Efflorescence

Chapter 11: Stories in the Woods

Chapter 11

Stories in the Woods

Haven

It made me happy seeing Rhylee holding hands with Jax. Reese and I had a little bet going about when they would get together. I just won myself twenty bucks.

I started to skip towards Reese and Selena, who were sitting at a large wooden table on the other side of the volleyball court. I was just about to sit down when two large, muscular arms wrapped around my waist and my feet were lifted off of the ground. I squealed and everyone else was laughing, and soon I laughed too. The boy that picked me up was laughing, too.

“You’re so jumpy,” Drake said and set me down.

“Well, I’m sure you’d be jumpy too if someone just came up behind you and picked you up,” I said and smoothed out my t-shirt (I put it back on after everyone kind of gave up on volleyball).

“Sure,” Drake said with a look in his eyes and smile that said I-know-something-you-don’t. I hated that.

I turned around to walk away, butDrake caught my waist. I looked up to the sky as if asked Why me? but, to be honest, I was actually pretty pleased that he stopped me.

“What?” I asked and turned back to face him.

Drake got a little sheepish. “Can we go somewhere, y’know, more. . . Private. God, do I sound like an angst ridden teenager or what. ‘Cause I swear I don’t mean what you think I mean.”

I laughed and said, “Sure.”

I followed him to the edge of the woods that lined the far right of the beach. He stopped and glanced at me. “Do you mind if we-” He jerked his head towards the think forest.

I narrowed my eyes questioningly. “A-kay.”

He held his hand out for mine and I hesitantly gave it to him. Drake led my into the heavily wooded forest and walked in front, warning me of fallen branches, cleaning away the cobwebs. We reached a little clearing filled with bright flowers and vibrant, soft green grass. It reminded me of that little field that Edward showed Bella in Twilight.

“This is super cliche, I hope you realise,” I said and raised an accusing eyebrow at him.

“Yaaah” Drake said and rubbed the back of his neck.

This shy move made me notice just how cute he is. The sun was setting, so there was a golden hue cast on everything. His hair took on a more rusty color and his eyes seemed to melt. His skin looked amazingly soft, and it seemed to be beckoning to me. It was so hard to hold my hand down at my side and not reach up to stroke his cheek.

“So,” I said and managed to keep my voice straight. “What did you want to- well, what did you want?”

“Um,” Drake rubbed the back of his neck again. “I kind of just wanted to talk. With you.”

“About what?” I asked and shook my head.

“I don’t know, really,” Drake said and strolled to the middle of the clearing and sat down. “What’s your family like?”

“That’s a pretty broad question,” I stated and carefully sat a couple feet away from him.

“Well then, Miss Picky,” he teased and laid down, stretching, and sneakily moved closer to me. “How many siblings do you have?”

“Two. Harmony is eighteen and Mikey is 8.”

“Now, what are they like?” Drake closed his eyes like he was going to sleep.

“Well, Harmony is going to the University of Florida, but it’s summer, so she’s obviously not there right now. SHe can’t go two sentences without changing the subject to her. She just got a new boyfriend, Jerk-emy.”

Drake chuckled, eyes still closed. “Jerk-emy?”

“My special name for him. It should be self-explanatory.”

He smiled and nodded, draping an arm over his eyes.

“Mikey has a very unhealthy obsession with his X-box. I swear, that kid doesn’t leave that thing to eat, sleep, or use the bathroom. Like, ever.”

“My older brother used to do that all the time,” Drake said, his voice sounding like he was somewhere far away.

“How’d you get him to stop? ‘Cause that would be helpful. I could save my brother from dieing- and a lower IQ.”

“Well, he-” Drake cut himself off and opened his eyes to look at the deep pink-slowly-turning-purple sky. “I think that’s a story for another time.”

“Whatever,” I said and pulled my knees to my chest and looked up at the sky, too.

“What about your parents?” Drake asked.

“What about my parents?” I asked. I hated this topic.

“What are their names? Where do they work? That kind of stuff.”

“Well, my mom’s name is Bethany- Beth. She works at a retirement home down the street from our house, washing cloths. My dad’s name is,” I cringed, “was Rick. He died when I was in third grade.”

Drakes tugged on my arm. I refused to face him, but let him pull me down next to him. I rested my head on his shoulder and he rested his arm around my stomach. We both looked up at the sky. The purple was taking over the pink.

“I’m not gonna say I’m sorry, because there’s no point in that,” Drake said cooly. “I’m not going to sympathize for you, because I have no idea what you’re going through. My parents have been happily married since they were eighteen. I don’t know what it’s like. But you can tell me if you want to. And I don’t mind if you cry.”

I haven’t cried about my dad in years yet the tears slowly ran down my face anyway. “It was cancer,” I started quietly. And that was all it took. The walls broke down and I told him everything. I laid next to him and told him my whole life story until I fell asleep looking up at the sky, and from time to time, looking up at Drake.