, do you? All we ever do is waste our time until the bell rings." Blake raised one eyebrow expertly, and I sighed.

"Well, no... But I don't want to get into another fight with my mom," I told him, trying to get him to see my side of the argument.

"Just tell her it was a mistake and the teacher accidentally counted you absent," he suggested, shrugging his shoulders.

"Every teacher after fifth hour?"

"Yep."

I sighed once more, this time in defeat. Oh, well. I'd make up some creative lie to tell my parents. In the meantime, I had a couple of hours of free time, in which Blake was with me. What to do, what to do?

*****

Ten minutes later, we had walked a small park in the city. The playground had swings, slides, and a jungle gym for little kids to play on. The whole area was in a sand pit.

The minute it came into view, I instantly ran to the swings and started pumping my legs. I let my shoes fly off and crashed my feet into the warm sand beneath me, reveling in the feel of it between my toes.

Blake was slower to get to the swing set, and when he did he leaned on the pole, just watching me. He was eerily silent for a long time, and I had the urge to ask why, but I didn't want to spoil my moment of bliss and freedom. I closed my eyes and swung higher and higher.

Finally, my best friend's silence became too much for me. I opened my eyes and slowed my swing down so I could talk to him. As soon as my eyes met his face, I saw that he was - or had been for some time - staring at me with an intensity I really couldn't describe. Immediately, my questions about his silence vanished and new questions popped up in my head.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I blurted without thinking. I stopped swinging by digging my feet in the warm sand underneath my swing.

Blake's face blanked into an impassive poker face as soon as the words escaped my lips, and I found myself wondering if I'd really seen him look at me like that at all. "Like what?" he replied.

"Like... I don't know. Never mind," I sighed, doubting myself. Maybe my vision was getting worse.

He was silent once more, and I sat there and twiddled my thumbs awkwardly. After a few minutes, he sighed heavily. "You're just so... innocent. I don't know how to put it. It's like you're the opposite of everything I ever was."

My head snapped up so I could gaze at him fully. "What do you mean the opposite?"

"Annabelle, I'm not a good person. Or at least... I wasn't." His eyes clouded over, and his expression became sad. I could tell he was thinking of something in his past only he knew about.

I hated to see him look so forlorn and lost, so I spoke up. "You are a good person. Or maybe, even if you weren't, you are now. Why did I remind you of that, thought?" I asked, feeling the need to know.

The lost expression left his face, and was replaced with a small smile. He turned his gaze towards me once more, and I saw a strange affection in his eyes. "You're swinging on a playground like a little kid and digging your feet in the sand. You can't expect not to remind me of an adorable puppy or something."

My face split with a smile. "Awwe, I remind you of a puppy? Wait... that might not be a good thing." I felt my eyebrows scrunch together in thought.

Then I heard Blake's amazing, husky laugh and all worry disappeared. "It's a good thing. Trust me."

I didn't exactly know what I was doing – it was like my brain shut off – but I found myself getting off the swing and walking towards him, shuffling my feet in the sand. I stopped in front of him, his tall frame towering above me so that I had to tilt my head towards the sky to look into his face.

I wrapped my arms around his midsection, tightly pulling myself to him. I inhaled his heavy, intoxicating aroma, mixed with the sweet smell of the outdoors, and thought, It couldn't get any better than this.

After a moment, Blake put one hand on the back of my head, lacing his fingers through my hair, and put his other hand on the small of my back, pressing my body to his until there was ultimately no room between us. I closed my eyes, blissfully comfortable.

"I love you," I heard myself murmur. It was like an out-of-body experience. I didn't remember deciding to say those words, they just flew out of my mouth.

"I love you," he whispered back. I felt a rather cool breeze brush against my skin, but Blake kept me tightly enclosed in his warm embrace, so I didn't even shiver. "Annabelle."

"Hmm?" I replied. I opened my eyes, and for the first time today I noticed a slight bruise forming on his left cheekbone. Just as I tilted my head to get a little bit of a better look at it, his soft, mesmerizing voice spoke again.

"We need to talk, love."

*****