Born and Died 2 Days Apart

Chapter 9: Derek

She yanks me outside and grabs her volleyball.

"Um, you can let go now," I say staring at my arm that is now turning red from her grasp.

"Oh sorry," she says, blushing as she lets go. "Now, um, what you have to do is stick out your arms." I do as she says, getting in this weird position with my legs wide and bent, my arms sticking out, my hand together like a fist.

"Good," Lyla says as she examines my stance. "But, one thing is not right." She walks over to my hands and grabs them. I tense up once she touches me, and I don't even know why I do it. She notices and pulls back a little mumbling "sorry." I smile and she grabs my hands again but this time I make sure not to flinch.

"Here," Lyla says and starts taking apart my hands from their fist-like grasp. "Put your palms up, put your left hand under your right hand and then put your thumbs together." I do exactly as she says and I end up with a different hand position which is more comfortable, I think.

"Perfect!" She says and smiles at me. I smile back.

She teaches me how to bump, and we practice for a while, me getting better as we go. Later I learn how to set, which is a lot harder in my opinion, but I manage. I learn how to do that thing with the feet and smack the ball, which I learn is called an approach and when you are smacking the ball it's called hitting. She even teaches me how to serve, both underhand and overhand, but I really prefer underhand because it's so much easier. We bump back and forth for what seems like hours until it's 6:00 and time for dinner.

I see the sun going down and say "Wow, it's getting dark,".

"Um, I guess I should go back inside now." She smiles and waves at me.

You're going to let her go that easily? The voice inside my head says.

No. I'm not going to let her go that easily. "How about we go to the meadow and have dinner under the stars?" I suggest. I already have this microwaveable noodle soup package that I can use.

"Sure," She says and gets a huge grin on her face. "Let me just ask my parents first."

She runs inside and I sprint to my house and grab two cans of soup and start microwaving them. As they are heating up I keep peeking out the window to see if she came out yet.

"Derek, what on Earth are you doing?" I turn around to see my mom, hands on her hips, glaring at me as the microvave beeps. I sigh and grab the soup from the microwave.

"I'm making soup. My friend and I are gonna go out and eat in the meadow. Is that okay mother?" She stands, looking lost in thought. Then all of a sudden she looks at me micheviously.

"Who are you going with?"

"A friend."

"Josh?"

I look at the ground and fidgit with my hands.

I have to tell her the truth.

"No," I say and look up at her.

"Then who are you going with?" She frowns at me now, eyeing me suspiciously.

I gulp and then clasp my hands together. "Lyla."

"Who's that?"

"A friend."

"A girl?" She asks and her mouth starts to twitch a little.

Oh no.

I bite my lip and spit out the answer. "Yes."

She tenses and then relaxes a little. "May I see her?" She says and turns to look at me. I turn and put the caps back on the two soup cans. I grabbed the ones where the noodles are so small that you can drink them, and the cap has a hole in it so you can sip it. They don't require bowls so I think it will be good to use with Lyla. As I'm about to answer my mother, the doorbell rings and I walk to answer it. My mom follows closely. I open the door and am shocked to see Lyla.

"Hey Derek," she says and looks at me smiling. "My dad said yes! Do you have the food?"

"You betcha!" I smile and hold up the two cans of soup. She smiles and I step forward, but then my mom taps me lightly on the shoulder.

"Oh yeah," I say and gesture towards Lyla. "Mom, this is my friend, Lyla. Lyla, this is my mom." They both smile and my mom sticks out her hand.

"Nice to meet you Lyla."My mom says and smiles again.

"You too Mrs. Henderson."

My mom smiles even bigger and then looks at me, then back at Lyla. "Take care of my Derek," she says and I blush.

Really Mom, you just had to embarass me.

Lyla giggles and looks me in the eyes and I nearly stumble back because of how intense those big, beautiful, blue eyes are.

"Don't worry Mrs. Henderson, I will."