Wings in Alabama

Chapter 6

I found aunt Kat with a book in her backyard. She looked up from her page when she heard me coming, and her gaze softened. "Hey, Ry. You feeling any better?"

I shrugged, only making my pain worse. "I just need some fresh air. Do you have a bike?"

She nodded and put her book down. Aunt Kat walked me to the garage and brought out a shiny silver chrome bike. "No helmet?"

"Please no," I said softly. She shrugged and returned to her book, making me promise to be back before dark. I noticed something in her voice - it was the way she'd said it. Was that worry? Anxiety? Id's shrugged it off like it didn't matter and nodded obediently, thinking how similar she was to my mother. I hopped on the seat and turned onto the road.

I felt so much better now that I wasn't acting like a total bum in bed. Now that I was acting like a weakling who fainted and got hurt in a nightmare that affected her real life. My ponytail blew back in the wind and my eyes shone. I hadn't felt this happy since I went shopping with Steph (before I got caught and grounded).

I biked for about ten more minutes before something hard and round nearly took my head off. I'd dodged it just in time, and saw a baseball on the ground. I looked to the right and saw about twenty five guys standing behind a wire fence that surrounded a baseball field. I looked at them like they were insane, and one jogged up to me.

Let me just say, and it might have been the fact that I wasn't feeling too well, but dang, this guy was cute! He had glossy brown hair that fell jut the right way over his eyebrows, not like Justin Bieber once had, but better. He had charming brown eyes that stood out like red on St. Patrick's Day, and smiled as he neared me. I didn't know what else to but smile at him, then I realized he was coming for the ball. I immediately dropped the bike to get the ball and toss it back, but he was too close.

"Hey, sorry about that," he said, running his hand through his hair sheepishly.

The annoyed look that I'd given his teammates was gone and was replaced by a blush. I bit my lip, trying to think of something cool to say back to him. I'd just thought of something to say that was not totally dorky, but what came out of my mouth totally blew it. "Uhh..."

Thankfully, he didn't seem to notice. "Name's Ashton Summers, you?"

I was lost in those big brown eyes of his, so zoned out that I didn't here what he said. I guessed he asked me what my name was, so I answered, "Rylee Thompson, and no problem. Your hit?"

"Yeah, again, so sorry. I suck that much to hit a baseball backwards," he grinned. I could have sworn that I saw a blush forming in the apple of his cheeks. It felt good to know that I wasn't the only one so embarrassed. "It doesn't mean you suck, it just means that you're talented," I responded with a flick of my ponytail, "and it probably means that you're the only person that can hit a ball that far backwards."

He laughed as I tossed him the ball. He caught it effortlessly. "You're a really funny girl, Rylee. I'd love to talk to you more, and I'm almost done with practice. You can stay if you like."

Score! Maybe this trip didn't have to be a total waste. I did a combination of biting my lip and grinning before nodding. He smiled again and guided me to the bleachers, his hand on my shoulder blades. They still did hurt, but he seemed to take it all away.

˙·٠•●♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ♥●•٠·˙

Ashton walked on my right side as I walked mybike on the other. He'd finished his baseball practice and was walking me home. We were talking about who knows what while my heart practically fluttered at the very fact that I was talking to him.

I laughed at a joke he'd told me before we both got quiet. It was like that uncomfortable sort of quiet when you don't know what to say. The silence was getting to me, and the hand that sat on the bicycle seat twitched. I felt like I was going to burt, I had to say something. "Is there something bad that happens here? I mean, after I left my aunt and uncle's house, the last thing I heard my aunt say was 'Be back before dark.'"

Ashton hesitated and stopped for a moment before regaining himself and answering, "Yes. And it ain't too good."

"What is it?"

Another silence. "Kidnapping. Kids about our age and under are taken from their homes in the middle of the night and aren't seen the next day. A member of my team said his ten-year old sister was taken."

Silence came between the two of us again, but it wasn't uncomfortable this time. It was mysterious. I gulped and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. "Have any of them been found?"

Ashton shook his head sadly. "S'been goin on for a while. They don't take many, about two a night. A boy and a girl."

I bit my lip again. Now was the time for a joke, but I couldn't think of anything. "Seriously?"

Thankfully, my insanely cute hero got the gist. "Yep," he said and looked around before adding, "I think that they're kidnapped by aliens and have their brains switched with a cow."

I giggled slightly as he continued to add, "I also noticed my science teacher was acting rather fidgety on the last day of school. It make since he'd be an alien; he also teaches biology."

This time it was a full laugh, and he joined in. Ah, if only I could save the moment in a jar and keep it for ever! But, then I saw aunt Kat riding out on a different bike. "Rylee! Oh my gracious, I was about to come looking for you!"

I lowered my head to hide a tomato-y red blush spreading around my entire face. If she was my mom, I would have said something smart, like, "I can take care of myself," but she wasn't.

Ashton shoved his hands in his pockets. I hoped he was as upset as I was about having to go. "So... umm... later..."

"Wait," I said and handed him a slip of paper I kept if I ever forgot my own number. "Call me or Face-Chat me."

I gave him a quick smile before trudging to aunt Kat, pushing the bike in front of me. "Who was that?"

"Someone I met on my bike ride."

"How'd you meet him?"

"Oh, he nearly took my head off with a baseball," I answered, smiling at the dangerous, yet happy memory.