Tattered Beauty (Watty Awards 2011)

Chapter 23

Chapter 23

The date was January thirteenth, a Sunday. A snowstorm had blown in from the west and the ground was coated in a layer of snow a foot deep. Today, it was my turn to take Daniel out. I borrowed one of Lily’s old cars, putting some of a pair of cheap, plastic sleds in the trunk, and set off to pick up the boy.

            Daniel was waiting out front of his house for me looking as adorable as he usually did—maybe more so. His reddish brown hair was falling into his eyes. It was around haircut time. I didn’t like my men looking like complete hooligans. Then again, in a big, fluffy winter coat and pressed jeans he looked like as much of a hooligan as a newborn baby. “Get in,” I demanded when I braked to a stop in front of him.

            “Where are we going?” He asked me.

            “You’ll see.” I said pleasantly, fully knowing he was about to throw a fit about his being curious.

            “Ugh, Hailey,” Here it came. “I hate surprises. Tell me!”

            “I’ll give you a hint,” I compromised, “It involves big piles snow and some plastic equipment.”

            “Are we going skiing in the mountains?!”

            I closed my eyes for a brief moment. “Yes, Daniel. I am flying us out to the French Alps for a day of skiing and other posh things the rich do. Let’s get real here.”

            “It is real—I could take you sometime.”

            After an hour of mindless driving I pulled off into the parking lot of an abandoned school. “Where are we now?” Daniel whined.

            “My God, you’re such a baby.” He protested wildly, but I continued on proving my point. “This school has been closed down for years. I don’t know why they haven’t tore it down and built a mini-mall or something else we already have too much of, but it’s still here. It also has the most epic sledding hill ever. That is what we are doing today.”

            “I’ve never been sledding before…” Daniel looked at the snow with distaste. “Snow is so cold and wet. What if I catch a chill?”

            “Then it’s my fault. I’ll personally pay for your damn tissues and decongestant. But today, we’re going to have fun.” I snatched his smart phone out of his hands. “No business today.” I said as I turned it off. He yelped dramatically. “Your little friends will be okay without you for a few hours.”

            “But—”

            “Just you and I today.”

            “Fine.” He sighed. I handed him the pink sled—the one that went really fast. I took the blue one; it went fast, but was much safer than the pink one. I didn’t want him to get hurt or anything, but I felt that Daniel—the pretty boy who lived in utter safety—could use some danger. A little battle scar would not kill his extremely attractive body. In fact, it might make him even more appealing.

            The two of us trudged up the massive hill which could easily pass for a mountain. The snow was deep and hard to gain traction on. My feet slipped out from under me every five seconds. My butt was already wet not ten minutes into it. Daniel had the nerve to snicker at me every time I slipped. I pushed him but he hardly budged. Stupid tiny female stature; God was a freaking sexist.

            I held the pink sled steady for him as he lowered himself into it with tremendous caution. He was not even moving and already his knuckles were white with the force he was holding onto the edge with. “Is this…safe?” He asked me nervously.

            “Nope!” I giggled and gave him a gentle push.

            I think his terrified scream was the funniest sound I’ve ever heard.

            While he was burning rubber down the slope, I glided down safely in my blue sled. Down at the bottom I asked him what he thought. “That was so scary! And my bum hurts a little bit. But I feel very…invigorated! Can we have another go?”

            Daniel insisted on using the blue sled, something I automatically agreed to. I won every race we did. One time we even crashed into each other. We landed in a heap in the snow completely unharmed. I’ve never seen him smile so much before. I was sure I had not smiled this much myself in quite awhile.

            We went up for another go. He pulled me off my sled, “Oh, no, you’re coming with me.” I got to sit in front, awkwardly positioned between his legs and my back pressing against his chest. If it weren’t for our puffy coats and I could feel the warmth of his skin, it might have been quite nice. Right now, though, all I felt was the cold air whipping against my face as we raced down the hill again. I’d take feeling his warmth over this any day.

            Unfortunately, my thoughts were interrupted by a crash-landing in the making—my fault. Seems as though there was a larger-than-average rock in the way of the sled, which was practically turning the snow into ice beneath us. Basically, we were going really fast. Unable to turn away I was forced to hit it straight on. I braced myself for a rough landing.

            The rock functioned as a makeshift ramp, launching us into the air. My stomach dropped to my feet as we soared through the sky headed straight for the ground.  Snow may seem fluffy and a good place to land, but that could not be further from the truth. Snow is hard and cold. When I hit the ground, my hat flew off and my hair sprawled out across the snow. The contrast between my hair and the white snow was amazing. It would make for a good beauty shot.

            Daniel landed a couple of feet from me. He was fine, except for the wind was knocked out of him. He sat up and looked at me. We both started laughing simultaneously. Maybe we were crazy for laughing until tears ran down our faces after a life threatening accident. Or maybe it was just us being ourselves. Was this a couple bonding moment?

            Yes it was. He crawled over to me and lay beside me. I felt automatically warmer with his presence there. I could see his breath coming out in broken up puffs of air. Suddenly, he was serious. The air around us had changed; it was silent, almost frightening. He pushed himself up until he was leaning on one arm. “You know what, Hailey?”

            “Yes?” I asked. I swore whenever someone said those words, I freaked out. Anything could come after! Like, “I’m gay”, “I like kittens”, or “I think we should go to Thailand for the weekend”. The limitless options scared me.

            But what I heard coming out of his mouth was the thing I never expected to hear. Ever. “I’m in love with you. Wait, sorry; I’ve got the words all messed around. I love you, Hailey.”

            Silence. I was stunned. His eager eyes told me how he wanted me to feel the same, but I wasn’t sure if I did. How did I feel about Daniel? He was amazing, wonderful.  Not perfect. He’s had his screw-ups and I’ve had mine. Whenever he needed me, I was there. More importantly, when I need him, he was right there by my side. I never wanted to be apart from him. When I was by his side, it felt like I was a complete person; like I was rid of all my faults and scars of the past. If he ever decided to leave me I had no idea what I would do. So, was this what love was? Finding the person you can’t live without and holding on as tightly as possible? No. Love was Daniel and I, strung together by fate, and an unlikely encounter with a limousine. Love was spending late nights together and not having to say a word to have a conversation.

            And so, I mustered up the courage to say the words I swore to myself I’d never say to anybody again. “You know what, Daniel? I think I might just love you too.”

            He pressed his cold lips to mine, and we sealed our love with a kiss.