Keepsake

Chapter 13

Marcus Evers

I had finished hacking away at a wooden figure that finally resembled a boat. All I needed now was to sand it down, put a few pieces of wooden attachments and then I could start painting it.

Julia comes out the backdoor and strolls cautiously over to me. She almost looks like she didn't want to. "It's really coming together. Are you planning on selling this one or taking it out on a trip?"

I stand straight up relieving my back. "I'm not too sure, yet. It's going to be a good boat, though. Small, but good."

Julia puts her hands on it and feels how rough it still is. She knocks on it. "It's coming out better than some of the ones your father built in the past."

I laugh to myself. "Maybe I'll keep it just for that reason. I can show it off to dad."

"Yeah." She laughs it off and then changes subjects. "How have things been at school?"

I instantly lose interest in the topic. "Things are the usual. The teachers are teaching and the students are learning. As ordinary as it can be." I grab the sand machine and hook up the extension cord, then put on my safety glasses.

"How are you and Alysia?"

That was the one topic I knew she came out here for. I place the sander against the wood and hold it steady. "She and I are fine. We still see each other around school and we talk."

She could tell that I didn't want to talk any further about it, but she pressed on. "I hear from Pamela that Alysia has a boyfriend, now. A guy named Blaine, right?"

I crank the machine on creating a loud grinding sound. It's so loud that we can barely hear each other speak. "Yeah, but the guy is a total asshole."

"What?" she screams over the noise. "I can't hear you."

I shut it off. "Yeah, and the guy seems like a nice guy," I lie between my teeth and don't dare to look at her or she might see it.

She nods satisfied. "Good for Alysia then."

I knew what she was up to. She was snooping. Checking me to see if I show any real interest in Alysia as more than a cousin. She wanted to know if there was a secret going on between Alysia and I that we weren't telling. Hopefully I wasn't giving any of that away from my side.

I start the machine again and try to do the whole thing in one shot. Julia eventually leaves back into the house.

***

At school the next day, I'm in my first class and a letter gets passed to me through a few hands. I receive it over my shoulder and open it.

Alysia and Blaine split up. I think it had something to do with Blaine being a jerk to her. Then again it could all be because of you. Maybe Alysia still likes you. What do you think?

I look behind me and several rows back is Sarah smiling. I write back.

I hadn't heard about them splitting. I had Blaine figured for a jerk. I'm not sure if she did it for me, but I'll see her at break and see.

Then I pass it back. If Alysia and Blaine had broken up, she would probably never tell me. As I'm thinking it over, I realize that I really need to find Alysia, maybe even before break time just so I can see her. It drove me to confusion of what I was going to say when I saw her. Hopefully the words would come to me when I needed them.

The bell rings and I leave off to my second class. I get through this one by keeping my attention on class work and not saying a word to anyone. That class ends and I move with the rest of the crowd funneling through the doorway and into the halls. It's break time and I want to find her before she reaches the lunch area where everyone would be.

I rush down the empty stairway and hear voices speaking. One of them is Alysia, I'm certain of it. The other is Blaine.

"What do you think Marcus is going to say? What's crazy is you and him probably knew the whole time that you were related and you two still dated." He let out a prideful laugh. "I wonder, have the two of you actually had sex?"

"How did you find out?" Alysia asks in a low tone.

"Seeing that you and him have the same last name sparked the idea in my head. After that, I did a little searching and saw the connection between the both of you." He laughs again.

I continue down the steps approaching Blaine from behind. Alysia's eyes turn to me and Blaine rotates around. His face loses its smile.

I get within an inch of his face. "You got a problem?"

I can see it in his eyes that he's ready and willing to turn this into a fight. "Yeah, maybe I do."

"Good, because it's going to be really easy for me to shut you up myself. Believe me, I'll enjoy it."

"Go ahead, Marcus. You'll only prove me right if people don't believe me. So go ahead and be a hero. Protect your cousin slash girlfriend."

My eyes stay on Blaine's. "Alysia, go ahead with the others and I'll catch up."

When she hesitates to go, I tell her louder to go. She takes slow steps backwards and then goes through the doors.

"Blaine," I say with a mouth full of pride in what I can do. "I've studied wrestling and MMA. Do you really want to go through that kind of pain, because I got to tell you, I really will enjoy making you bleed all over this floor and then leave you here. Maybe someone will find you; maybe you'll have to crawl your way to the office. Who knows?" I sounded very threatening and he could see that I was every bit ready to do it. It was a stairway and it was break time. Anyone who comes through here wasn't coming back until break was over. That leaves time for him to suffer.

His stare softens. Then he lets out a breath and walks away.

I don't bother to hurry out to the tables. I try to make the walk last as I breathe out my anger. Fortunately I wasn't the type with a short fuse. I could control this if it was worth it.

When I see the tables ahead loaded down with people gathering together and talking, I try to find Alysia among the crowd. Her head rises above the others and she comes running to me, fearful eyed. She stops in front of me.

"What happened?"

Everyone behind her at the break tables are watching us. I speak low. "Blaine is taken care of for now. He might not say anything, but I'll have to wait and see."

"You mean we'll have to wait and see," she cleared that up. "Everyone at the table is asking about what's going on."

I take a deep breath and clear my head. "What do they know?"

Her voice turns timid again. "They're under the impression that I broke up with Blaine because I . . . was missing you."

I can't take my gaze away from her soft brown eyes that I'd dreamed of for several days past. "Is it true? Were you missing me?"

From the serious and vulnerable look on my face she find where I was going with the question. She had to know how I felt. I wasn't going to keep going like this without at least trying to tell her how I felt.

"Yes," Alysia answered. "I do miss you all the time."

I lean down and instantly feel like a part of me is trying to resist. Our lips touch just barely at first. Cautious, careful, and guarded. Soon, we are both leaning into each other kissing, pressing our lips making every effort to feel more of the other's lips, desperate to taste more.

We pull our lips apart and hug tight. My head is spinning in a cloud of disbelief, and yet it was everything I'd hoped for.

"This feels so wrong," she says.

"Don't worry," I answer, "I'm going to find a way to make it right."