To The Moon And Back

Chapter 14

Song: If you Only Knew- Shinedown

Braden's POV

I look up to see who is in front of me and am shocked to see my English teacher from my junior year, Mrs. Campbell.

"Braden Cooper?"

I scramble onto my feet, wiping my tear-stained cheeks, and put my best fake smile on my face. "Hey! Mrs. Campbell! It's so nice to see you."

She looks at me up and down, her eyes stopping at my bloody knuckles. "Braden, what the hell are you doing here on a Saturday afternoon?"

I study her face for a minute. She looks the same, with dark brown eyes matching her mocha skin tone. Her black hair is piled neatly into a bun on her head. Her eyebrows are raised in question, her lips slightly puckered.

I move my hand and flatten my hair down. " Well, I could ask you the same thing."

She folds her arms to her chest slowly. "I teach Saturday school. I'm surprised you forgot considering you were in my class every other weekend."

I sheepishly smile and laugh, scratching the back of my head. "oh, yeah. Right. I forgot about that."

"You still didn't answer my question, boy. Why are you here? Shouldn't you be in college?" She looks down again at my knuckles but doesn't ask about them.

"Well, it's a long story." Mrs. Campbell looks at me then at her watch and kindly smiles.

"I've got time."

I lightly smile, then sigh and sit down, pressing my back against the Large Oak.

We sit under the shaded canopy of the leaves, soaking in each other's company. I tell her the whole story, her listening intently the whole time.

"Goodness boy!" She shakes her head slowly at me. "You're problem is that you're too jealous! You have to let Evelyn do her own thing, be her own person. Of course, she's going to push you away if you keep acting like her father!"

"But I don't know what else to do! I just... I just don't trust the guy she's interested in. I don't like him at all." I clench my fists at the thought of that detestable human being.

"Well, have you tried talking to Ev about how you feel?"

"Yeah, but she said she didn't want to go back to how it was-" she cuts me off mid-sentence.

"No, Braden. I mean how you feel about her." I furrow my eyebrows, confused.

"How I feel about her?... I don't..." I shake my head in thought. How do I feel about her? "I mean, she's my best friend; I care for her like she's my sister."

She sighs and mumbles, "boy, you're digging your grave deep."

"What?"

"Hm?" She looks at me. "What what?"

"What you just said. I'm digging my grave?"

She looks at me with innocence. "Huh? No, I didn't say anything."

I look at her, and can't do anything but laugh. "This is why you were- and still are- my favorite teacher. Thank you, Mrs. Campbell." I smile and lean over, giving her a hug.

"Anything for my little big troublemaker."

I smile at that nickname. I always used to get into fights and detention, and she said I was a "little big troublemaker" because of my height and that I reminded her of her own little boy.

"I should probably go." I look at my watch to check the time. We've been sitting here talking for almost two hours.

"Yes, I've got family to get home to. Good luck Braden." She smiles and I stand up, then help her up. "Go win back your best friend." I turn to walk away before she grabs my arm lightly. "Also Braden, take heed of my advice: What you give is what you get."